Look Who’s Been Moonlighting!

News Flash:

Most of us have read the great answers that Rev. Walter Snyder, the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Emma, MO, has written on his Ask the Pastor blog, and appreciate all the work he’s done on his Xrysostom website. He’s been around for years answering the questions we can’t quite seem to figure out on our own.

And now, for the rest of the story.

I was commenting to one of my friends how I enjoyed listening to Pastor Borghardt on Higher Things Radio. His sometimes zany and excitable voice reminds me a bit of Dr. Demento, the comedic voice from the radio past who still airs on a few stations. (For those of you who don't remember Dr. Demento, his is a rather light-hearted comedy, not dark like the name might imply.) What I could not have known, at least until I visited the Dr. Demento website, is that Dr. Demento is actually Pastor Walt Snyder. I know. I couldn’t believe it either. He’s been moonlighting all these years.

It seems impossible. But think about it. They both excel in their respective spheres. Dr. Demento excels in delivering wacky comedy and fine music in his comedic discipline, and Rev. Snyder excels in delivering the Word of the Lord in his pastoral discipline. Plus Pastor Snyder already has another well known alias, Orycteropus Afer. So what’s one more vocation? Pastor, Xrysostom, Aardvark, and now Dr. Demento. I know what you’re thinking. Their voices don’t sound quite the same. But anybody can disguise their voice. If you’re still not buying this, here’s the irrefutable proof. You can disguise your voice, but you can’t disguise your looks. I present to you “Dr. Demento” on the left and Rev. Snyder on the right.



I told you so! They both carry an air of wisdom and sophistication don’t they? Same greying beard. Same dapper dress. Same wire-frame glasses. If you look on Fox, the big “BREAKING NEWS” should be sliding past on the bottom of your television screen right now. The next time you bump into Pastor Snyder, you’ll look at him in a whole new light. You might even ask him to autograph that worn cassette tape of The Dr. Demento Show that you pirated off the radio with your Panasonic a few decades back. And be sure to thank him for all the laughs. Who would have known?

Until next time, this is Correspondent Scott Diekmann signing off.

Send Your Kids to Higher Things

Are you concerned about what your kids and the kids in your congregation are encountering when they go to church-sponsored regional and national youth events? Are you tired of events that are more about entertainment and merging with the culture than about being set apart from it? Are you concerned that they will be negatively influenced by things like yoga, mysticism, and an emphasis on “experience” rather than God’s gifts found in Word and Sacrament? Are you seeing your children’s Lutheran beliefs gradually ebb away in favor of a people-pleasing emphasis on what they’re doing rather than on what Christ has done for them? If you are, then I suggest you check out Higher Things.

Higher Things is an organization dedicated to assisting parents, congregations, and pastors in cultivating and promoting a Lutheran identity among high school and college youth through conferences, retreats, publications, radio, and the internet. They offer national gatherings as well as weekend retreats, a network of Lutheran campus ministries, a quarterly magazine, Higher Things Radio, and a first-rate internet site offering blogs, forums, daily devotions, and other areas.

There are several things which distinguish Higher Things from many run-of-the-mill youth organizations and events. First, the LCMS pastors and laypersons that spearhead Higher Things work hard to instill in the kids a Lutheran identity. This is done by thorough teaching without the fluff. They do not dumb the message down, but rather strive to meet the kids at their level and challenge them in the things that make our Lutheran beliefs truly “higher things.” Secondly, to quote the video (which you can view below), “our youth are serious about worship, demonstrating a proper reverence of God, a devout appreciation for liturgical forms of worship, and a desire to receive God’s gifts of life, forgiveness, and salvation.” Third, this is not a one time event. The kids stay involved throughout the year via the magazine, personal contacts they develop, campus ministries, Higher Things Radio, events, and a highly interactive website. And of course, there are plenty of recreational and social opportunities as well. All of these combine to make Higher Things an organization that will impact your child and the kids in your congregation in ways that will benefit them spiritually for the rest of their lives.

I hope you'll visit the Higher Things website and watch the following video. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

As You Pray, So You Believe

The Latin phrase lex orandi, lex credendi, means the law of prayer is the law of belief. A loose translation would be "How you worship is how you believe." This little phrase has tremendous application in the life of the Church. It behooves us as Christians to continuously be vigilant of our practice, lest it corrupt our belief.

Pastor Rick Stuckwisch has an excellent post on lex orandi, lex credendi on his blog thinking-out-loud, in which he explores the history of the phrase, and its significance for the Church.

Here is Pastor Stuckwisch's conclusion:

This original definitiion of the "lex orandi" is instructive. It begins with the understanding that the Church's practice of prayer is not a self-authenticating enterprise. Faithful praying takes its stand upon, and take its cues from, the Word and promises of God. Which is not to say that every rubric, rite and ceremony must have an explicit command. That we should pray "for all men" and "without ceasing" requires a good ordering of life and practice, which need not be the same at all times and in all places. As preaching properly divides the Word of truth, proclaiming the Law and the Gospel in many and various ways, so does faithful praying proceed according to various patterns of sound words. Yet, faithful preaching and praying alike derive their authority from the Holy Scriptures, from the doctrine of the blessed Apostles. Nothing dare undermine, contradict, or compete with that regula fidei (the rule of faith). But the Church, in the freedom of the Gospel, regulates her practice according to and in harmony with the Lord's "lex orandi," in order that her faith in Him may be rightly and clearly confessed. In this way, the Church's liturgical practice establishes an orthodox "lex credendi."

A Lutheran Manifesto

If you haven't had opportunity to read through Pastor Frederic Baue's "A Lutheran Manifesto" at The Brothers of John the Steadfast site I hope you'll check it out. I've included his cover letter below to give you an idea of what the Manifesto is about. Please give a read. You can post comments there and/or affix your name to the document. Here is the cover letter:

Dear Reader,

Greetings to you and blessings through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

You have before you a document entitled, "A Lutheran Manifesto." Let me say a word about it by way of introduction.

I the undersigned am the sole author. I take complete responsibility for its contents. I have called it a "manifesto" in that its purpose is to exhort the reader to action. The manifesto contains twelve theses, each derived from the Articles of the Augsburg Confession. There are twenty-eight articles in the Augsburg Confession, but as a number of these address the same subject, I have combined them thematically.

What I am trying to achieve here is to view the current confessional crisis in the Lutheran church through the lenses of the Augsburg Confession.

The crisis is this: many Lutheran pastors, teachers, laymen, and congregations have not fulfilled their vow to be faithful to the Lutheran Confessions. They uphold the Bible, but waver on the Confessions.

I want to show that the Augsburg Confession, written in 1530, is still relevant. It still is valid. It still speaks to the issues and conflicts we are faced with today.

Click HERE to continue reading >>

News Flash: Purple Palace Defined

This just in. For those of you who aren't quite sure what the term "Purple Palace" means, it's now got an official definition in the Urban Dictionary.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Six months ago yesterday Issues, Etc.™ was canceled. A lot has happened since then, but a bad taste still lingers when reflecting on that event. No amount of Listerine seems to eliminate the flavor entirely. Of course, the happy ending to this story has already been written with the resurrected Issues.

To mark the occasion, Todd Wilken and Jeff Schwarz released a Web Extra Open Mics edition which reviewed the entire document titled "An ‘Issues, Etc.’ Q&A." This document by the Board for Communication Services and its Director David Strand came out shortly after the cancellation. They dissect the entire document line by line and comment on areas where the answers in this document may be less than accurate – perhaps a lot less than accurate.

Their rationale for revisiting the cancellation was summed up by Pastor Wilken at the end of the segment:

This is telling the truth. And the need to respond to half truth with full truth and to falsehood with the truth period. That’s all this is. Jeff and I have both happily moved on. More happy than you know. But the need to correct the record with the truth, no matter how happy we are to be free from LCMS, Inc., and out from the mismanagement of KFUO, no matter how happy we are, the need remains to correct the record with the truth. The truth needs to be told. And it’s really that simple.

In a lighter moment, Todd, quoting from the document, comments that

They should post this on the wall at the International Center: "People who work for an organization facing financial difficulty realize that continued employment in such circumstances can be precarious." They should post that as a sign on the front door of the International Center.

In a not-so-light moment Jeff relates

...the Synodocrats that couldn’t stand our show. And believe me, we have people over there too. We were frequently criticized by executive directors and high level employees routinely at LCMS, Inc. It was a thorn in their side.

This Web Extra is one I’d encourage you to listen to. It really probes the depths of the Issues, Etc.™ cancellation, and sheds light where it needs to be shed, sometimes painting a bleak picture of the looming corporate cloud than hangs over the craggy heights of the LCMS.

Ironically, the next to last paragraph of David Strand’s document closes with this comment: "One hopes this voice can continue to be heard through other communication channels." It looks like they got their wish. But it’s unlikely that it’s turned out for them exactly like they envisioned it.

Guess Who Said It

Name the person who said this:

However, even believing theologians of the modern type are frequently too timid to use technical terms that are fully warranted by Biblical and ecclesiastical usage, because they are afraid that these terms might prove offensive to their audience. They are averse to speaking of hereditary sin in their sermons or of the wrath of God against sinners, of the blindness of natural man, of spiritual death, in which all men are merged by nature. They do not like to speak of the devil going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, because that would make them unpopular with their hearers. They are disinclined to speak of the everlasting fire of hell, of eternal torment and damnation; they prefer to speak of these matters to their hearers in terms that do not seem so strange, faulty, and offensive to them, employing phrases that are more in harmony with “the religious sentiment of an enlightened people.”

Now, there is no doubt that these men wish to convert people by using such false terms. They believe that they can convert men by concealing things from them or by presenting matters in a manner that is pleasing to men as they are by nature. They are like sorry physicians who do not like to prescribe a bitter medicine to delicate patients, or if they do prescribe it, they add so much sugar to it that the patient does not taste the bitter medicine, with the result that the effect is spoiled. Accordingly, preachers who do not clearly and plainly proclaim the Gospel, which is offensive to the world, are not faithful in the discharge of their ministry and inflict great injury on men’s souls. Instead of advancing Christians in the knowledge of the pure doctrine, they allow them to grope in the dark, nurse false imaginations in them, and speed them on in their false and dangerous path.

Click on "Read More..." below to find out the answer.

Click HERE to continue reading >>

Don't Get Fooled Again

The August 28th Issues, Etc.™ show included an interview with Dr. Ken Schurb, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Moberly, MO. The topic was the recent Synodical restructuring proposals of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Synod Structure and Governance, which I previously mentioned here and here. This is most definitely a show which never would have gotten past the “network executive censors” back in the day of the “old” IE. We can thank those same censors for now providing us, albeit indirectly, with the ability to enjoy shows such as this one that are free of executive interference. Here are a few highlights from Todd Wilken’s interview of Dr. Schurb.

Dr. Schurb:

...the structure is going to make a difference in how the Gospel is proclaimed, even maybe how the Gospel is understood. ...the Church is a passive receiver, first of all, of the grace and gifts of Christ - forgiveness, life, and salvation, as He delivers them in Word and Sacrament. And then the Church responds to God by telling the good news... How you think of the Church as the receiver of God’s gifts and as the agent for God’s activity in the world can’t help but how you reflect on that Gospel message and I don’t think that matters of structure need necessarily be entirely neutral. In theory they could be, but I don’t think these matters of structure are entirely [theologically] neutral as regards all that.

Discussing the distinction between the Synod working in behalf of congregations to do what we couldn’t do individually, such as missions to foreign lands or operation of the seminaries, and the Synod working in support of the congregation, directly providing help to congregations in areas such as Christian education, stewardship, evangelism, and youth ministry, Dr. Schurb had this to say:

It’s a critical distinction as you look at this set of proposals, because this set of proposals is very heavy on the service in support of congregations. In fact, by sort of shear weight in the number of mentions and things like that, this is the thing that seemingly this task force has been most concerned with, and therefore relatively less concerned with the more traditional service in behalf of congregations, and not mentioned a great deal, although it’s not absent here, is the original purpose for the foundation of the Synod, which is the conservation of the unity of the true faith.

On the concept of giving more votes to larger congregations:

Now again, there is a theological rational, if not a theologically binding command from the Lord, to structure this way [an equal number of votes per congregation], and that is no congregation has more or less of Christ than any other. Where His Word is proclaimed, where His Sacraments are administered, there is the Church and there is Christ in His forgiving fullness, and no church has more or less of Him than another, be it 50 members, 500 members, 5,000 members, whatever you may have. This now is a fundamental change in the way congregations are represented, and I wonder if it’s not a fundamental change in the way the Synod is conceived.

...My question is, If you’ve got a system in place that does have some theological rhyme or reason, if you move away from it, what does that say about your commitment to that theological rhyme and reason, and, what kind of new theological spin might there be to the new system that you are putting into place?

Click HERE to continue reading >>

Stand Up

If you’re a blogger who wants to contend for the faith, put your name and your email address on your blog. Even if you’re going by a pseudonym, an email address is helpful. There've been times when I wanted to contact someone after reading their blog, but no email address was furnished.

I might have been able to add a comment, but oftentimes that’s not all that viable an alternative. People don’t necessarily want to carry on a one-sided conversation that the whole world can see.

You might be worried about spam. I’ve got my email address on both my blogs and on my website. I don’t get that much spam. It’s worth a little inconvenience for the sake of the Gospel. On the apologetics website that I own, soundwitness.org, I’ve taken the radical step of having my home phone number on the “Contacts” page. Yes, I occasionally get a crank phone call because of it, usually from an unhappy Jehovah’s Witness. More often it’s from a sincere person looking for help. There’s even an occasional "thank you" email.

So stand up and be heard. Make yourself available. You’ve got the shield of faith in one hand and the sword of the Spirit in the other. You need fear no spam.

Connecting People

Awaiting me in the thick stack of mail was a letter from the ADA Foundation. On the exterior of the back flap of the envelope were two lines which I copied:



Those phrases seemed familiar. I hopped on the internet and found similar phrases on a Lutheran church website that I’d seen before, which said “CONNECTING people” and “SHARINGlife.”

The ADA Foundation is a philanthropic and charitable organization sponsored by the American Dental Association. They provide grants for research and education, assist the needy in accessing dental care, and provide charitable assistance. Interestingly, their catchphrase, “CONNECTING PEOPLE. CHANGING LIVES.,” is nearly indistinguishable from the slogans on the home page of this church and on those of other church websites.

The home page also states they are “all about reaching people with God's grace to transform our local community into passionate followers of Jesus Christ.” Is that what God’s grace is all about? Making people passionate followers of Jesus Christ? No.

Jesus came to redeem fallen sinners who are enemies of God. He didn’t come to make them passionate followers, He came to forgive their sins. God’s alien work, to convict us of our sin, is done by the preaching of the Law. If the preaching of the Law is never carried out, God’s proper work, the forgiveness of our sins accomplished through the preaching of the Gospel, will never be heard. God’s work is thwarted.

Another Lutheran church on the web used the exact same phrases on one of its pages as did the ADA Foundation. Their page closes with a parishioner’s comment: “The connection is working, if we work at it, because we are all worth it.”

When the Church becomes like the world, it can offer nothing other than what the world can offer, some form of self-help. It becomes indistinguishable from a corporate benevolent society, offering connections, happiness, vision, changed lives, and Starbucks. It becomes indistinguishable from the slogan on the back of the envelope. The Church can only be the Church as she continues to clearly proclaim God’s wrath through the Law, followed by the redemptive work of Christ in the proclamation of the Gospel. If you want to talk about “connecting people,” connect them to the perfect life, death, and resurrection, worked out for us on a cross by Jesus Christ our risen Lord.