Northwoods Seelsorger

In the "Colloquium Fratrum " of the most recent Logia (Epiphany 2007), I was reminded again of the ongoing debate in the LCMS regarding the "Order of Creation" as it applies to the service of women in the church. Dr. Matthew Becker, in response to an earlier article by Pastor Holger Sontag ( which dealt with the propriety of women teaching theology at the seminary in reaction to an article by Becker - see below), remarked that, .."the 'the order of creation,' in which men are 'the head' of women and women are ontologically subordinate to men, these texts no longer make any sense in contemporary Western, scientific societies. The cosmological foundation on which such an 'order of creation' argument rests has been overturned by knowledge from the natural sciences and by cultural changes in the East over the past three hundred years. To argue that God actually created the man first, and then the woman from the rib of man, and that th...

In the Gospel lesson this morning Jesus deals directly with the demonic kingdom (Luke 4:31-44). First a demon-possessed man speaks to Jesus in the synagogue, and later Jesus delivers others brought to him while ministering in Capernaum . Within Lutheran circles I have not found many who talk much about the demonic. Perhaps there is a bit of that modernistic thinking that feels they were more relevant to the ancient world. Maybe the thinking is that the demons were more open and demonstrative as Jesus carried out his earthly mission. Then again, some of it may simply be avoidance or denial. Talking about Satan and his kingdom is unsettling. And the thought of encountering it in our own lives is frightening. Let's just leave it to the horror movies, we think. But Satan is alive and active in the world in which we live. Peter warns us to be on guard, for the devil, he writes, is "a roaring lion seeking someone to devour." Throughout the world Satan's k...

Should priests be allowed to marry? That is probably one of the most popular questions today, even within the Roman Catholic Church. A search on Google for the words "priests marry catholic" generated no less than 1,380,000 hits. "Celibacy used to go with priesthood as fish went with Fridays," commented the former seminary president, Rev. Donald Cozzens . "Over the past 40 to 50 years, I would argue that more and more Catholics are questioning the need to link celibacy with priesthood ." (AP article, 1-26-07) Cozzens is arguing for the church to drop the age-old requirement . And part of what is fueling his call for change, as well as many in the RC church today, is the challenge of a numerically declining priesthood. Personally I was shocked to learn just how much a difference there is compared to 40 years ago. There were 42,000 active priests in 2005. That is a 29% decline from 1965. In 1965 there were 549 parishes without a resident priest. T...

One of the frustrations with the church today is that it is making itself over in the image of popular preference. Countless churches are designing their sanctuaries, revising their worship, and restructuring their governance, according to current trends determined by the most recent poll data. Ergun Mehmet Caner, president of Falwell's Liberty Theological Seminary, wrote a refreshingly candid article on this topic with the straightforward title: "Polls are for Liberals: Churches must not lead by consensus or popularity" ( National Liberty Journal , Feb. 2007). Especially poignant was his account of President Ford in the days leading up to his pardon of Nixon. He recounts how everyone was pushing to see Nixon brought up on charges. "Every poll taken indicated a vast majority of Americans wanted the former president on trial for the crimes of which he had been accused." Caner continues by noting that as the president contemplated the possibility ...

Today marks the minor festival of the Conversion of St. Paul. Few apostles or evangelists have days in the church calendar that identify them with a significant event in their life. The "Confession" of Peter was on January 18, but otherwise the days are noted only by the name and office of the saint. Paul actually gets extra billing in the calendar in the additional festival of St. Peter and St. Paul on June 29. It is interesting that of all the apostles these two should not have separate feast days, save the "event" festivals previously noted. St. Paul is by far one of the most complex and fascinating personalities of the New Testament. A brief blog post could never do him justice. However, his story is encouraging for me pastorally as I consider the ongoing ministry of the church to reach the often hardened sinners of our own time. Paul was no ordinary non-believer. He was a persecutor of the church itself. He was "breathing threats and murder...

In the current 3-year series there is a lectio continua from from the letter of 1 Corinthians. This series of readings encompasses chapters 12 through 15, and includes the familiar sections on spiritual gifts, the body metaphor for the church, tongues, and the resurrection. Although I am not preaching on these texts this season, it has been a challenging area for our local Greek Study Group. Today we worked on the epistle text for February 4, which includes selected verses from chapter 14, the chapter where Paul talks about the place and purpose of "speaking in tongues," also known technically as glossolalia , a transliterated term from the Greek. While our group is in no way sympathetic to the charismatic or neo - Pentecostal movement, nor did any of us claim to have possessed or sought the so-called "gift of tongues," we did struggle among ourselves as to how to define this so-called "tongue" or language to which Paul refers. Charismatics and P...

The title printed above was taken from a sermon by Dr. David Scaer in 1989. He was preaching on the occasion of the Slaughter of the Innocents, and indicated that the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade shoud really be "commemorated on December 28, the Day of the Holy Innocents. On that day, churches should be decked in black for the hideous American crime of abortion, which compares in its brutality to Stalin's extermination of the Ukrainians in 1930's, Hitler's destruction of Jews in Germany and Poland in the 1940's, and the near obliteration of the Cambodians by the Kymer Rouge in the 1970's Our slaughter is even more thorough and long lasting, covering the 1970's, 1980's, and now the 1990's." While the debate rages in this country, many have lost sight of the real crime at the heart of it. Politicians will bandy about the topic as election time fodder, using it as a way to characterize one's political leanings. But this is much mor...

My classmate, Rev. Peter Bender, is sponsoring a special symposium on catechesis through the Concordia Catechetical Academy that is a "must see" this summer. The theme is "Why Being Lutheran Matters: Catechesis on the Church under the Third Article." I am not sure that I will make it, but I'm going to try. This is a critical topic to discuss at this time, and I hope some of you will be able to take advantage of it. Dates: June 20, 21, and 22, 2007. Location: The Country Springs Hotel in Waukesha , Wisconsin. You can visit the CCA on the web here , although I didn't see information for this symposia posted as of yet.

After the addition of the latest two new articles to the DayStar Journal, it is clear that ecumenical awareness is the centerpiece to their identity. As indicated here before, I am sensing more with each passing day that the powers that be will be moving the synodical machinery in this direction with much greater fervor , beginning with this convention. One of the articles by Harold L. Kitzmann , entitled "Arrogance Born of Ignorance vs. Learning from Other Traditions," deserves some specific comment, however. The subtitle of the article reads: "Harold Kitzman relates some of his personal ecumenical experiences as he seeks to fathom the depth of the LCMS ’s opposition to fellowship with other Christians." The article then goes on to relate, as the subtitle indicates, the author's 'personal experiences' as grounds for greater ecumenical awareness and practice on the part of Lutherans. Considering Dr. Kitzmann's academic background, I real...

It took a bit longer to return to Wisconsin than I originally hoped, but I made it home in time for supper last night. Although ideally I would love to stay for the final lectures on Friday, I usually use this day for travel since it takes upwards of 9 to10 yours for the trip back. It's tough to travel alone for that many hours, but I have found over the years that listening to a book on tape (now CD) helps to pass the time and remain alert. Although it has nothing to do with the Symposia , per se , I would still like to recommend the book I listened to on my way back. Written by Vicki Constantine Croke , The Lady and the Panda is a fascinating and engaging story of the first American explorer to bring back a live panda from China in the 1930's. Well, enough of my recreational reading. I did not catch all of the lectures on Thursday, but as I said in the previous post, I did make sure to be there for Dr. David Scaer's . The hall by this time was predictably packe...

On Wednesday they concluded the exegetical symposia and began the symposia on the confessions. The latter is actually the original symposia , with the exegetical being only 21 years old. Dr. Dean Wenthe , president of CTS (Concordia Theological Seminary) began the day's lectures with the lengthy topic "From Creation to Consummation : The Inclusive Identity of Israel's God as Challenge to Ancient and Contemporary Pluralism." The essence of his paper was directed toward the fact that much of the energy of the Torah is directed against pagan plurality. He noted the extensive Hebrew vocabulary for the words idol and idolatry. It is true that you can often determine the priorities or predominant issues of a culture based on the specialization of certain words. He ended his lecture reminding us that our calling is to proclaim the uncompromisingly exclusive nature of God. In light of the controversy that has swirled around Dr. Benke in the past, especially regarding the ...

Well I made it safe and sound! Thanks for all who offered a prayer on my behalf. Roads were surprisingly clear and the weather reports were overstated. My trip, which included only one stop, was completed in 8 1/2 hours (a record for me.) As usual my annual journey to "The Fort" has been amply rewarded. A trip to the bookstore, numerous visits with dear old friends, and stimulating lectures filled the first day. I look in three of the first lectures in full, and part of the fourth. Dr. Geischen's lecture on "Christian Identity in Thessalonica " offered me a perspective into this book by Paul that I did not have before. The book of Thessalonians essentially asks the question: What is it like to be "in Christ," what is it like to be a Christian? Paul surprisingly answers, in part, by pointing to himself. But before anyone becomes too defensive, let it be known that he does not point to any sense of piety, or moral purity, but rather to the c...

Early tomorrow morning I plan to leave for Ft. Wayne for the Symposia at Concordia Theological Seminary . It will take me at least 10 hours, and looking at the weather down there, I will be facing some significant snow challenges. Say a prayer for us foolish travelers! At any rate I will probably not write here for a day or two. However, if I have the chance, I want to include an article or so on some of the topics or papers that will be discussed at the Symposia .

Although Christian traditions which descend from the Reformation era share a common view of the Atonement, there is a noticeable difference when one compares traditions from the East and West. Nevertheless, there is common agreement among Christian churches that Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection on the third day is central to salvation, and that a chief benefit of that salvation is forgiveness and new life. Beyond this, though, views differ as to the emphasis of certain aspects of our Lord's sacrifice and the reasons for its occurrence . It is interesting to discover that over time no one dominant view of the Atonement has predominated . While the Early Church worked out distinct language and formulae to describe the nature of Christ and the Godhead against the onslaught of destructive heresies, and codified it in creeds which the Church still confesses, the Ancient Church did not establish one solitary view of the Atonement as the "orthodox" doctrin...

They number about 1.2 million in the U.S. at present, around half the size of the LCMS or the Episcopalians. However, the Orthodox Church in America is growing, and that growth is being fueled largely by converts to the faith; converts which appear to come mainly from cross-overs from other denominations. According to a recent AP article about 1/3 of all U.S. Orthodox priests are now converts as well. Apparently the conversion of John Fenton was a sign of the times. A 2006 survey of the four Orthodox seminaries in the country found that about 43% of seminarians are converts according to Alexi D. Krindatch , research director at the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in Berkley, California. But it isn't only from the folds of Lutheran flocks that these new converts are coming. They are also entering from traditions as distant from Orthodoxy as conservative Baptists. Krindatch found in his research that 1/3 of the more than 200 parishes in the U.S. parishes in the ...

When something is unintelligible we say that it's "Greek to me." Somehow Greek has become the symbol of all that is confusing and beyond understanding. That's unfortunate. Now I'll be the first to admit that studying Greek in college was one of the greatest challenges of my academic career. And even today as I gather weekly with two other area pastors to translate upcoming pericopes , I am reminded that working with this language can be a mind-twisting experience. Still, Greek has to be one of the most precise and crisp languages used to communicate human thought throughout history. Unlike English with its myriad exceptions and borrowed words, ancient Greek is far more predictable. Traditionally pastors were required to study Greek as part of their preparation for the ministry. Not so long ago I heard that this requirement doesn't hold for those in the DELTO (Distance Education Leading to Ordination) program. I was quite surprised - and disappoin...

One of the top ten most risky things a pastor can do in his ministry is to introduce a new hymnal. The advent of Lutheran Worship ( LW ), unfortunately, raised the stakes on that risk when it ignored the fact that significant change in the church's liturgy is usually resisted by the faithful. My church uses LW and I am at peace with it. As as pastor I have used it since at least the early 90's. The church I am at presently introduced it in the mid-80's. One would think that any trauma experienced over the introduction nigh near 20 years or more ago would have long faded. But not so. Memories run deep. Echoes of these memories surfaced recently as we talked at my church about the newest hymnal, Lutheran Service Book ( LSB ). One aspect of LSB that appeals to me is that they reversed the trend of significant change. Now I'm not a stodgy resistant - to- change-at-any-cost kind of pastor. But I have noticed in a very practical way a truth the church has alwa...