Faith in Action in Williston, North Dakota

There's an oil boom going on up in North Dakota. An LCMS church there has been allowing job seekers with no place to stay to bunk in their church overnight. As Pastor Jay Reinke relates in this clip from the July 13 Issues, Etc., this has been both a burden and a blessing. This is a good show to bookmark and crack open when you hear people say that Lutherans "don't do sanctification well." The people of Concordia Lutheran Church are truly putting their faith into action. Listen to the whole show here.

“Coconut & Rice Have the Right to Marry,” or “Why Definitions Are Important”

Driving down the road a few years back I saw this sign:

What’s that supposed to mean? I don’t know anybody named Coconut or Rice. If I were in San Francisco I’d be thinking it was a gay-rights issue. (Oh. Beg your pardon. An LGBT issue.) They need to give me a little more information before I can say more. The sign could certainly be used as a metaphor for the importance of defining your terms. As Christians, we sometimes suffer from our own lack of ability to ask the very Lutheran question, “What does this mean?”

Holy Scripture tells us to watch our life and doctrine closely. When we fail to ask the question “What does this mean?” we may not notice that a particular statement’s meaning is false, and end up in a sticky syncretistic mess that we should have avoided. A good example of this was the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, where the Lutheran World Federation, due to its imprecise definition of terms such as faith and sin made it appear as though Lutherans and Catholics agree on the doctrine of justification, which is patently false. Yet the damage was done, and many people have been led astray because of definitional infidelity.

Because of a lack of definitional clarity, many people consider Mormon beliefs to fall within the pale of Christianity. But Mormons believe that Jesus, as well as the rest of us, eternally existed as an “intelligence” and have been born as spirit children of God. They reject the Trinity. Their definition of Jesus, once it’s brought to light, doesn’t agree with Scripture, or the “definition” of Jesus found in the Creeds.

When we fail to ask for definitions, we miss opportunities to help others learn the correct definitions, and we run the risk of unknowingly adopting their beliefs. Eventually, definitional imprecision may lead to doctrinal error, and left unchecked, spiritual death. Watch your doctrine closely!

As it turns out, the billboard was an advertisement for a nightclub in Tacoma called 21COMMERCE. Apparently, not enough people asked of the billboard “What does this mean?” since they’re now out of business.

Is the Swing of This Pendulum Accurate?

During the LCMS Northwest District Convention Dr. Tony Cook of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis led four Bible studies (the Powerpoint slides of which are available here). The studies discussed harmony and how it is achieved. The graphic below is from one of his presentations. I thought the graphic was thought provoking, although I'm not sure I'd totally agree with it.  Lutheran Pragmatism and Lutheran Fundamentalism were represented to be at the undesirable far ends of the pendulum swing, with harmony somewhere in between.  I wonder if the definitions for the extremes are accurate, or a caricature.  Certainly they're subject to interpretation.  Any thoughts?

WWJD?

Sometimes the preaching of the Law is in order:

HT: Pastor David Juhl

Answer Me that Riddle!

Quoting from the preface written by Dr. Martin Luther to Johann Spangenberg's book German Postil, from Advent to Easter, Arranged in Questions for Young Christians, Both Boys and Girls, written in 1543: 

St. Paul writes now and again that Christ our Lord is a “mystery,” mysterium, and indeed the holy Church, too, with Christ, her Bridegroom, can be called a “mystery” [Col. 1:26-27; 2:2; 1 Tim. 3:16; Eph. 5:32]. In times past—when I had to permit myself to be called a doctor of Holy Scripture—I considered this a straightforward expression that I understood very well. But now that I, praise God, have again become a poor student of Holy Scripture and understand less and less as time goes on, I am beginning to look on these words with wonder, and experience, I find, supplies this gloss” that it must be a mystery indeed. For no matter how brightly and clearly as the apostles preached about it—even with miracles—nevertheless it still remains hidden and secret to the very greatest and most clever people on earth, just as He says in Matthew, chapter 11 [:25]: “You have hidden these things from the wise and clever, but have revealed them to the children,” etc.
Is this not a sufficient wonder? Is that not enough of a secret? It is preached so manifestly, and it shines more brightly than the sun, and is also confirmed with so many great miraculous signs (which no man can deny that God must be doing). And nevertheless, here the very greatest and most clever, the holiest and best people remain blind, deaf, and senseless, so that they cannot see it, hear it, or feel it. Answer me that riddle! How is that? There is nothing more manifest, and yet nothing more secret; nothing is more comprehensible than Christ in the manger and on the cross; nothing is more incomprehensible than Christ at the right hand of God and Lord over all. So it is also with the Word that preaches about Him.

Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, American Edition, ed. Christopher Boyd Brown. vol. 60, Prefaces II, (Saint Louis: CPH, 2011) 283.

Christ-Centered Cross-Focused Talk Radio

LCMS Delegates: You Think You've Got It Tough

For all you LCMS convention delegates out there who grouse about the size of your district or national convention workbook, and all that reading you've got to do, be thankful you weren't a delegate to last week's General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Their workbook weighed in at 753 pages, with a mere 155 resolutions. No wonder their convention lasted eight days. A few resolution highlights:


Resolution A013 Study Genetically Modified Food Crops
Resolution A020 End the Embargo Against Cuba
Resolution A083 Advocate for Reforming Credit Reporting
Resolution A087 Resolution on Wealth
Resolution A127 Recommit to Being Anti-Racists for the Next Three Triennia (Until 2018)

Speaking of Collars, There's a New Church Plant in Town

There's a new church plant in town, at least if the town is North Liberty, Iowa. What's it's name? Agua's Trough? Washington Knolls? The Back Street? No, try Saint Silas Lutheran Church. This new church plant, located just northwest of Iowa City, is being supported by Iowa District East. Pastor Andrew Richard, the Assistant Pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Chapel in Iowa City is planting the seed. As you might have guessed from the name, this is not a plant based on a seeker sensitive model, it's a liturgical church with an emphasis on Law and Gospel. I'm sure they will appreciate your prayers as they endeavor to spread God's Word in an area that sorely needs to hear it. If you'd like to help water that seed with a contribution, contact Rev. Dr. Dean F. Rothchild, Iowa District East LCMS, 1100 Blairs Ferry Road, Marion, IA 52302. Here's the details:



A post-production note gleaned from Pastor Richard's comment below: "Check out our Facebook page www.facebook.com/stsilaslutheran or e-mail directly with any questions, comments, or encouragement stsilaslutheran@gmail.com. ...We're launching a website in the next few weeks, so stay tuned."

The Collar – Opening Doors

Looking around the convention floor, there’s a real smorgasbord of attire. The occasional tie, tee shirts, shorts, even a kilt, but rarely a clerical collar. That’s sort of interesting, since half the attendees are pastors. Even the designated convention chaplain isn’t wearing a collar. There’s a handful of older pastors wearing a collar, and a handful of young pastors wearing one as well, with practically no one in between. It is heartening to see some of the younger guys wearing a collar. I wonder if that goes along with their theology. Is it the baby boomers who have rejected the collar, in favor of a more allegedly relevant practice?

One of the recent seminary grads mentioned that he wears his collar around town because it opens doors. This isn’t a new epiphany, but it is worth considering. While I would think the comments one might receive while wearing a collar out on the street would be rather stereotypical, they’re still opportunities to have a conversation with someone that will benefit from hearing Law and Gospel. The door that opens is one through which God’s Word can be shared with a sinner in need of forgiveness. And which of us doesn’t need that?

Cutting Down on the Cost of Seminary Education: Is This the Next Step?

Disclaimer: This is a Friday post. Don’t take it too seriously.

The cost of seminary education is becoming prohibitively expensive. With congregations out there who can’t afford a pastor, there have been some novel approaches to cutting corners. Perhaps this is the end of the line, the final solution -- the Universal Life Church:

The Universal Life Church is the only denomination worldwide that opens its doors to all, welcoming all who feel called to be a minister to complete a free online ordination to be a minister, rabbi, priest or pastor. We are a non-denominational community and offer a full spectrum of support services. Millions of ministers have become legally ordained through the ULC Monastery all over the world. We do not have tests of loyalty, religious rings to kiss, nor do we require payment. The Universal Life Church wholly believes in its mantra - "We are all children of the same universe."
The Universal Life Church Monastery represents religious freedom, both freedom from and freedom of religion. At the ULC Monastery there is no hierarchy, and no one is held above another. All faiths are considered equal and no deity is held above another.

Online ordination in the ULC Monastery allows anyone from anywhere in the world to perform nondenominational weddings, funerals, baptisms, and other services in most states and counties in the United States. For information about the marriage laws of all fifty U.S. states, as well as those of other countries (including Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand), visit our Wedding Laws database. As a ULC minister, you will be a legally recognized wedding officiant, funeral officiant, or baptism officiant, among other things.

Now lest you think I’m joking, I actually know someone who did this. (He’s not a Christian.) His nephew wanted his favorite uncle to marry him, so why not? He got his online diploma, and he’s good to go. You may now kiss the bride. Now here’s the kicker:

When couples want to find a wedding officiant to perform their wedding, you will be able to offer them your personalized services without going through the often unfair and unjustified hassle of traditional seminary training. [emphasis added]

Their goal is “is to educate new ministers in the basics of their profession, regardless of faith, beliefs or religion.” You heard it here first. Let’s hope none of our seminarians get a whiff of this – they’ll be bailing left and right to avoid the unfair and unjustified hassle of traditional seminary training, not to mention the $60,000 in tuition. And I can only imagine what will happen if some of our district presidents get a hold of this. No more problems for “non-calling” congregations.

Just to seal the deal, you can watch Conan O’Brien give ULC his endorsement here.