Got my Gottesdienst today from Redeemer and while most of Trinity 2010′s issue was good, I cannot help but having a bit of juxtaposition with one quote.

“Many Christians have been duped into believing that drilling for oil in Alaska will harm the pristine land.”

“Many Christians have been duped into believing that drilling for oil in Alaska will harm the pristine land.”

“Many Christians have been duped into believing that drilling for oil in Alaska will harm the pristine land.”

“Many Christians have been duped into believing that drilling for oil in Alaska will harm the pristine land.”

Stick to what you do best– promoting the Liturgy. Allow the rest of us to be good watchful stewards as we advocate the use of energy alternatives.

Went surfing one day after some Census work, and found this article from the Concordian Sisters of Perpetual Parturition. At first, I thought: Oh crap, another article on why I’m a crummy person for having my girl parts altered for health. Then I read HR Curtis’ disclaimers. He wrote three disclaimers about how his article does NOT apply to those with hard circumstances. Instead, he wisely advised them to seek the counsel of a good pastor.

This is exactly the right thing he could say to us and others who by various interventions, cannot have children. Unlike the blanket dictum that all Confessional couples must be open to children or they are less than Christian (found in one unofficial Lutheran publication), Curtis understood that God has blessed and still blesses people who do not quite measure up to the norm.

Before I went to have corrective surgery that improved my health, I sought the counsel of my pastor. He prayed for me. He visited me at the hospital. And he told me that I can still enjoy the gift of children, just by caring for people. There are many unloved people out there.

I want to say to Pr Curtis: thank you. Thank you for understanding. (And I read the article anyway. So there. :P You should too.)

I always think of Sir Winston Churchill as my patron saint despite his lack of spiritual devotion. Recent events at the Fort has not only made me recall a similar and personal incident almost 5 years to the day, but they also reminded me of Churchill’s motto: Faithful but Unfortunate.

At the Fort, we have 21 final-year students not receiving a call. These men are indeed faithful to our Confessions and now unfortunate– for how will they pay back their student loans? How will they support themselves and their families? And will any of them be tempted to gain courage to “curse God and die”– as if God did not care about him in the first place? How horrible was that feeling. Even with medication and psychotherapy, I still have those bouts. I am sure several men are thinking that situation would require “a really futile and stupid gesture be done on [their] part.” Full circle.

Empty platitudes and glib Scripture quoting won’t help. Remember St James? “Faith without works is dead.” No, I’m not appealing to Roman Catholic theology, putting the cart before the horse. Fellow Confessionals, we have an opportunity to express our faith in God and to strengthen these students.

You can help out by contributing to the Student Emergency Fund at CTSFW. The Brothers of John the Steadfast has all the details. Also, if you know any of the 30 men at StL and FW, plus any of the Deaconess students without assignments, offer them help. These people will need help in the basic needs (food, shelter, etc) and they need employment. Let them know that their faithfulness is not in vain.

The Confessionals needed a theme for the recent Harrison article, so here is “Rock This Town” by the Stray Cats.

A sidenote: Bishop Obare preached at Shepherd of the City during the time when the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya is entering fellowship with the Missouri Synod. The Prediger picked him up from the Sem where he was staying. From what I heard, we are the first church in Synod to have him preach and administer the Sacrament. He was impressive at the pulpit, and it was an honor to receive the Sacrament from this man. Later that day, I realized that I committed a theological faux pas: his church body has NOT yet entered full altar fellowship! (Facepalms for me.) Yet I realized that I rather be fed by this confessional giant than by the theology of glory jockeys who oversee some of our Synod’s parishes. Sometime later, one of our fieldworkers [Dennis Meeker] was ordained by Obare and now serving with his wife Lorna in Kenya.

Am making final edits and this is a persuasive paper. Basically– CCM is light on theology, short on Scripture, long behind on trends– and how can the world can take that seriously?

“You aren’t making Christianity any better, you’re just making rock and roll worse!”– Hank Hill

And now, my first experience with CCM, in 1984: Steve Taylor’s Meltdown (at Madame Tussaud’s). Flipping through the UHF channel, past the scrambled SelecTV, past the foreign language channels…it’s TBN, channel 40! It was one of my earliest brushes with Protestantism.

Took me a long time to look for this, and I needed it for my report on CCM. Here it is, from Pastor Todd Wilken of Issues Etc, the “Wilken Test”:

1. How often is Jesus mentioned? For his purposes, a simple tally will suffice.
2. Is Jesus the subject of the verbs? Is Jesus the one who acts, or are you?
3. What are the verbs? What has Jesus done and what is He doing?

My English prof is this Methodist, the type that loves hymns and does not dig the fluff. I’m printing this out for her so she can see where I’m coming from.

I call shenanigans on this letter based on several inconsistencies:

-First, there is inconsistent syntax. The letter was written like a Evangelical Protestant would have done: “We raised her with strong Christian beliefs”, “I’ve prayed over her at night while she sleeps, enlisted friends in a phone prayer tree”, “God-fearing”. What threw that off was when the letter-writer mentions that she has contacted her priest. Evangelicals do not refer to their clergy as “priests”…they call them “pastors” or “preachers”, depending on their denomination. Anglicans do have priests, but the syntax just does not fit.

-Second, Catholics do not conduct exorcisms regularly. Note this sentence: “…spoken to my priest about the possibility of an exorcism.” What did the priest said? I cannot ask the parish priest down the street and have him and his colleagues come by the house in a few days. In order to have one, you must ask the diocese bishop for permission. Same thing applies with Anglican priests. Any of the priests will rule out any psychological factors before they determine that it’s supernatural. They would advise the psychologically afflicted to go seek professional help and give them a blessing. And good luck telling him that you want an exorcism for your non-believing daughter. You might as well ask them to exorcise Dr Stephen Hawking for his unbelief. Also…Protestants who performed such services do not call them “exorcisms”…they call them “deliverance sessions”.

-Third, most clergy agree that it’s a matter of free will to reject Christ. They might chat with the daughter about where’s she’s at spiritually, but ultimately, it’s up to the questioning person to figure things out. By the way…if you are parents of a college student, why not visit the campus churches and see what they can offer for your student?

-Calling the FBI seems over the top. Atheism is not a thoughtcrime and is protected under the 1st Amendment. The days of J. Edgar Hoover are long past, and I’m sure that there are dedicated FBI agents who are questioning or non-believing. The only way they would respond is if she does actual crimes like movie piracy, trafficking or terrorism.

-Finally, why would this conservative Christian write to a secular agony aunt? The sort of person writes or calls Focus on the Family, EWTN (if Catholic), or even the 700 Club for advice before she considers asking someone outside the faith. Ergo… this letter is a troll.

The following is a rant. My apologies in advance.

I went to church expecting Jesus, and left empty handed.

The screens are questionable at best. But that is the least of my concerns. You guys had a 20 minute sing-a-long…of simple peppy hymns…not from LW, TLH, or the new Hymnal…with canned music…and no Lenten hymns.

Via a puppet, you told the children that keeping the 10 Commandments are a way to a good life as a Christian. Where is Jesus? The adult sermon is not much better.

I’ll tell you, Pastor, why people are excited over our favourite TV shows and why they are hesitant to attend your church: YOU DO NOT SHOW JESUS IN WORD AND SACRAMENT AS THE FOCUS OF OUR LIVES. Where’s the forgiveness of sins via the work of Christ Crucified? Instead, we are subjected to moralising and how following the 10 Commandments are a matter of having a “relationship with God”–by the way…which god? Not once you ever pointed to the Cross. Not once you did say we failed miserably at keeping the 10 Commandments and only Jesus followed it to perfection.

I walked out after the sermon, did not go to the Lord’s Supper as we are not in agreement theologically, despite its LCMS name. (And by the way, there’s no chalice, just little jiggers.)

I’m hesitant to attend church in Phoenix, lest I get disappointed. What should I do? Some of you are doing the Lenten non-commenting, so here’s the email: madtheo attt carolrutz dooott com !!!1!

We have plenty of Osteen fans at the park…I wonder how they reconcile their theology with historical accounts of martyrdom. Try preaching that to our suffering brethren today!

The Prediger laughed at this. He still remembered that Fighting for the Faith podcast when Rosie Ricardo (ay yi yi) deconstructed one of Osteen’s sermons.

Thanx to various Calvinists and Lutherans for the heads-up. Lee Shelton of The Contemporary Calvinist made that pic.

Wayne and I received word from Pastor McCain that Father Richard John Neuhaus died yesterday.  We were floored at the news.  Wayne remembered him as his friend and Seminary summer session roommate. He attended Neuhaus’ Catholic ordination service years ago.

I remember him as the catalyst that brought me and the Prediger together. At the 2002 Symposia, I was walking to class when I met Wayne along the way. He was there to see his roommate speak. I ditched class and hung out with Wayne. After that, we met Father Neuhaus. That was a good experience.

I will have to dig out the picture of him that I took from my files. Wayne and I agreed: Father Neuhaus was a brilliant man and right now he is experiencing the unity of the Church Triumphant.

Redeemer Lutheran on Rudisill holds yearly liturgical conferences (St Michael’s, Lutheran Liturgy Brotherhood) in which we attend the Eucharist, discuss parts of the Liturgy, and ultimately learn how to explain to the laity about the meaning of the Liturgy.

On January 19th, the day before the Fort Wayne Symposia, Redeemer will host a Free Conference on the future of the LCMS.  Here is the information from Pr Petersen:

This is not really a conference. It is just a convenient time to gather, to be absolved, to hear God’s Word, to pray, to learn a few things about Gregorian chant and actually do it, and to also uphold and encourage one another in mutual consolation and with conversation. This is open to anyone interested. Our topic is the future of the LCMS.

9:30 – Private Confession available with Petersen in Redeemer’s chapel
10:30 Low Mass in the Chapel
11:00 – discussion of most significant controversy in the LCMS for the future / most significant current blindess of Confessional Lutheranism
12:30 – lunch – order in pizza, pitch in for costs
2:00 – discussion continues
3:30 – Gregorian choir practice/training with Beisel for the LLPB Vespers
4:30 – LLPB Vespers w/ Treasury Propers
5:30 – ???

There is no cost for this gathering. Dr. Burnell Eckardt and
Dr. Richard Stuckwisch will both give a 5-10 minute, informal speech on the topic to get us going in the morning. The conversation will be lightly moderated, but will remain informal.

More on the topic: What is the real issue dividing the LCMS today and how should we address it? In other words, if the last generation fought the battle for the Bible over inerrancy, what is the current battle, or more importantly, what is the next battle? Where do you see evidence of this? My assumption is that Church Growth and the Emergent movement are effects not causes. But how do we get to the heart of the matter. Do we have a strategy for catechizing the LCMS and our own parishes? Do we need one? Do we have an agenda?

Along these same lines, what is our current blindness? Consider how entire generations of the LCMS swore fidelity the Confessions but failed to actually practice private Confession and Absolution or work toward the weekly Eucharist. What blindness in us will shock future generations?

Once in a while, the guys at Catholic Answers would do this “Who Wants to Be an Apologist?” contest and listeners would answer questions about Catholic theology and two harder questions about other theology. With each correct question, winners would receive a 25 buck certificate to their bookstore, up to 100 dollars.

The Prediger would listen to 1250 AM Redeemer Radio daily as he can tolerate Catholic stuff much better than the Protestant stuff. Just don’t make him listen to the Rosary, lest you make him grouchy! When I heard that the contest will be on tonight, I prepared myself and read up for several minutes on liturgical and sacramental matters before calling in.

First question was a gimmie– what was the name of the angel who appeared to Mary? It was Gabriel. That’s 25 bux.

Second question was a liturgical question– what’s an ambo? It’s a lectern. Good thing I brushed up on logistics.

Third question was a Scholastic question about faith– does man rely on knowledge, feelings, or the community? I replied that “faith must be informed”, a common Catholic saying. 50 bux!

The fourth question was what was the largest Protestant church body. It was the Baptists. 75 bux!

And the final question…Which Protestant reformer was never a Catholic priest? John Calvin FTW! (He was a lawyer.)

Yay! I has WIN!

And now, I’ll get the 100 buck gc to their bookstore and get my husband some theological books. Because you can never get enough theological books.

Another Fark article, this time about a German doctor being denied his permanent residency because his son has Down’s Syndrome.

If Dr Kurt Marquart would have been alive today, he’d be very angry at the injustice his former country has committed. I know he would, because he was all too aware that a country that does not value all human life is a country sliding towards slavery and oppression. I remembered when the Professor told the apologetics class about his stint as a pastor in Queensland. One day, a teenage girl went to him and told him that she was pregnant but her dad wanted to procure an abortion– all because he is on the church board and “What Would People Say” if his daughter is pregnant. He took the girl’s father to task for this sin. Since he has joined the Church Triumphant, I humbly ask the Church Militant in Australia to decry this act of stupidity. A town needs their doctor more than anything else, and that burden outweighs whatever burden the child may have incurred.