Good Fortune?

This quote of 20th century Lutheran theologian Herman Sasse comes from the We Confess Anthology, in the "Jesus Christ is Lord" section. The excerpt comes in the midst of a superb discussion on the theology of the cross. For me, this quote is strangely comforting. I've seen too many friends and relatives suffer, yet even in all these things, God is there. He hides Himself where we may not think to look.

What human wisdom considers good fortune and therefore strives for— health, success, affluence—these things God in His wisdom may see as harmful for a person’s good and so deny them. In God’s judgment sickness, failure, and poverty may be far better. And God’s judgment is not mistaken, even when it contradicts all human reason. There can be no good, as we see things, in someone lying for years in a sickbed with an incurable ailment and then slowly and painfully dying. Yet God may see something very good in such an apparently meaningless fate. 

Hermann Sasse, We Confess Anthology, Trans. Norman Nagel (St. Louis: CPH, 1999) 50-51.

photo credit: The Doctr

Oh, You Forgot About the Water, Did You?

Here's a clip of Pastor Will Weedon, in his wonderful Weedonish way, discussing Baptism - from the September 14 Issues, Etc. segment reviewing the hymn “God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It.” You can listen to the whole segment here.

Pastor Bender Belts It Out

Here's the video of Pastor Peter Bender hitting a grand slam at the October 1 Cubs game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. His singing voice is matched by his confessional prowess. If you'd like to hear Pastor Bender speak, he'll be at the Lutheran Concerns Association Annual Conference on January 21.

The Purpose of the District, by Joe Strieter

This post is written by my friend Joe Strieter, who is on the Ohio District Board of Directors. He provides a nice summary of what our Districts are to do.


THE PURPOSE OF THE DISTRICT
OHIO DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The recent controversy in the Minnesota South District (MNS) has had an unexpected side effect.  People are starting to ask, “What is a district all about?”  The suspicion voiced by some bloggers toward MNS District President Rev. Lane Seitz, and the MNS Board of Directors is palpable, and disturbing.  The question hangs in the air, unanswered: “What is the purpose of our Districts?”  The hostility and indifference towards that entity known simply as “the district” remain:

       “Who needs them?”
       “What has the district ever done for me?”
       “If I ever need the district, I’ll let them know.” 

Those questions and comments were not dreamed up—as a member of the Ohio District Board of Directors I’ve heard all of them and a few more.  Such comments give us pause—they cause us to question ourselves, and what we as a district are about.  A friend asked me to write a paper on the purpose of districts, which he intended to post on his blog.  I submit it today for your consideration.  It is necessarily brief, and undoubtedly will serve to raise many more questions.  It is my hope that is will also foster further discussion.

During the discussions on forming a synod, C.F.W. Walther expressed the opinion “That the chief function of the Synod shall be directed toward the maintenance and furtherance and guarding of the unity and purity of Lutheran doctrine.”¹  Not surprisingly, the Synod’s first Constitution of 1847 reflects that view:

“ARTICLE I. Reasons for forming a synodical organization.

1. The example of the apostolic Church. (Acts 15:1-31.)
2. The preservation and furthering of the unity of pure
   confession (Eph. 4:3-6; 1 Cor. 1:10) and to provide common
   defense against separatism and sectarianism. (Rom. 16:17).

[and]

ARTICLE IV. Business of Synod

1. To stand guard over the purity and unity of doctrine within
   the synodical circle, and to oppose false doctrine.
2. Supervision over the performance of the official duties on
   the part of the pastors and teachers of Synod.”²

To this end, the President was to visit every congregation at least once during each triennium, and report his findings to the Synod’s convention.

 “Why was this doctrinal unity, this unity in the Word, so important to the founders of the Missouri Synod? It was precisely because of the churchly character of the synod. We know that the marks of the church are the Word and the sacraments. According to the Lutheran Confessions, the Word of God and the sacraments are the marks of the Church because they are the only means by which the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith.  Synod's commitment to maintaining the right preaching of the gospel and the correct administration of the sacraments arises, therefore, out of a concern for the salvation of those for whom the means of grace are intended. For false doctrine dishonors God's name and endangers salvation by leading people away from God's grace in Christ.   Our Lord Himself said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’" (John 8:31-32).³ 

LCMS Historian August Suelflow gives us some background:

“In the Synod’s earliest years there were no districts. Some strongly opposed the idea when it first came up. They feared “splintering” the Synod.  However, the rapid growth of the Synod made it impossible for the President to make the required visitations.  Friedrich Wyneken gave two eloquent addresses dealing with the issue of division into districts, which you can find in “At Home in the House of My Fathers.”  Finally, between 1852 and 1854 the Synod decided to create four regional districts into which its member congregations would be divided. (By 1854, the baptized membership of all these congregations was 10,551.) The Synod acted with these understandings:

• Theological unity throughout the Synod would be preserved by the general president continuing to visit each parish (a provision that lasted until 1864). The 1854 Constitution made the president the greatest coordinating factor in the church body, assigning him total supervision of all synodical work, within constitutional limitations, and supervision of all district and synodical officials.

• The district presidents were to assist the synodical president. They were given basically the rights and duties originally given the general president, including status as CAO of the district and the duty to ordain, install, and suspend.
“The 1854 Constitution set out Synod/District functions and duties, reserving to Synod, among other things:

• General supervision of doctrine and its application in each district, with assistance from the District Presidents, in other words, visitation.

“Districts were to administer their own affairs. The 1854 Constitution said each could adopt bylaws necessary for its own conditions. But the synodical constitution was to be the constitution of each district. District bylaws could not conflict with it.

“Finally in 1866, visitation circuits were established to lessen the duties of district presidents. Circuits were created at the discretion of the districts, and so the office of Circuit Visitor was established—today we use the term circuit counselor.

“Between 1854 and 1874, there was an explosion of districts. Thirty were created or redefined, over one a year on average!  It’s interesting to review some reasons for district division given during these years:

• Too many pastors and congregations in one district already
• District too big to conduct effective conventions.
• Serve the Kingdom better
• Make “Synod” more personal to congregations and people
• Give more opportunity for involvement in synodical-district matters
• Districts wanted to give more attention to their peculiar problems.”⁴

Suelflow notes that by the mid-twentieth century, one of the primary functions of the district was to bring the synodical program on a personal basis to the district constituency.  At the same time, he also notes that growth of districts had increased the distance between congregations and districts, something with which our Board of Directors has been dealing for several years.

Click HERE to continue reading >>

Building a Poorer Concordia

At Concordia University Chicago, Dr. Jodie Dewey is in the process of being tenured. This process is in its final stage, the Board of Regents having given notice in the August Lutheran Witness of its intent to grant her tenure. Having reviewed her curriculum vitae, some of what she’s written, her professional associations, and what others have reported about her, I don’t believe she should be tenured.

According to her curriculum vitae, Dr. Dewey teaches Social Research Methods, Juvenile Delinquency, Sociology of Gender and Sexualities, Sociology of Corrections, Sociology of Health Care, Criminology, Social Deviance and Directed Study courses. Among her areas of research are medical sociology, gender and sexualities.

A portion of what she has written and spoken about involves transgendered people. Dr. Dewey seems to advocate a position of normalizing and affirming these types of behavior, a position that is contrary to that of Scripture and God’s created order. She refers to God’s creation of male and female as “our strict binary gender system” and refers to “the dichotomous gender structure,” and “gender policing” (ref. here and here).

While I am loathe to develop a “guilt by association” mentality, at the same time, the organizations one joins, especially those that are listed on a curriculum vitae, do reflect to some degree what one affirms. If you join an organization with whom you disagree, it calls into question your judgment. Dr. Dewey is a member of the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, both of which promote the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) agenda, a position which is contrary to Holy Scripture.

While Stand Firm has never taken any political stand, the comment of one of her students at RateMyProfessors.com would cause most anybody to raise an eyebrow: “She approaches everything from a cynical, neo-Marxist perspective, which was fine with me.”

It shouldn’t be necessary to quote Synod bylaws to understand that the faculty of all of our schools, whether they’re teaching theology or some other subject, must teach and write what is in keeping with Scripture. Presenting positions to students contrary to Scripture is one thing, to advocate them, quite another. One of the key principles of the Concordia University System is to “work to maintain and enhance the Christ-centered Lutheran character of its institutions” (Bylaw 3.6.6.6). Granting tenure to Dr. Dewey would not be in keeping with this God-pleasing principle. I must therefore regretfully oppose the Board of Regents plan to grant tenure to Dr. Jodie Dewey.

I hope you will do your own research, and if you agree, send a letter stating your beliefs to the following people. Do so expeditiously. The Concordia Chicago Board of Regents will be making their final decision in the near future.

Dr. John F. Johnson
President Concordia University – Chicago
john.johnson@cuchicago.edu

7400 Augusta Street
River Forest, IL 60305-1499


Rev. Dan P. Gilbert
Chairman, Board of Regents
Northern Illinois District – LCMS
dan.gilbert@ni.lcms.org

2301 S. Wolf Rd.
Hillside, IL 60162

Oh Say Can He Sing!

I'm told that the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's very own Pastor Peter Bender, pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Sussex, Wisconsin, will be singing the national anthem at the October 1 Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field. If you're not headed to the game on that day, you might still be able to catch it, either on MLB.TV, or you may be able to listen on the radio if you live in the right spot (it won't be streaming).

For details on how Pastor Bender was picked for this singular honor, read Fred H. Keller's August 29 Bald Facts column.


photo credit: wallyg

Sublime Monotony

Quoting Hermann Sasse, from section III, We Confess the Church, of the We Confess Anthology:

"We are witnesses to all that He did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree; but God raised Him on the third day and made Him manifest; not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead" (Acts 10, 39-41). It was always the same message, repeated with sublime monotony by the apostles, who were eyewitnesses, and then after their death by those to whom the apostolic proclamation was committed. The church of all times lives from the doctrine of the apostles.

But does it really? Must not the church adjust its message to the contemporary situation? The reproach of not moving with the times was heard in Germany through the 18th and 19th centuries from those who held a naive faith in progress. Why go on preaching the same as Peter did in the Acts of the Apostles? How many theologians, indeed whole churches, finally had enough! They did not continue in the apostles' doctrine. They preached something else. Forty years ago they preached sermons on Goethe and Schiller. They preached the current view of the world, although most world views are lucky if they last as long as 30 years. And the churches did not become fuller, but emptier. And rightly so. For since 1848 any member of German society could read in the newspaper every morning as he drank his coffee what the latest and only acceptable world view is. For this I do not need to go to church. But where the church continued in the apostles' doctrine, there the congregation remained.

To the world it is inexplicable that the church lives on, always preaching the same old thing. In fact, it is because the same old thing goes on being preached, the apostles' doctrine, that the church goes on living. This is because the apostles' doctrine is the everlasting Word of God to all men, to all nations, to all times. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, "who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven ... and was made man." He "was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification" [Rom. 4:25]. He "is seated at the right hand of the Father ... and His kingdom shall have no end." The apostolic doctrine witnesses to the Word of God become flesh. In this witness, in the simple words of the apostles, in the straight­forward words preached in the church, Christ, the eternal Word, is Himself present. Therefore the church lives from the apostolic doctrine.

Hermann Sasse, We Confess Anthology, Trans. Norman Nagel (St. Louis: CPH, 1999) 132.

Don’t Miss It! The Lutheran Concerns Association Annual Conference Is Coming Up

Monday, January 21, 2013 marks the date for the Lutheran Concerns Association Annual Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana, followed the rest of the week by Concordia Theological Seminary’s annual Symposia. This year’s LCA speakers are a top notch group. Rev. Dr. Peter Scaer has an early morning Bible Study, and Rev. Dr. Bill Weinrich will begin with an opening devotion. Walter Dissen and Indiana District President Rev. Daniel May will welcome the attendees. Synod President Emeritus Rev. Dr. Robert Kuhn and Rev. Dr. Tim Rossow will tag team on Issues and Overtures, and hot button Synod issues and the local parish, respectively. Rev. Peter Bender will be speaking on pastoral care and admission to the Lord’s Supper, a particularly relevant topic given the varying positions in our Synod. Attorney Scott Meyer will discuss religious liberty, another highly relevant topic. Rev. Dr. Martin Noland will give a presentation titled “Missionals vs. Confessionals & Other Issues at the 2013 LCMS Convention,” and CTS professor Rev. Dr. Richard Nuffer will offer a presentation titled “SMP: Aerobatic Acronym.”

This is a great opportunity to hear top notch speakers in a relatively intimate setting, including sharing a word or two over lunch. If you’re not familiar with the Lutheran Concerns Association, their website is here. You can read the current issue of their newsletter, The Lutheran Clarion, here, which contains a registration form for the Conference. Older Clarions are available here.

A photo from last year's panel discussion

Get Those Nominations In

The deadline to nominate people for officer, board, and commission positions to be elected at the LCMS 2013 National Convention is drawing nigh - October 20 to be exact. Positions to be filled include Secretary of the Synod, LCMS Board of Directors, Concordia Historical Institute Board of Governors, Concordia University System Board of Directors, Concordia Publishing House Board of Directors, LCEF Board of Directors, LCMS Foundation Board of Trustees, Commission on Theology and Church Relations, Seminary Boards of Regents, and College/University Boards of Regents.  You can view the details for these positions here. Qualifications desired can be viewed here.  The nominating form is available here.


photo credit: KClvey

Quotable Blog Quotes #18

 Quotable Quotes From Around the Blogosphere




BBC News Europe
Spanish fresco restoration botched by amateur

The woman, in her 80s, was reportedly upset at the way the fresco had deteriorated and took it on herself to "restore" the image. BBC Europe correspondent Christian Fraser says the delicate brush strokes of Elias Garcia Martinez have been buried under a haphazard splattering of paint. The once-dignified portrait now resembles a crayon sketch of a very hairy monkey in an ill-fitting tunic, he says.


Brothers of John the Steadfast
Pastor Tim Rossow
Is the Lectio Divina a Practice to Be Encouraged?

The very notion of mistaking honest and edifying theological critique in this post and on this string for slander, is exhibit A of the need for such critique. It is the woosification of society and also church culture that has people being offended by the mere exchange of ideas. This woosification is a product of the psychologizing and sociologizing of culture and theology.


Confessing Moments
Pastor Michael Schmidt
Such a time as this – Esther 4:14

The Lion’s Club can hold a picnic, only the Church can baptize. The Boy Scouts can serve a meal, only the Church can offer the body and blood of Jesus. The city council can organize a community clean-up day, only the Church can forgive sins. So at future conventions, do not tell me about the work that anyone can do; rather tell me about the work that only the Church can do. Encourage me, refresh me, build me up with the news of baptisms, confirmations, Law and Gospel preaching, sins forgiven, and the Lord’s Supper administered.


Confessional Gadfly
Pastor Eric Brown
The Law, Finding Fault, and Self Service

Proclaiming the Law is never self serving. At least proclaiming it properly isn't. Well, what do I mean by that? When one speaks the Law to another person, one is laying them bare, is killing them. The Law kills. It slays the Old Adam -- it kills what needs to be killed but it still kills. But that killing is done in order that the Holy Spirit may make alive again through a word of the Gospel proclaimed as soon as the Law has done it's work. Using the Law is always to be a service to the neighbor, to be about their good, their benefit. It *is* to be an act of love. And as an act of love, the follow through of the Gospel and Comfort will be second nature -- but if there is no love, it will just be hanging, dangling law.


Gottesdienst Online
Pastor Larry Beane
Goldilocks, George Carlin, and the Middle of the Road

Moreover, the argument that "smells and bells" and "happy clappy" are two sides of the same coin is a false analogy, and nowhere near a valid approach to liturgy. It is a convenient way to appeal to the center, to the majority that are somewhere in the middle, to those who (for whatever reason) are not interested in pursuing a richer ceremonial and liturgical life in the parish as has been the trend among our synod as a whole for decades. Liturgy is normative in our Lutheran confessions. Going without the liturgy is un-Lutheran and antithetical to our confession. On the other hand, being "high church" is consistent within our tradition as articulated in the Book of Concord. To lump the two together in a box and label them both un-Lutheran is just plain wrong.

Click HERE to continue reading >>