I've finally nailed down my educational approach

I've been bouncing between classical education, Charlotte Mason, and unschooling for quite some time. Now I think I've finally got it all sorted out.

I am a
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classical unschooler, with Charlotte Mason influences ;).


I suppose you could consider that a cop-out (I love labels, but I rarely fit nicely into one slot), but I think it is pretty accurate, nonetheless.

What I mean by it is essentially classical subjects via an unschooling methodology (with some CM habit training thrown in for good measure). My academic goals are that, before my kid(s) leave home, I want them to be proficient at reading, writing, speaking, and listening in English and at least one other language; I also want them to be proficient at arithmetic, algebra, and geometry; as well, I want them to be exposed to the essentials (as judged by dh and me) of history, science, literature, art, and music.

My current, highly-subject-to-change plan is:
Grammar stage: Focus on reading widely in English and any other language to be mastered - most of which is child-selected - using the content of the reading to achieve exposure to many concepts. Do copywork, oral narrations, and some memorization, letting the child(ren) choose most of the examples to copy/narrate/memorize. Informal math teaching only, although math workbooks available for kid(s) who want them.
Dialetic stage: Start introducing more structure. Do formal grammar study of English and foreign languages. Do formal arithmetic. Do progym exercises. Do formal logic.
Rhetoric stage: Assist each kid in designing and executing a high school curriculum of their choice.

So there it is. You might be noticing the extreme lack of anything connected to the Bible or Lutheran theology. Rest assured it is *not* because we plan to completely neglect the Queen of the Sciences. Rather, it is because, for all that I embrace the unschooling ideal of no distinction between academic subjects and the rest of life, I still do it anyway =shrug=. The above subjects all fall under my mental heading of "academic". Teaching our kid(s) our faith falls under my mental heading of "part of daily life" - where it should be - and so I don't discuss in the context of (un)school.

The ELCA Shuffle

The ELCA is once again in convention which means it is once again time for the ELCA shuffle. While wanting to appear progressive but at the same time not do anything that would solidify a split they shuffle between their positions. In a remarkable decision they defeat a measure to allow active homosexuals to serve and at the same time pass a measure that prevents the defrocking of active homosexuals. Why do they do such double speak? For the same reason they continually delay the release of their study on homosexuality and the church. They are not blind.

While incredibly ignorant on matters such as biblical interpretation they are great at judging the cultural climate. They can see that American society is increasingly accepting of the homosexual life choice and they want to appeal to American society. At the same time, they can see what the homosexual issue has done to their bosom buddies the Episcopals (they are in Altar/Pulpit fellowship). The Episcopals are undergoing a ever growing split as conservative Anglicans leave their ever shrinking church body. The ELCA knows that is going to happen to them. It will likely happen on a larger scale, because the conservative portions are in larger numbers in their church body. With this in mind don't hold your breath waiting for a definitive statement, it probably will not come until they have chased out a sufficient number of conservatives.

The Holiness of Dirty Diapers

How can something so foul be so holy? Well, Veith has found a wonderful quote from Luther concerning the holy work of changing a dirty diaper.

Now observe that when that clever harlot, our natural reason (which the pagans followed in trying to be most clever), takes a look at married life, she turns up her nose and says, "Alas, must I rock the baby, wash its diapers, make its bed, smell its stench, stay up nights with it, take care of it when it cries, heal its rashes and sores, and on top of that care for my wife, provide for her, labour at my trade, take care of this and take care of that, do this and do that, endure this and endure that, and whatever else of bitterness and drudgery married life involves? What, should I make such a prisoner of myself? 0 you poor, wretched fellow, have you taken a wife? Fie, fie upon such wretchedness and bitterness! It is better to remain free and lead a peaceful. carefree life; I will become a priest or a nun and compel my children to do likewise."

What then does Christian faith say to this? It opens its eyes, looks upon all these insignificant, distasteful, and despised duties in the Spirit, and is aware that they are all adorned with divine approval as with the costliest gold and jewels. It says, "0 God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers. or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will? 0 how gladly will I do so, though the duties should be even more insignificant and despised. Neither frost nor heat, neither drudgery nor labour, will distress or dissuade me, for I am certain that it is thus pleasing in thy sight."

A wife too should regard her duties in the same light, as she suckles the child, rocks and bathes it, and cares for it in other ways; and as she busies herself with other duties and renders help and obedience to her husband. These are truly golden and noble works. . . .

Now you tell me, when a father goes ahead and washes diapers or performs some other mean task for his child, and someone ridicules him as an effeminate fool, though that father is acting in the spirit just described and in Christian faith, my dear fellow you tell me, which of the two is most keenly ridiculing the other? God, with all his angels and creatures, is smiling, not because that father is washing diapers, but because he is doing so in Christian faith. Those who sneer at him and see only the task but not the faith are ridiculing God with all his creatures, as the biggest fool on earth. Indeed, they are only ridiculing themselves; with all their cleverness they are nothing but devil's fools.

Boy, it kind of makes me feel guilty about grumping about changing Baby Lutherette's diapers.

It does help put things into proper perspective. The simple act of care in the face of something foul is the greatest form of love. This act of changing the diapers must be something a kin to Christ changing the dirty rags of my life, that are soiled in sin, for those washed white in his blood.

HT: Cranach - The Blog of Gene Veith

The Old Bait and Switch

Surfing the net looking for sermon and outreach ideas, I came across a church that is practicing what I would call the old bait and switch. They have named their church ______ Community Church. Now anybody having some familiarity with community churches would expect something of the bapticostal type teaching. However, in this case the church is Lutheran, something that becomes apparent when you view their website, they have a link to concordiatheology.org and they have a regular seminar that is based on Veith's Spirituality of the Cross.

This combination bothers me. I have met the senior pastor at this church and he does believe that having a church name that identifies you with a denomination is a detriment to outreach. I disagree, obviously. I seriously doubt many people who have no church experience are going to be turned off by the name Lutheran, Baptist, or whatever on the sign. Most likely they are going to go where their friends and family are and where they feel welcome, despite the name on the sign.

As far as I can see the there are three sets of people who will be turned off by having a denominational name. The first set is the group comprised of people who have had negative experiences within a certain denomination. The second set is the group of overly pious people who view denominational names as high heresy. The third set is the group of people who don't want to bind themselves to any set confession, rather they want to be free to make up their own confession. That is it. So, instead of creating a name that is welcoming to non-Christians they are practicing a bait and switch on these people. That just ain't right. Churches should go above and beyond in being completely open and honest about who they are, not hide behind a name.

It's The Hypocrisy, Stupid!

A recent article came out where Gene Robinson speaks about the problem of homosexual clergy (unfortunately Christian Post.com lost the link). One of the things that he points out is that there are many "gay" clergy actively working. I don't doubt it, clergy are sinners, too. Some, he says have active live-in partners. Apparently, something that is occurring in England according to his statements. Just to make it better their Bishops know about the situation and won't do anything. Yet, at the same time, if it ever comes out the bishop will be their worst enemy. Robinson laments the horrible pressure these poor homosexual priests face because of an unloving intolerant church.

The problem I see is not the church being unloving, it is the bishops engaging in active hypocrisy. Their public face says they are against active homosexuals serving but, they knowingly allow them to continue serving in secret. Oh, what tangled webs we weave.

If only they would wake up and realize that God doesn't change just because we find Him inconvenient. If these bishops really want to do their job they should be upholding the office of the keys and not condoning these sinful actions by their priests. But they don't, for they really do not believe in the Bible, instead they follow the ways of the world so they can seem loving. Then they add hypocrisy to their list of crimes against God by publicly condemning the very priests they supported in their homosexual lifestyle.

News Legend Dies

Marvin Zindler, age 85, passed away yesterday. Marvin was a colorful character and my introduction to the local news on KTRK in Houston, TX. First time I saw him I thought he was something of joke with an over the top delivery and bright blue tinted sunglasses. Dressed as he was I thought he was a parody of TV evangelists. As it turns out he was for real and I, who never watch consumer reports, started watching Marvin just because he was such a character. He made me laugh at a time when I was at my lowest, I was terribly homesick my freshman year of college. Those of you with a few years under your belt who are not from the Houston area might know him from a famous Broadway play turned Burt Reynolds - Dolly Parton movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. The play and movie were based on Marvin's first major news campaign the closing of the infamous Chicken Ranch, the site where the losing team treated the winners of the annual Texas-Texas A&M football game. While many will remember him because of these famous retellings, I will always remember him for his "Sliiiimme in the ice machine" reports. Well, Marvin I guess this is your last sign off "Marvin Zindler...Eyyyyyee Witness News!"

It's all Greek to Me!

Mrs. Luther (Forty-Two), has decided that as part of her approach to homeschooling she is going to teach the children foreign languages. Now admittedly neither of are great shakes at any modern language, I only remember enough Spanish to ask two important questions, May I have a beer and where's the bathroom. However, we both have some knowledge of the classical languages and we were in a discussion as to which would be the most benefit and immediate use for young Lutherette. Well, I immediately thought as Latin is the language of the Antichrist not much use yet. So, I had to think is Hebrew of more immediate value or is Koine Greek? They each have their advantages and their disadvantages.

Hebrew is a straight forward language with an uncomplicated sentence structure. However, the Hebrews are worst than the Germans for forming compound words. One word easily expands into four words. Plus, you have Hebrew poetry which throws out all the grammatical rules plus some necessary words to ease understanding.

Greek on the other hand is a far more complex language. However, learning this language will prepare a person for learning more modern languages, plus you can read the New Testament, always good. I think I am leaning towards Greek and I think Mrs. L is too, but she is still waffling so I wouldn't be surprised to hear she wants to teach young Lutherette, Spanglish.

Anyhow, Greek does have a major advantage of Hebrew as far I am concerned and that is Concordia Seminary has all of Dr. Voeltz's Beginning Greek Lectures on video podcast at iTunesU. A tremendous help since while I do still try to practice reading Greek, I do not know it well enough to teach. If you are interested in things Theological Concordia's iTunesU page is worth checking out as they have a fast growing collection of audio and video resources.

A Misgiving Gives Way

A while back I wrote about the fact I have been receiving numerous visitors looking for pictures of guns. For a while I was seriously considering removing the picture because they were just looking at the guns and the shear number overwhelmed my logs, that tends to happen when you sign up for a free service that allows you to look at the last 100 and you average 300+ hits a day. Any how, my misgivings are melting away because I have noticed a growing trend. People find me while looking for guns but now a growing number are clicking on topic categories, and to think I was considering removing those too. Needless to say, I have nothing against guns, they are tremendous fun to shoot at the range and I am not one to turn down great free advertising (My pic is the second listed on the first page of Google searches for guns) so the pic stays. I will look at this way for all who come looking for guns, I have good news for you.

BTW, major milestone we cleared 10,000 hits this week.

My Thoughts on Deathly Hallows

Wow this was a real page turner, the only reason I put it down was because I was splitting time with my wife. I really enjoyed the fast paced action of the book but there were a few things I found lacking and in some cases disturbing

Spoilers - Highlight to see.

The deaths of Lupin and Tonks get a one line mention? What is that? Lupin was if not a major character he was a significant secondary character. I even missed it, my first clue was when Harry used the stone in the forbidden forest and Lupin appeared.

Did Mrs. Weasley use avada kadavra Bellatrix? Some people have already suggested as much. I don't think she did, even as mad as she was she would not resort to a spell she despised so strongly. I think it is more likely her spell was cast sufficiently strong that when it hit on the heart it stopped the heart. A legitimate idea since a sufficiently powerful physical blow can stop a heart.

This I found most disappointing, Harry's blase use of unforgivables. Rowling acted like these spells were unforgivable for a reason. That and it was completely unnecessary when he used crucio just because the guy spit on his prof.

Would Luther be Pro - Homosexual?

That is the argument of Mary Zeiss Stange, a professor of women's studies and religion at Skidmore College. She thinks Luther would abandon one of the most basic premises of his theology, every word in the Bible is spoken by God. I am not sure Mary has her head screwed on right. If Luther lived today we would still be under the thumb of Papa Pope and the old school RCC is very anti-homosexual. Some people shouldn't be given a pen and Mary is one of them. Any how my real reason for this post is to point you to an excellent refutation of her USA Today article.

ChristianPost.com

Evangelism - It Is Not The Priority

I am big on evangelism, in fact that is my focus in my congregation, so it may be surprising to hear from me that evangelism is not the priority of the church. It is in fact, a priority. The church exists for two reasons to feed the sheep that Christ has already called to himself and to make new disciples. These two priorities should be maintained in balance. If they are not maintained in balance the church will suffer.

The two overarching priorities of the church are both interrelated and opposing at the same time. A paradox if you will. They are related in that they are both based in the Gospel. They are opposed because they are aimed at people with different needs. Those already called into Christ need to be feed with increasingly solid food. Whereas, the lost need to be nursed on milk often given in the guise of food they think they need or want. At the same time we expect a certain high level of conduct from Christ's sheep, uniformity in doctrine and practice for example. We cannot expect the same from the lost or new to the faith; they are not that far along the path of faith. So while we need to minimize roadblocks for the lost we need to maintain certain expectations for those in the faith. Maintaining this balance is very hard to do. In fact, you will often find books saying you need to focus on one or the other or you will fail. I refuse to accept that. We are not called to be half a church. So, accepting a half measure such as this is unacceptable even if the maintenance of both is near impossible. Are we not supposed to reflect Christ in our lives? Was he only half perfect? No, and neither should we settle for less because it is hard.

We must maintain balance. This means we need in place measures to help people along in faith. We need to help people move from breast milk to prime rib. We cannot expect people to instantaneously appreciate the rich liturgical traditions of the Lutheran Church. We may have to go with a theologically light but orthodox service to bring them in, but we should not satisfy ourselves with leaving them there as we so often do. We need to think of ways to move them along in their faith walk so that they are drawn into the more theologically rich traditions. We must maintain that balance seeking the lost and feeding the sheep.

Infants Learn Right and Wrong Early On

This is something we may not have thought about overly much, but I think we need to put some thought into it. Differing groups in their desire to abandon anything remotely Romanish have abandoned baptism as a vehicle of God's Grace and in doing so deny children in baptism. One of the excuses they have come up with is they don't know right from wrong.

I beg to differ. The Law is written upon every man's heart (Jeremiah 31:33). This is evidenced more or less by a young child's desire to please their parents. Though they fail frequently they want to honor their parents and they realize that to do that means doing things that make mom and dad happy. Thus they begin with the basic concept that what makes mom and dad happy is right and what makes them unhappy is wrong. Their understanding may not go beyond that level, we don't know since they are limited in communication abilities, but the basic principle is there. They understand the concept of right and wrong. So to argue ignorance of right and wrong is a foolishness at best, but then what is a person going to do when they have made human reason the vehicle of salvation and thus replaced God.

Nearly a Hat Trick

Well, last week I nearly turned the hat trick. All I needed was a wedding to make it complete, but it is done and I am back.

When It Rains It Pours

This will be a week to remember. Senior Pastor and organist are on vacation(a problem caused by the two being married), so it is little old me on my own and boy it can't be busier. This week I have three funerals on Thursday and Saturday, and just to make it more fun, this seems to be the week everybody needs to talk to me. So, work on sermons is going at a snail's pace.

Oh yes, this is the week my parents came to visit, oh well they wanted to see their granddaughter more than me. With all that is going on I doubt I will be posting much this week.

Sorry to all of you who were hoping I would make the cry baby picture disappear off the front page.

Anyhow, pray for me and the families I will be ministering to this week.

Religiously Confused Priestette Suspended

Ann Redding, who recently announced that she is both Christian and Muslim, has been suspended for one year. I am guessing this is to give her time to contemplate her errors and that she could return in repentance. However, somebody who was already living in blatant disregard to a biblical mandate is unlikely to repentant over such a minor doctrinal issue as the divinity of Jesus (please note dripping sarcasm). I hope that she does realize her error and repents of her sin. I must also say that is nice to see that even the EC-USA has its limits on what sins they will tolerate.

What exactly do they mean by stricter?

A recent article in the ChristianPost.com, reports the rising tensions in the Church of Finland, a reportedly Lutheran church body. The main source of tension, a group of pastors becoming increasingly vocal in their opposition to women being ordained. These brave men are taking an increasingly unpopular stance and it would appear from the article are so firm in their stance as to refuse to work with any woman calling herself a pastor. Being that their church body is an organ of the state they have placed themselves in danger of legal action, because they are discriminating on the basis of gender. It is nice to see people standing up for what they believe despite the unpopularity of their position. With the likely actions they face these brave men need our prayers and support.

Science Catches Up With The Bible

Yesterday, it hit the news that a study shows, infants as young as six months are capable of lying. This study may finally help turn the tide against the mistaken notion that babies are so innocent. Now it is arguable if the actions described in the study "fake crying", etc. indicate deceptive behavior or not. What is definite is that the children are exhibiting self-centered behavior which is equally sinful. So, it would seem that science may finally be catching up with the Bible.

Churches and the Fourth of July

Yesterday, we had our freedom celebration (Fourth of July service). We had patriotic hymns and a video featuring pictures of family members who serve in the military, police, and fire departments followed by an old fashion picnic with American staples minus the apple pie. I wonder why nobody brought apple pie, we had hot dogs but no apple pie. I must look into that oversight.

I preached on the text from Romans 13 focusing on love is the fulfillment of the law. I worked on drawing the picture for people that love is not a nebulous feeling but an expression founded in sacrifice. However, we as sinful people are self-centered and when we are acting self-centered we are not going to make the sacrifice needed to express love and thus we will not experience love. For the law part I brought in the fact that if we love Christ we are going to show it by loving our neighbors drawing on the passage from Matthew 25 "that which you do to the least of these you do to me." My gospel handle was that Jesus took this message to heart and that he died for the benefit of the least of all. Then for some sanctification lessons I encouraged the people to turn to Christ to be the source of love by which they will love their neighbors.

Did your congregation do anything for the Fourth of July? If so what did you do?

Media Driven Confusion

The media is its own worst enemy in the fight against confusion. They have left the average person so confused on so many topics they have rendered people impotent and confused. If this is by design or by laziness or even ignorance on the reporters part is too be determined. Personally, I think it is a little bit of columns A, B, and C. Whatever the root cause, the result is the same people who are trying to say informed are left confused or worse misled against their core beliefs.

The chief instigators are the so called science reporters who, more often or not, are journalists who took intro to "Blank" courses and were drafted to report on science issues. They have just enough knowledge to confuse themselves but not enough to write a good article on the topic, and usually rely on what the source uses in terminology and definition. Thus they generally parrot information with out clarifying the usage. This causes problems with topics such as stem cells. Did the source mean adult, embryonic, or all the above? They compound the issue by regularly resorting to shorthand in order to meet space requirements leaving people even more confused. I am not even going to take into account the purposeful political rhetoric designed to mislead. But in their rush to get the story out in as concise a format as possible they are confusing people.

If I did not have the background I have I would be one of them. Thankfully, I do have that background, but I have to admit I am getting tired of having to mend the damage their inept articles are producing. Whatever you do don't get me started on the topic of them referring to the ELCA as the Lutherans.

Examples

Poorly researched/biased
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/06/11/stemcells.debate/index.html

confusing terminology
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284712,00.html?sPage=fnc.science/humanbody

Miss Frankenstien lives: The Big Stem Cell Lie

This morning, I woke up to find this headline on Foxnews.com Docs: Embryo-Free Stem Cells Possible. My first thought was well duh! What do you think we have been talking about when we referred to adult stem cells. Alas, that is not the case, instead we have scientists who are once again more concerned with whether they can do something than rather if they should do something.

Hoping to bypass the ethical objections of Pro-Lifers, a group of scientist tried to do an end around by skipping the needed sperm to create an embryo. Technically speaking we have no recourse in this matter because scientists have stated that a new human life starts at conception; however, in this case, conception technically does not occur because there is no sperm involved and thus as they see it removes ethical concerns. In response to this paper, Ronald Greene, a bio ethicist, states

"People will see that these are activated eggs ... they do not of themselves ever develop into a human being," he said. "This is not anything biologically or morally like a human embryo, and it's a very good way of trying to provide human embryonic stem cells that does not involve the destruction of an embryo."

He couldn't be farther from the truth. They do have to destroy a human embryo. Regardless of the means of conception it is no less human than the next person. What will be needed is an update to our definition of conception to include artificial and unethical means.

To answer your question, "what did they do?" I will briefly state they artificially induced oocytes to engage in parthenogenesis or reproduction without a male. Parthenogenesis does not happen in humans but it does happen in many different animal and insect species. Scientists consider the resultant offspring to be unique individuals which genetically speaking is undeniable.

The result of parthenogenesis is a weird sort of sibling. Why? This is because in parthenogenesis the oocyte is tricked into xeroxing its DNA so that it has the prerequisite number of chromosomes and then can be tricked into believing it was fertilized. This sibling then is totally unique despite having an uncanny resemblance to her sister.

The short of it is these scientists have created human embryos via an unnatural means, for humans, in order to kill them in the attempt to harvest embryonic stem cells. As if it were not bad enough they want to kill an innocent person just to play mad scientist they have to go and create a Miss Frankenstein to do it. Unlike math you cannot cancel out a negative with another negative.

I just hope people get on the ball and realize just how horrible this procedure is. Pass this warning along folks because the politicos are going to play this one up as an ethical source of embryonic stem cells.

Sources:
Link to the actual paper at Cloning and Stem Cells
Christianpost.com

They Are Here!!!

I am happy to say I have 23 boxes sitting in the hall outside of my office. To my great surprise within 2 months we have raised the money, purchased, and received delivery for 300 copies of LSB. Now all we need is for our Senior Pastor to come back from vacation and we can do the dedication and start using them.

Preaching To The Unbeliever

Rick Warren, purpose driven church growth guru, recently wrote an article for Christianpost.com to offer tips on preaching to the unchurched. Now, I am no fan of Warren but he does occasionally get things right. In some ways, I think that this is one of the rare moments.

Tip #1. You should provide an outline with the scriptures written out.

This makes a lot of sense. I am not an auditory learner and I struggle to remember things that I heard but when I can combine seeing with hearing I retain it much better. Not to mention as he points out studies show that people remember better when they can see it and are encouraged to write their own notes. Now this doesn't mean the idiotic write down the missing word outlines. I hated them as a layperson and I hate them as a pastor. But a useful outline can be worth its weight in gold. We do not use printed outlines but we do Power Point outlines. I will admit this is a mixed bag concerning usefulness. The one thing that I really like about it is that when I quote or reference a Scripture passage it can go up on the screen and people don't have to rummage through the pew bible. A point in which Rick will agree.

Tip #2. You should plan your titles to appeal to the unchurched.

I'll be honest sermon titles are an after thought for me. In fact, if it wasn't for the expectation to have a title I wouldn't bother. But if you are going to use titles it is very helpful to have useful titles that are catchy. One, they catch the eye and two, people don't have to guess about your main point. It also makes sense to not develop titles that only a lifer could understand such as, "The Road to Emmaus" Just how many people are going to understand what that means, now on the other hand "The Road to Hope" they could understand. Plus, it is a great lead into the proclamation of the Gospel.

Tip #3 You should systematically preach in a series.

A little bit of predictability in your preaching schedule never hurts. This tip can work for preaching a series or preaching the pericope. Because of the nature of our set up I normally have my text and general idea down a month in advance. I haven't tried it yet but it could be helpful to publish up coming sermon texts. Anyhow, what this predictability does is make it easier for your parishioners to invite people because then they know what is coming and what will likely speak to their friend. Granted when you preach good law/gospel sermons they can count on the people getting a good dose of solid preaching, but when they can bring them to a sermon where their problems are the problems you address in your sermon it is all the better.

Tip #4. You should be consistent in your preaching style.

Amen. I know people think how boring to be consistent, but there is a fair bit of truth to this tip. I speak from the experience of a hard learned lesson. I came straight out of seminary all fired up to try different ways of preaching a text and I lost the people and ended up hurting my own ministry as a preacher. Thankfully, I am serving with a pastor who has 25 years of experience and is a pretty good preacher himself and he is helping me hone my skills. I pretty much now follow the same basic format.

A story that addresses explores the issue in a manner people can relate.
The ideal picture of the issue.
The failure/inability to achieve the ideal.
Focus on specific sins that interfere with the ideal
The restoration of the ideal in Christ.
(optional) Our calling to live out our life in Christ by mirroring his ideal.

I am not saying this is the only way. Use what ever works in your cultural context, but keep it law/gospel focused. I am also not saying don't play around with your style, just limit how often you take a novel approach.

Don't be afraid to use humor, and yes even emotional stories, but remember you are not called to be a comedian or to be a talk show host. You are called to proclaim the good news, so make sure your illustrations serve the text and not the other way around.

Tip #5. You should choose your guest speakers very carefully.

I don't know about you but we don't have many guest preachers. Kind of hard to justify the expense when we have two pastors and a retired pastor. The exception is we started this year to bring a professor in from the seminary to lead a seminar and preach on Sunday.

VBS Is Over

Phew. VBS is done. We had over a hundred youngster and over half were not members of our church. How this will pan out I don't know, but I can feel good in that the kids received a lot of exposure to the Gospel this week. VBS is fun but I can honestly say I am glad it is only one week.

Pastors' Wives Changing Role

Christianpost.com has an interesting article on the changing roles of the pastor's wife. I was wondering how you view yourself? Do you view yourself as a ministerial partner? Independent or able to pursue your own ministry interests? Behind the scenes support?

One pastor's wife that I know, once shared that she could not view herself as independent of her husband's ministry because people saw what she did in light of his ministry.

Call me old fashion but I cringe at the idea of pastors' wives being ministerial partners. Mainly because he is the one called to serve as the pastor. Also, in this day and age it causes confusion with so many churches abandoning the Bible in order to fit in with the expectations of the world.

VBS This Week!

Howdy all!

Our VBS is this week and it is eating a lot out of my time so I don't know how much I will be able to post this week. So, don't think that I have dropped off the face of the earth. Just busy. I promise to be back up to my normal pace next week.

Another One Bites The Dust

Another church body has given up the ways of God for the ways of the world. The Christian Reformed Church voted to ordain women and thus have deepened the divide between themselves and orthodoxy. May God preserve his remnant and rescue people from the ways of the world.

I Don't Know If I Can Wait That Long!

Robert Jordan, mainstay of every fantasy lover's library, has a working title and projected finish date for the last book of his epic Wheel of Time series. Barring the death of Robert Jordan, a real possibility as he has amyliodosis, it should be out in early 2009. According to RJ this is going to be the longest book of the entire series as he does not have a convenient stopping place. I have long followed the exploits of Rand, Perrin, Mat and co. and I can't wait for the end. Any how the next book is currently titled A Memory of Light

What a Conundrum

An interesting study has been released by the UN about abortion and infanticide. (When will they learn that they are one in the same?) Guess which portion of the population is at the greatest risk from this wonderfully liberating procedure. Girls. In many countries it appears that girls are far more likely to be aborted. Funny, this procedure feminists feel must be protected for the sake of women everywhere is being liberally used to eliminate women. Of course, they are not even acknowledging the role of abortions in the problem. You see it is the fault of evil patriarchal societies.

You silly feminists, it is never that simple. The valuing of a male life over that of female is only part of the problem. The other part of the problem is readily available abortions. If they weren't so easily had then girls would be safer. If you want to protect girls as you say you do then work to ban abortion. Just think it is only a matter of time before it happens here in the US with our desire for cookie cutter families.

Why You Should Be Involved In a Congregation

Rebellious Pastor's Wife has posted an excellent look at the congregation through the lens of the Gospels.

The congregation of believers has been created for the benefit of mankind. It is the place where we can be connected with the Gospel of Christ. Namely through the Office of the Keys, that we Christians have been given the great gift to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to our fellows and know that Christ, the God who keeps his promises, has promised to forgive them also.

God's People Respond

It is always a joy to see God's people respond to a need. A month or so ago, I wrote that we were going to get the LSB but first we were going to need to raise the money. Well less than three weeks ago we started raising the money with a goal of 5700 and as of last Sunday 6100 had been given to the hymnal fund. At the same time we were raising money for equipment to start an informal evening service. Think bible study with music. People also responded nicely to the free will offering taken at a church lunch. All of this has made me quite happy and also feel vindicated. All those naysayers telling me people don't give to free will offerings, you have to charge'em to make money. A view I am happy to say is changing after I challenged our Outreach ministries to take only a freewill offering for the dinner they hosted during lent.

Now as happy as I am, I am also very baffled. Why? Because, we have a significant shortfall between our approved budget and offerings. I won't say how much but I will say it is a very big number. I am curious as to why they give so readily in these cases above but when it comes to regular offerings they are lagging so far behind.

And They Sacrificed Their Children For Their Idols

One of the most despicable religious practices ever conceived by man is the sacrifice of their children. Today, I would be very surprised to find anybody who would condone such religious acts. The reactions of people in criminal cases involving children give strong evidence to this fact. We take strong actions against anybody who would seek to harm a child i.e. To Catch a Predator, unless the harm that befalls the child comes in the guise of a sacrifice to the god of self. The god of self manifests himself in many ways, fear, selfish desire, unwillingness to accept the consequences of one's actions just to name a few. And when women seek to appease the god of self they visit the priests of the god of self in order to sacrifice their child upon her altar. For you see that is what abortion ultimately is, the sacrifice of a child to the god of self.

Why Evolution and God Driven Creation Cannot Co-Exist

John Edwards, Democratic presidential candidate, likes to believe that the idea of God creating the universe and the Theory of Evolution can co-exist. His beliefs reflect the attitudes of many Christians who wish to maintain their faith while not appearing ignorant and stupid to the world around them. So, they make a proverbial deal with the devil and compromise on the creation account, saying oh sure God created it but he used evolution to accomplish his goal. It does have a certain appeal particularly for people such as myself who believe that science can be in service to God's will and help us to be better stewards of His creation. However, the two ideas cannot mesh together for one simple reason. Evolution presupposes a process of creation by purely naturalistic means. Whereas, the Biblical account presupposes divine intervention (go figure, eh?).

The two are mutually exclusive. Either God created all living creatures or he didn't. There is no middle ground. People have countered that God guided evolution. Bah! The Genesis account gives lie to this idea. How? When God created the universe he called it good. Good in the vocabulary of God means perfectly pure, no mistakes, no errors. Evolution on the other hand is based on the mutation of the genome. Mutations by their very nature are deviations and are impurities. Our bodies have been equipped with mechanisms to correct and prevent mutations. God would not call a process based on impurity, good. He would call it bad. Look at what he did with Adam and Eve, when they brought about impurities in the Garden of Eden after they listened to the serpent. They were declared dead because of their impurity and summarily kicked out.

There is another part that gives lie to the idea that evolution and Divine creation can co-exist. Evolution claims that modern man is the result of a gradual transformation from an ape-like ancestor that we share with modern apes. This cannot be true if the Genesis account is true. The one time Genesis goes into any detail is when it talks about the creation of Man. In the second chapter we see that God forms man personally with His own hands and gives him a spirit through the breath of life. This passage negates any possibility that man is the result of evolution. Again I can hear the conciliators saying but that could mean He personally guided the evolutionary process. Oh please, how does forming man out of clay equal guiding evolution? It doesn't.

Evolution and Divine creation cannot co-exist because they are by their very essence mutually exclusive. This, of course, does not take into account that science is wasting its time trying to prove the means of origin through the use of faulty data, but that is a discussion for another post.

Faith Saved My Marriage

Or so claims Hillary when discussing her husband's inability to not have sex with those women. The question I have to ask is faith in what? Her faith that he was her ticket to power?

If you want to read more check out Foxnews.com

Taking all bets

The shuttle is supposed to launch this weekend. Yet, NASA being NASA I have to wonder, will it go up this weekend? And just to make it interesting I am opening a launch pool. I have my money down for Saturday after a two hour delay because a rare seagull has landed on the orbiter. What is your bet?



All bets will not be refunded nor will any money be payed out because no money will be taken. Dr. Luther does not endorse gambling of any sort. See you at the casino.

Church-sponsored yard sales and other profit-making activities - yea or nay?

On a message board I frequent, someone mentioned they felt that a church-sponsored yard sale was unBiblical. A couple of other posters were confused, and didn't understand where that belief came from. While I'm not sure I would consider it *unBiblical* to have a sale at the church, I do think it would ill-advised.

My pastor growing up was very hesitant about allowing yard sales and such that were at the church property or otherwise "church-sponsored". He only allowed an annual sale as a *youth* fundraiser (and even that he wasn't thrilled about), with the proceeds going to the youth involved, and nothing to the church proper. My understanding is that he felt it was too close to the moneychangers at the temple, and it just looked bad to be using the church to make a profit for the church, no matter what good cause it would be used for - or ostensibly used for - which is the real issue. There is too much a chance of having - if not the reality of, then at least the appearance of - financial impropriety. However, if a group of members organized a sale on their own time and their own property, and donated the money to the church, he would have had no problem with it.

By and large, I do agree with his reasoning. Thankfully, this hasn't been an issue at our church, as far as I know, but I wonder how many other people would agree or disagree - or, most likely, just never considered the topic at all.

"Committed Relationships"

What is a "committed relationship"? It is nothing more than a buzzword created to normalize that which is deviant. Most of the time you see the term used in the context of homosexual relationships. The idea is to play off the human emotions elicited by a positive term such as committed. The word "committed" is generally regarded as positive because it evokes a trusting feeling that makes us feel safe. Unless, of course, you mean being committed to the funny farm, but then even that can make us feel safe. Commitment is a good thing, however, when used in the modern context of committed relationship it rarely means a good thing. It is a classic example of calling something good which is in reality bad. Typically, I have heard people excuse couples living together by saying at least they are committed to each other. Bah! If they were committed they get the legally binding piece of paper declaring them to be married.

This brings me to my next point. It used to be that marriage was the penultimate symbol of commitment, so in years past if you wanted to say you were committed you got married. Not anymore. Now it is just a means to get health insurance. People approach marriage with about as much commitment as there is spelling ability in the Clinton campaign. A fact which is illustrated by the abysmally high divorce rate. Rather than making a commitment to better themselves and work through the problems, people bail through the easy route of no-fault divorce. Couples now request vows that no longer say "till death do us part," now they want "until love does end." With the collapse of marriage it is no wonder people want to slap the label of committed relationship on deviant behavior.

Maybe, that is answer. No, not giving deviant behavior a new label. Rather we need to restore marriage as the safe place of commitment. Dismiss no-fault laws and reward those who seek to be committed to a person outside of themselves.

Tech Wars

I don't often talk tech talk here, but Outer Rim Territories got me thinking with his attempt to convert people to the darkside. What made PC and Mac different is becoming smaller and smaller. The advents of XP and now Vista have made the PC very user dumb, with handy wizards that do just about everything and PnP that actually works, thus negating the argument that Macs are easier to use. I have to wonder about this claim because I found one button harder to use than my four button mouse. That and the idea of throwing a disk out to eject it is just weird.

Anyhow when I talk to people who are looking to get a computer, I am a moderate level geek so people ask, the first thing I ask is what do you want to do with your computer. This is the most important question you can ever ask when deciding on a computer. If you just want to send email, check out YouTube, write a letter, and crop some digital pics you took with your point and click camera, you do not need the dual core 2 gig ram monster w/dvd burner and a 30" monitor the pimply faced teenager who is on commission is going to try and sell you. A nice little AMD or Celeron system will do you just fine and do so at about $500 less.

If you want to game, buy Alienware or build your own. High-end HP's, Dell's, and Gateways will do in a pinch. Do I detect a bit of bias? No, must be my imagination. I build my own, it is a cheaper way to stay cutting edge.

The same things apply if you want to do more graphics work. Macs taut being better at graphics but that is not necessarily the case anymore with the advent of nifty little programs like the Gimp. Besides if you want to be really hardcore about graphic design you are going to get a Silicon Graphics box, sometimes what you spend does correspond to what you get.

Above all else if you do not know much about computers get a Windows machine, because when you crash and you will no matter what machine you get, it is easier to find help. Mac users, macs crash and don't deny it because I have crashed them.

Besides, Macs are now becoming inflexible Windows machines anyhow. It is only a matter of time before Steve Jobs gives into Bill Gates. OSX-Leopard looks a whole bunch like my Linux Gnome layout. Can't say as it really appears to be all that cutting edge. Just prettier.

A Bold Witness

In spite of the possible fallout for going public with her faith a Florida Valedictorian shared her faith with her fellow graduates and their families during her speech. While, her theology could use some major work, I do admire her courage to speak out in what has become a hostile arena for Christians. I wish more of our people would be bold enough to say

“Though I am far from perfect and one single breach of moral law drives each of us far from God’s perfect standard of perfection,” continued the Christian valedictorian, “Jesus Christ has loved me, taken a punishment for my sins, and cared about every detail of my life.

“As I stand here before you tonight, it’s with the sincerest heart and purest of intentions that I tell you that Jesus Christ, creator of the universe, that each one of you, loves you too.” - Christianpost.com

The superintendent of the school later called her speech "insensitive and offensive". If that is insensitive and offensive than call me insensitive. Is there no better time, than a speech that is traditionally focused on the graduates future, to express to them the one thing that can give them the best possible future of all time?

Worst Ranking System Ever

The May 28th issue of Newsweek included their list of the top 100 High Schools in America. In theory, it is a good idea to rate schools by how well they prepare the children entrusted to their care, but the actual practice of rating can give false impressions. It all depends on how do they judge greatness. In the case of Newsweek, they rated the schools by the number of students participating in advanced programs such as AP and International Baccalaureate in addition to what percentage of people receive subsidized lunches. None of which in reality is an indication of how well they are preparing students to either enter the work force or to continue their education at the collegiate level.

Why you ask?

It is simple one can take AP, IB classes and tests to their hearts content and still be inadequately prepared for the rigors of the workforce or for college. This is particularly true for students who have excellent memories and/or are exceptionally bright and quick. Students who fall in to this category can easily coast through AP and IB courses with little in the way of a work ethic, thus leaving them unprepared for the expectations of higher learning. A more accurate reading would be a study of how well their graduates performed in the workforce or in collegiate studies. Then they could have a measure of how well the schools prepared their students. But, then that would require work and we couldn't have a quick easy way to spew out meaningless data to get people to read a magazine.

P.S. Hey Newsweek, I didn't go to a school that offered AP or IB but I think they did a fair job preparing me considering I maintained between a 3.3 and a 3.6 all the way up until I had a mini breakdown after being denied admission to Vet School.

Explaining Away The Bible

Any of you who have actually read the Bible understand that there are parts of the Bible which make us uncomfortable. This is not to be unexpected, that is the purpose of the Law, to make us squirm as we are killed through it. However, there are other parts of the Bible that make us squirm not so much because we are guilty of the Law but because they offend our sensibilities. The most infamous of these passages is the section on the relationship of a husband and wife in Ephesians 5

Ephesians 5:22-33 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

This passage has offended many a feminist sensibilities because of the idea of ladies having to submit to their husbands, which is an idea that goes against all that feminists preach. So, in an effort to sound more sensitive I have heard many people say that it means to respect your husband. Many of them are keying off of verse 33 which does state "respects her husband," this however, ignores what occurs textually in verse 22 and the preceding context.

I believe verse 21 "submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ." (Ephesians 5:21) helps set the frame of the entire passage as that which precedes this verse speaks of living a Christ-like life and that which follows calls for us to mirror the relationship of Christ and the Church. This is an image that I believe we have lost in our church. One that I believe will prove vital in our understanding of the Pastoral Role, however that is a topic for another time.

Back to verse 22, hupotassesthosan (I apologize if I messed up the transliteration) is the verb which unequivocally gives lie to the idea that respect is all that is meant. The BDAG Greek English Lexicon informs us that it means to cause one to be in submission to another or when it occurs in the passive to submit yourself willingly. There can be no question that we are talking about willing submission particularly when we have verse 21 setting the frame for the following verses. However, this is not to be understood in the classic patriarchal sense as it was used in the past to keep women down. This passage happens to be a case study on why prooftexting is a bad idea, because what follows destroys any notion that the male half of the relationship is one of dominion.

The man is called to act just as Christ did as the head of the church. Guess how he did it. He washed people's feet. Christ's headship is not one of dominion it is one of submission and more importantly love. Christ as the head of the church loved his bride, the church, so much he sacrificed his well-being and his life in order that she could be made pristine and live.

What is being asked of husbands and wives is not that men dominate their wives and that the women should put up with it, rather they are being asked to mirror the relationship of Christ and the church. Submission plays a part in this image. (Let me note here that because of sin we will not perfectly display this imagery, so don't submit to that which would be sinful and don't be afraid to lovingly correct your husbands when they err, we need it as much as anybody else.) And we destroy this image when we limit ourselves to just respect. We as the church do not merely respect Jesus. We live in submission to him, because he loved us so much that he sacrificed himself for us. This is the relationship we should have in marriage one of mutual submission and sacrificial love.

The Confirmation Assembly Line

After several years teaching confirmation both as a seminary student and now as a pastor, I must say that I am very unsatisfied with confirmation. I cannot help but feel that we are confirming students who honestly do not believe but are only parroting what they have heard and if given a choice would never have been there. Maybe I am imagining things but this strikes me as wrong on our part and I cannot help but wonder if this is contributing to the confirmation drop off (the disappearance of kids after confirmation). Are we leading children into profaning the Lord's Body by adhering to an old system. To add on to this feeling is that there are so many people who hold up confirmation because that is what you do, almost as if it is God's way of doing things. Do not misunderstand me, I take God at his word and believe that people must be prepared before partaking in His Body and Blood at communion. I just wonder if how we are going about things is the best way.

I think that it is time that we change our culture. A task I find singularly daunting. Just ask my wife we got into this discussion the other night. Right now in the Lutheran Culture, confirmation and communion are indivisibly linked. Some of the linkage is for good reason, as I said people must be prepared. However, it is not a good thing because people treat it as a means to an end rather than a part of a continuing process, a graduation so to speak. And we have people who are guilty of the Roman error by treating it as a sacrament, almost as if they believe that now they are confirmed they are now guaranteed salvation. Along with these reservations is the idea that we are somehow renewing our baptismal vows. What vows are we renewing? We made no vows when we received baptism. God made the vows as he claimed us through water and word. If we are going to correct these we must change our culture.

I know some people have made some changes in their congregations and I would love to hear from them, but I have a few ideas of my own.

Sunday School - should be the primary catechetical classes not confirmation. The children should learn the catechism from the time they begin Sunday School not when they enter Confirmation.

Confirmation classes - should not be based on age. Instead, we should judge this upon their willingness to join the church. All people interested should go through the same class even if this means having a wide set of age ranges. Parents of younger children should attend so that they can help explain complex issues to their children during the week. They should also be more of a gateway than a "graduation," a means of connecting the people to the community of believers in that congregation. It would also be the means by which instruction is given to older people who were not brought up in your church. Older converts be they new Christians or people from different denominations we would first of all run them through an introductory course, a version of Alpha perhaps, which, I hope, establish the confirmation class as a continuation and not a graduation for them. The class before ending would then guide them to a different bible study in order to emphasize this point.

Admittance to the Lord's Table - should not be based on confirmation rather their ability to discern.

These are just my thoughts and they are developing, and as I said if others have some input I am happy to hear them.

Update: I think that Sunday School should be the primary corporate level means of teaching the catechism, but the penultimate responsibility of catechizing the wee ones falls to their parents. As it is written, "The head of the household should teach..."

The Coolest Thing Since Guttenberg Perfected The Printing Press

An enterprising fellow with a knack for programming has created a Flash driven version of one my favorite books, The Small Catechism This beautiful website is a must bookmark for anybody with the ability to point and click. If you do not bookmark this website you will be smacked on the knuckles and forced to recite the ten commandments backwards while upside down and underwater.

Pro-Choice but hedging their bets

Christianpost.com reports that a recent poll shows that only 26 percent of people claiming to be Pro-Choice believe in unrestricted access to abortion. What this really means is unclear. To me it sounds more like they are trying to hedge their bets. This way they can ease their conscience while maintaining their rebellion. I find this to be rather unremarkable. God did write his law in our hearts so it should not surprise us to find that they are uncomfortable with abortions. However, because they remain in bondage to sin they find themselves running away from what is right towards that which is evil.

Why are they in the LCMS?

Today the 30 lb brick known as the Convention Workbook 2007 landed in my lap today (typing in falsetto). I have only quickly gone through the Theology and Church Relations section. In just a quick run through I noticed a single church kept popping up with the weirdest of resolutions such as 3-67 To Restudy and Provide for Ordination of Women

Whereas: The LCMS does not currently ordain women to the holy ministry because of its interpretation of selected NT passages such as 1 Tim. 2:11-14; which speak of women learning in silence, not teaching, and having "authority" over males; and
Whereas: Some lay people and pastors within the Synod are convinced that these passages address cultural issues and reflect the practice of an earlier time and are not intended to apply to the role of women in the church today; and
Whereas: The Gospels identify women as the first witnesses and proclaimers of the resurrection - a task assigned to the apostles (Mt 28:28; Lk24:9-10; Jn 20:18)
Whereas: St Paul speaks of unity in Christ that transcends gender among all who are baptized (Gal 3:27-28)
Whereas: Many women who serve as pastors in other denominations have demonstrated such gifts as preaching, teaching, counseling, and presiding at worship, therefore be it
Resolved: that the LCMS gathered in convention request the CTCR to restudy the biblical and theological basis for ordaining women, and be it further
Resolved, That the most recent edition of a study response written by Rev Arnie Voigt, which addresses biblical interpretation with in the context of LCMS concerns in a careful way, be published and distributed to each pastor and congregational president of the synod; and be it finally
Resolved that the delegates at this convention affirm the desire to provide for the ordination of women as soon as possible.
Resurrection
Coronado, CA

Now, I am not going to take the time to refute all the points in detail because that would make for a long post and be off my topic.
Why are these people still in the LCMS? They obviously do not agree with us doctrinally so why are they sticking around? Would they not be much happier in anything goes ELCA? I will be honest that in I firmly believe this constitutes public proclamation of error and that Resurrection should be censured and their continued membership in the LCMS should be revoked should they not repent of their error.

Spider Man 3 - The Lutheran Movie

The past weekend while Mrs. Luther was out of town, I went and saw Spidey 3. It was an entertaining movie with great action sequences but no where near as tight as the previous installments story wise. However, the eye that is always on the look out for contemporary ways of approaching ancient truths turned on with the story line of Spiderman vs. the Black Suit (alien symbiont). It many ways this story line reflects the saint vs sinner dynamic in the Christian life.

As Christians we daily battle with our sinful nature as we try to deny the desires of the flesh in favor of walking in the Spirit. Paul reflected on this battle in Romans

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Romans 7:14-25

Peter as Spiderman desired to do what is good, largely out of a sense of penance (how Papist of him) but when he came in contact with the black suit he changed. While he desired to do good, he ended up doing that which is bad. Just to make things even better sin aka the black suit bound his desires to itself. He wanted to hurt people right up to the point he was faced with his sins when he struck Mary Jane. At which point he desires to cast off the black suit, but he cannot because he is so bound by the suit.

Just to make things better from a Lutheran point of view, the black suit cannot be cast off until outside intervention breaks the hold of the suit and chases it off of Peter. In the movie it is the ringing of a bell that drives the black suit off of Peter. This draws the parallel that we cannot cast off sin ourselves but the vicarious act of atonement which happens outside of us releases us from the bondage of sin.

I realize the illustration isn't perfect but it does make for an interesting way to describe an ancient truth.

You're Busted...I'm Suing

Christianpost.com reports that Planned-Selfishness, I mean Planned Parenthood, is suing a student reporter for posing as 15 year old victim of statutory rape and recording the conversations that took place in one of their offices. They claim that the reporter had no right to record their employees. This is actually not true. Legal precedence allows for people to record others without consent. They, however, cannot use the tape as evidence in the court of law. If it were illegal to tape somebody without consent, all of the consumer rights investigative reporters, and shows like Predator would have long been shut down.

What is happening is a classic scare tactic. You made me look bad so I am going to get you to back down by threatening a lawsuit. I hope she fights and I hope she wins. Planned Parenthood could do with a little accountability.

I wonder if congress is going to looking to the funding of illegal activities at Planned Parenthood. After all the non-reporting of sexual abuse by a mandatory reporter such as a counselor/worker at Planned Parenthood is a crime.

Religion Kills The Mind

Why is it that supposed "free thinkers" and "atheists" believe that having religion means the end of rational thought? I mean really what is it about religion and thinking that make the mutually exclusive? These questions really baffle me. Normally, I don't give it much thought because this type of person does not regularly cross my path. Where I am at I am more likely to trip over a Mormon or an agnostic with pretentions aka Wiccan/Pagan. However, the other day while driving home for lunch, there was a car in the other lane with a bunch of bumper stickers on the back, well I can't help myself and stole a glance. The one that caught my eye was one that said "Evolution isn't a theory...", it had more but because we were still moving I did not catch the whole thing. Intrigued by what the bumper sticker had to say because everything else on the car indicated they would think evolution was God's own truth, I went on line to see if I could find the bumper sticker. Well, I did not find the bumper sticker but I found this website (not child friendly) selling bumper sticker and they were all pretty much of this sort.Seeing these I just had to wonder what makes thinking and religion polar opposites? Did recieving God's grace suddenly stop my ability to think? Hardly, I am thinking right now. In fact, anybody who thinks religion means the end of thinking is a bit on the ignorant side. Jesus himself stated, " Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." (Matthew 10:16 )

You can not be wise if you stop thinking. Through out the Bible we are encouraged to learn more, to study God's word and the world around us. We are not called to ignorance. Now, I will admit there have been more than enough earnest fools who get air time who can lead people to believe religion and thinking are mutually exclusive, but just because they have big mouths does not mean that what they say reflects an accurate position. Anyhow, enough about how the media only puts on those who will get them ratings.

Going by their own statements one would think that the items for sale would demonstrate a certain amount of intelligence and wit that would naturally come from their ability to think. Well, let us just say, that if vocabulary is an indication of intelligence; I would be forced to rate them fairly low. Granted there is only so much one can fit on a bumper sticker but that has not prevented people from being witty. However, I would have to say a bumper sticker stating "Bush is an __________" and "__________ Bush" would indicate a distinct lack of intelligence. If the best response they can come up with is a bumper sticker laced with crude invectives, it would be an indication that rejection of religion does not equate to the ability to think. One does not need to think much to blurt out a harsh four letter word. Why else would four letter words be the favorite of every person who smashed his thumb with a hammer, you do not have to think in order to say it. If they wished to make indicate their dislike of President Bush, they could have come up with something like "Save the world, transplant a Bush" (Lutherama, 2007), see I do not even hate Presiedent Bush and I can come up with a catchy bumper sticker.

When you get down to it they are shooting themselves in the foot. If you want people to believe rejection of religion is smart then do not resort to crude language. Be inventive and imaginative. Oh, wait I did forget. It is hard for a fool to be either.

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. Psalm 14:1

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

When Sin Becomes Relative

The whole world falls apart.

Churches have entered into the fight over immigration. Granted that was sometime ago, but now they are kicking it up a notch so to speak. Now they are proposing to break the law in order to support criminals. Several churches have proposed to offer sanctuary in order to prevent the deportation of illegals immigrants. I can understand wanting to help the needy, that is a laudable work, but aiding and abetting criminals is something else. Whether or not they like the law we are called to honor the laws of our country lest they prevent the preaching of the Gospel. The U.S. government requiring people to go through a formal process of integration is not unjust, so these churches have no reasonable reason to object to the government deporting illegal immigrants.

Now the one thing I noticed from this picture on Christian Post.com is that the churches involved are mostly churches where sin has become relative and one that believes itself to be a governmental power in its own right. Here in lies the problem, because sin has become relative they have rationalized that it is ok to break the laws of the country they live in. If sin is relative, than so is the law. It is the infamous the law applies to everybody else but me syndrome. See relativism is not new it just got a face lift and calls herself Rev. Cuddly (Thanks House M.Div).

Back to my original point, if sin is relative and thereby law being relative, the world is falling apart. It is the law of Left-hand Kingdom (Governmental Rule) which curbs our innate desire to sin. If the law and rule of the Left-hand Kingdom becomes relative than anarchy and sin are free to reign and where these bedfellows reign societies crumble. The countries of Western Europe are already experiencing this decline and are finding themselves replaced by a society that acknowledges an objective law, in spite of being wrong about God. We are not far behind if we do not insist on the idea of an objective law.

Things That Go Boom

Astronomers have been gushing with excitement over the star, SN2006gy. What makes this star special is that it made an exceptionally large boom, making it the largest supernova ever observed. I love explosions, they make life interesting. If I weren't called to be a pastor, I'd be a demolitions expert.

Home Alone

Dr. Luther is home alone. My wife and wee one have left to go see family. My sister-in-law is graduating from Texas A&M (Whoop!) with an insane degree in math and physics. Why anybody would want to subject themselves to so much math is beyond me. Anyhow, trying to husband time off has left me home alone with the dog. Not that he is bad company but you know it ain't the same. Oh well, at least now I can get all the Taco Bell I want because the wife don't like Taco Bell for some strange reason.

I have to admit, for a while, I thought I would throw a party and post the invite on MySpace.

Entertainment Weekly's Top 25 Sci-Fi of the Past 25 Years

Egads, I am not sure what the people at entertainment weekly were thinking when they put together this list.

How in their right minds can they include such dreadful pics as Starship Troopers and leave out great sci-fi such as Babylon 5, Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, Tron and Fifth Element. I understand the book Starship Troopers is pretty good but the movie stunk.

I can't comment on some of them such as Brazil because I never even heard of it, but then that maybe a reason not to include it but I am honest enough not to let my ignorance get in the way.

However, I must disagree with The Matrix as number 1 there are better Sci-Fi examples. Neo and co. deserve a top 10 nod but not number one. I would probably bump Blade Runner up, I might even be so bold to place Babylon 5 at number one or even number two, it had a wonderful story arc and did a great job in developing its characters. And where by the way is Dune? Children of Men should not even get consideration since they mutilated its source material.

I do wish that they would have included books because the absolute best Sci-Fi is still in book form, but then it would be too hard to slim the list down. I mean who can decide which Timothy Zahn book gets number one?

Update: I can't believe I forgot about this one, just where is Farscape? I know it has the horrid atonal intro music but the show itself is good. And just where in the entirety of the cosmos is Red Dwarf?

Oh, no not another update: Gattaca deserves to be in the top ten, but I am not surprised it did not make the list. The editors of EW probably wanted to stay away from the truly important issues such as the implications of living in a society that does not cherish the gift of life.

The beginning of the end?

Is this the end of the Episcopal Church as we know it? I sure hope so, nothing bothered me as much as a church which called itself "christian" but resembled the Unitarians in all but liturgy. One Episcopal church I visited boasted a spirit circle, a rock meditation garden, and yoga classes. I hope that the conservatives of Africa can wrench control of the Anglican commune away from the idolatries of the liberals. I find it is much easier to work towards a common confession when you can at least agree on who God is. My hope is they will eventually admit I am right and that Calvin couldn't find his way out of a wet paper bag.

A Conferencing We Will Go

This week has been our Regional Pastor's Conference (we are forgoing the normal district conference because of the Synodical Conference) and while suffering from the normal highly uncomfortable chairs and the truly odd lack of coffee and doughnuts (What are we Baptists?!) it has been a thought provoking practical conference. Our focus has been evangelism. Oh no, not another evangelism conference! Actually I have gotten some things out of this conference. You have to be impressed when the keynote speaker says all programs are failures. Granted he did seem to like Kennedy's "Evangelism Explosion," but that was because it didn't just fill peoples heads, it also gave them "on the job" training opportunities. I can see where the actual experience could be helpful because if they are like me actually doing something makes it easier to do in the future.

The seminar also gave me some ideas on how to involve our shut-ins in outreach. As I visit our shut-ins, I am giving them the chance to help us by praying for our visitors both for any needs they have expressed and that they receive the Gospel. It also gave me some time to reflect on ways that I can practice what I preach. Something, I admittedly struggle with as the wife and I suffer from the affliction many in our congregation suffer from we only really know people from the congregation.