Unsettling Questions

In a comment on a previous post, -C asked if attempting to reform the LCMS was worth the fight. Since Lutherans are, by definition, reformers, one may be led immediately to say "Absolutely!" But here is how I responded to her in another comment:

It is worth letting people know what is going on, as a lot of this is below the radar of the average layperson. Someone wise once told me, "If the house is on fire and you can't put it out, you exit it. If you are concerned with others, you run out yelling that the house is on fire."

I followed with a few questions, expanded here:

Is the LCMS a house on fire? Is it possible to quench this house ablaze?

Is it even possible to fight for Confessionalism within the LCMS or has the battle already been lost?

Is Confessionalism just an -ism? That is, are we fighting for ideology or for theology, or for faith? In other words, if our complaint is worth exiting the Synod if the ship cannot be turned, is it even possible to have what Confessional Lutherans desire?

Beautiful Consolation

I just led a devotion at a Senior's Lunch which addressed how Christ has "swallowed up death forever" (Isa. 25). One member shared that she found great comfort in the words of the Te Deum, that Christ "has overcome the sharpness of death." Most in the room had lost close loved ones--some fairly recently. With these thoughts banging around, I ran across this, another gem courtesy Fr. Gregory Hogg:

St. Basil sets the context:

"The heir of an illustrious house, the bulwark of his race, the hope of his fatherland, the offspring of pious parents, a lad nurtured amid countless prayers, in the very flower of youth--he is gone, torn from the very arms of his parents..."


Then he applies the remedy:

"We have not been bereft of the boy, but we have given him back to the lender; nor has his life been destroyed, but merely transformed for the better; earth has not covered our beloved one, but heaven has received him. Let us abide a brief space, and we shall be with him whose loss we mourn. Nor will the period of separation be great, since in this life, as on a journey, we are all hastening to the same inn; and although one has already taken up his lodging there, and another has just arrived, and another is hastening thither, yet the same goal will receive us all. For even though your son has finished his journey first, nevertheless we shall all travel the same path, and the same hospice awaits us all. Only may God grant that we through virtue may become like to him in purity, that by the blamelessness of our character we may obtain the same repose as the children of Christ."

Our Truest Desire...

Nothing in this world but God can fill our heart or fully satisfy our desires. A fire cannot be put out with brushwood and oil, because only water will put it out. In exactly the same way, the desires of the human heart cannot be satisfied with the goods of this world, because only the Grace of God can quench the thirst of our desires.

St. Innocent of Alaska
1797-1879

HT: Fr. Gregory

Another Insight of our "Deep Division"

Here is an insightful post by Pr. Benjamin Harju of Paredwka:Dropping the Ball.

A quote:

Like I said, the main problem [with the LCMS] is a faulty Predestinarianism. However, the secondary problems go straight to the core of what Christianity is. The LCMS is ill in its carrying out of worship, preaching, and living out the Faith ecclesially. It doesn't get more fundamental than that. This is why people of solid liturgical parishes look over at their fellow LCMSers who are totally contemporary and see no compatibility, and then get really depressed and confused. We have in our Synod two entirely different Christianities (and here I believe I'm being overly optimistic). They may be able to tally up many of the same doctrines on paper, but the heart and soul of just who Jesus is - just what Christianity is - is fundamentally different. Ouch.

(If you think I might be on to something, please spread the word. However, giving this a third-time-over review, I expect I'll probably anger people from all sides of the fence with what I'm saying.)

The next question is: what do we do about this?

In the Interest of Full Disclosure

Having suffered through the flurry of posts and new blogs regrading the demise of "Issues, Etc.", I probably should have said upfront that I did not like the show. I found it hyper-critical at times, woefully inaccurate in others and, on occasion, more the bully pulpit of the personalities rather than an honest exploration of issues.

However, I've been blogging on all this because the show was also very good at times and served a good purpose in our Synod. It truly was the voice of 21st Century Confessional Lutheranism--the good, the bad, and the ugly included. That it was canceled--and canceled in such a slapstick way--I believe signals an end of everything the show represented.

Sadly, It's Probably Accurate

When I saw the results I was offended, which probably means it's dead on.

You Are Scooter

Brainy and knowledgable, you are the perfect sidekick. You're always willing to lend a helping hand. In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going. "15 seconds to showtime!"

The Muppet Personality Test

More Evidence

Here's a report that content, and not monetary considerations was definitely an issue for Issues, Etc.

Oprah's Religion

Watch this clip. The narrator is a little sensationalist, but the actual clips of Oprah espousing her religious beliefs are worth it. In the very first clip she denies that Jesus is the "way, the truth and the life," and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. She needs our prayers, and if you watch her show, you need to stop. Sermon over.



HT: Father Hollywood