What to do...

Here's some really good, scriptural and common sense advice, from Pastor Joel Brandos, for those who are in a liberal-leaning Lutheran church and you are a layperson:

1) Support your pastor. Encourage him to speak the truth in love. If he complains about how bad things are, urge him to keep commending what is good, right, and salutary;

2) Show up at local and regional meetings and conventions;

3) When you are at these events, don’t get angry. Don’t even look perturbed. Instead, take along with you one or two Bible passages and one or two quotes from Luther and the Confessions, not more than one paragraph long. Find the opportunity to share them with the group, telling people how much these words mean to you. To start out with, don’t speak against things — tell people what you are FOR and why you are for it. Identify people in the group who are interested in your words, even if it is only one or two. Make their acquaintance; get their e-mail; get to know them, but don’t be psychotically overwhelming. You might point them to one or two constructive blogs and The Wittenberg Trail;

4) If you find someone who doesn’t agree with you, first of all, just LISTEN to them and ask clarifying questions. Don’t get into a knock-down drag out argument. Sometimes you will hear them make outlandish statements. Press them hard to give evidence and make them PROVE that what they are saying is true. Don’t let them make generalizations. After you listen, THEN you may explain to them once again what you think is helpful and important based on the Scriptures, Confessions, and Luther’s writings;

5) Buy a copy of “What Luther Says.” This publication is full of excerpts from his writings on many different subjects organized alphabetically by Topic. Read it;

6) Read the PREFACES to Luther’s Large and Small Catechisms. Amazing! Read the Large Catechism if you have never done so. Re-memorize the Small Catechism as part of your daily devotions;

7) Get a copy Bente’s “Historical Introductions to the Book of Concord.” Understand Lutheran theology in its historical context - very important! Note how it was all LAYMEN who signed the Augsburg Confession.

On choosing a redeemer...

I read a quote today that will compel me to read a book:

“…’I mean–I mean that I have given Him my heart.’ The older man’s face became suddenly as solemn as the grave. ‘Do you consider that something to give Him?’ … ‘But sir, if you do not give your heart to Jesus, you cannot be saved.’ ‘You are right, my boy. And it is just as true that, if you think you are saved because you give Jesus your heart, you will not be saved. You see, my boy, … it is one thing to choose Jesus as one’s Lord and Savior, to give Him one’s heart and commit oneself to Him, and that He now accepts one into His little flock; it is a very different thing to believe on Him as a Redeemer of sinners, of whom one is chief. One does not choose a Redeemer for oneself, you understand, nor give one’s heart to Him. The heart is a rusty old can on a junk heap. A fine birthday gift, indeed! But a wonderful Lord passes by, and has mercy on the wretched tin can, sticks His walking cane through it and rescues it from the junk pile and takes it home with Him. That is how it is.’ … ‘And now you must understand that these two ways of believing are like two different religions, they have nothing whatever to do with each other.’”

~The Hammer of God, by Bo Giertz

Differences among synods

The latest battle in the Missouri synod has people searching on the internet for alternatives. My blog's search statistics show that. It is my own opinion that most confessional Lutherans refuse to look at other synods seriously because of a long list of mis perceptions and hearsay. I know the pain of switching synods; I did so myself about five years ago. The only thing I can offer is that once you do make the switch with a whole heart, the pain goes away. The things that I thought might bother me, i.e. the role of women in ministry and close communion, were not issues for me once I was sold on the ELS' ability to preach the gospel.

I would never encourage anyone to leave their synod or church, but if you feel that it is what you are being called to do then I hope you consider the ELS. I have been (mostly) very happy there. The ELS, though not perfect, is remaining faithful. We are small, manageable and pretty transparent. If I wanted to I could make an appointment with our president and ask him any question. There is no division among pastors, beyond the usual human divisions (style, age, personality, which football team they cheer for, etc). Do your research from there. I can also tell you that the ELS is not the same as WELS, yet we are in fellowship with WELS. A WELS pastor writes:

If you find differences, then, it is more likely to be in the area of culture or ways of doing things aside from Bible doctrine and practice. Norwegian and German people (and their descendants to a degree) don't always reflect the same personality traits or enjoy the same food or entertainment. And many ELS churches use different editions of catechisms and hymnals than most WELS churches do. Welcome to America and cultural diversity. But especially give thanks that these two church bodies enjoy confessional fellowship centered in Christ and his Word.

Are you looking for another confessional Lutheran synod? Ask others. Pray. I found this opinion at WELS.net Q & A feature very interesting...

...the majority of truly conservative or orthodox pastors and congregations have already left the LCMS or have chosen to hunker down to protect their own parish as long as they can. And they will die or retire before they do much else.

Easter at King of Grace

Our church looked particularly beautiful on Easter morning. I meant to take photos, but wasn't able to get up front after the service before members began to take their particular flowers home. Good thing Jack did! He sent them to Norman and Norman posted them. Thanks guys!

Norman's Demesne: Easter at King of Grace

Issues, Etc. cancellation

Issues, Etc., the popular and nationally broadcast was suddenly and without any warning removed from the air and its hosts were fired. The official statement by the LCMS-owned radio station, KFUO, explains virtually nothing:

For programmatic and business reasons, the decision was made this week to discontinue the "Issues, Etc." program on KFUO-AM. We look forward to bringing you new programming in this time slot in the near future. Also, we thank "Issues" host Rev. Todd Wilken and producer Mr. Jeff Schwarz for their years of service on behalf of the station.

Lutherans everywhere are saddened at the loss of a venue which could bring people of faith together across the country for an hour or two. They are also amazed at the cold, callous and non-sensical nature of the cancellation. In the radio world, sudden cancellations are hardly unusual, but in the Lutheran world I guess we expected a bit more from the powers that be. The show was their MOST LISTENED TO PROGRAM, with plenty of sponsors.

The show archives are back up and will be available for who knows how long. Pastor Todd Wilken has sent show listeners a message of thanks for the prayers and gifts of cash to him and his producer, who are suddenly out of work:

My thanks to everyone who has been so generous and supportive. Thank you for demonstrating such brotherly concern toward me, Jeff and our families. We are encouraged by everyone's Christian compassion and friendship.



Everyone, go to church. Eat and drink the body and blood of Jesus. Celebrate His death for us. Await His resurrection. It's Holy Week - the best week of the year.



Wir sind alle Bettler,

TW

If you would like to sign a petition, go here. If you would like to offer financial assistance to Pastor Wilken and Mr. Schwarz as they make this difficult and sudden transistion, The Wittenberg Trail is organizing a drive to offer financial support. They have set up a secure PayPal account. Follow the directions at the Wittenberg Trail website(free membership may be required) and click on the "Donate" button on the right side of the screen. Visit The Wittenberg Trail at: http://wittenbergtrail.ning.com.

Tithe or you will be cursed!

In the middle of a CBS Sunday Morning piece, To Tithe or Not to Tithe, on churches which demand or strongly encourage a tithe from their congregants, a small gem of scriptural reason was featured:

"I'm somewhat suspicious of people who want to turn giving ten percent into virtually the only law that applies to people who are under a covenant of grace," says Hudnut-Beumler, "where God saves freely, not for ten percent down."

He says he's reminded of Martin Luther, father of the Protestant movement, who broke away from the Catholic church because it was selling indulgences: Promises of a quicker road to heaven in exchange for cash.

"Stripped down to its basics," he says, "I don't think it's different than indulgences. What we see today, though, is a return to 'this-for-that religion,' give God this and God will give you that."

Words of wisdom from a Lutheran? I couldn't find any reference to him being raised Lutheran (except for being raised in Michigan). James Hudnut-Beumler is dean of the divinity school at Vanderbilt University.

Another gem, of sorts, from a woman who strongly believes in tithing: "It makes me feel good."

Here is a bit of considered opinion on tithing, which (of course) is not a bad practice, but it is not mandated to Christians, by a Lutheran theologian:

It is always a horrible abuse of the Word of God - and a legalistic binding of consciences - to try to use the law to motivate and "drive" Christians to fruits of faith, rather than seeking to empower and inspire them through the gospel. Such "law-forced" good works are nothing but the rotten fruit of grudging obedience or pharisaic pride. The tithe is not a club with which we are to beat God's people over the head. It is merely one guide with which we can measure our gifts over against the gifts which God's Old Testament people brought him.

"God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The antidote for me

Reading through the New York Times summary of the findings of the latest Pew report, this quote caught my eye: “The trend is towards more personal religion, and evangelicals offer that." I find this quote and trend very sad because I believe that a church which makes religion about ME is like following a dead-end road. I spent too long on that road before finally figuring out that worshiping God is not about ME; it's the ANTIDOTE for me. Here on this earth, I have no problem making nearly everything about me. It's my best (and worst) habit. We all do it, if we are honest with ourselves. Divine worship is that brief respite FROM me.

While the ranks of the unaffiliated have been growing, Protestantism has been declining, the survey found. In the 1970s, Protestants accounted for some two-thirds of the population. The Pew survey found they now make up about 50 percent. Evangelical Christians account for a slim majority of Protestants, and those who leave one evangelical denomination usually move to another, rather than to mainline churches. Prof. Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University, said large numbers of Americans leaving organized religion and large numbers still embracing the fervor of evangelical Christianity pointed to the same desires. “The trend is towards more personal religion, and evangelicals offer that,” Professor Prothero said, explaining that evangelical churches tailored much of their activities to youths. “Those losing out are offering impersonal religion,” he said, “and those winning are offering a smaller scale: mega-churches succeed not because they are mega but because they have smaller ministries inside.”

The Pew survey, available on the Web at http://religions.pewforum.org/, was conducted between May and August of 2007.