Northwoods Seelsorger

Have any of you heard about the Manga Bible ? Apparently it hasn't hit the book stores this far north, or I simply haven't noticed (most likely the latter.) At any rate it appears to be the latest attempt to market the Bible for today's youth. Essentially it is an adaptation of the Bible in the "Manga" style of Japanese comics that has become extremely popular of late. There are two versions of this "Manga Bible," one illustrated by Ajibayo Akinsiku (otherwise known as Siku) and written by Akin Akinsiku, both from Great Britain, and the other being the Zondervan Graphic Novels' edition by Korean manhwa artist Jung Sun Hwang and author Young Shin Lee. One reviewer noted "Hwang and Lee's irreverent, light-hearted take on Biblical stories...geared for younger readers... or at least a younger audience than the teen/young adult-skewed "Jesus is a bad ass" version of the OTHER Manga Bible ." Illustrating the Bible with car...

Concordia Theological Seminary of Ft. Wayne recently placed three of the symposia papers on their site. They are: Dr. John G. Nordling - "You Were Bought for a Price: Slave Redemption in the New Testament and Beyond" Dr. Peter J. Scaer - "The Atonement as Expressed in Mark's Sacramental Theology" Dr. John A. Maxfield - "Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin on the Significance of Christ's Death" The papers for 2008 can be found here .

A comment to my last article caused me to think. The writer asked about the word "missional." Now I have heard this word bandied about much in recent years. My suspicion of the word no doubt arises from its seeming novelty. It was the same with the word "disciple." It went from a noun to a verb to describe what the church should be doing, as in "disciple-making," taking its cue, I think, from Matthew 28. The point then was we needed to have disciples not just "members." "Missional" is supposed to be a term describing what is related to the mission work of the church, or of a missionary. However, in popular usage, the meaning has morphed into something quite different. Now it's about "contextualizing" the work of the church, which to my ears sounds like another call to change the historic aspects of its work and worship. In an article entitled "What is a Missional Community," Jason Zahariades writes: ...

Is "incarnational" a true word in Christian usage? Recently I ran across an article and some discussion on this topic that was quite critical of its more recent use, a least within the Lutheran tradition. It is claimed that "incarnational" has no historic basis in the Lutheran tradition, although it can currently be found in wide use across a number of denominational lines. As I wrote this article the spell-check feature put a red line under the word. Obviously it is not a normal, or typical, form of the word "incarnate," at least in common use at the moment. To be fair, however, the word "incarnational" can be found in an unabridged version of Webster's Dictionary, and it means "of or relating to, or emphasizing incarnation or a doctrine of incarnation." That was from page 1141 of Webster's Third International Dictionary, Unabridged , 1961. Although this was 47 years ago, I am going to assume that the definition can...

As I traveled through Indiana last week on my way to the Symposia I was surprised to see several cars sporting a new specialty license plate with the words "In God We Trust." It was not a surprise when I learned that the ALCU was behind a lawsuit saying the plates are unconstitutional. Apparently it's an apparent disparity in fees that got the original plaintiff so upset. Specialty plates that support sports teams or other private organization have to pay additional fees. A news article from Fox News last April gives additional details of the lawsuit. "In God We Trust," though, is clearly a national motto. It's even on our money. Admittedly there is some debate as to what generic civic deity it refers to, but the point is still there: This country was originally founded by people of faith, not agnostics or atheists. You can't get around it, no matter how many times you chant: "Separation of church and state." Still the debate r...

The recent issue of Newsweek magazine has a picture of Hilary Clinton on the cover with the quote: "I have found my voice." It was a phrase much repeated in the media following her New Hampshire win. So often in an election year issues of all sorts are reduced to a minimum of digestible words. Speeches capitalize on brief images easily captured by the memory, instead of deep thoughts that require extended contemplation. One commentator noted not long ago how frequently the single word "change" was evoked by all the candidates, often repeated extensively in a single speech. Living in a world where visual and voice media often predominate in the public square, those who wish to promote their ideas and identity feel forced to proclaim their words in the convenient capsule of communication known as the "sound bite." Unfortunately sound bites are open to a range of interpretation, and for this reason they fail to communicate anything clearly. Cha...

My daughter and I made it safety back from the seminary last night after a great time at the Symposia . This was her first Symposia , and she seemed to enjoy all the experiences immensely. The chapel services were rich with the music of the classics and the superb gifts of their very accomplished choirs. We received our fill of Bach, and then more, as we patiently listened to a 30 minute rendition of Cantata BMV 92 in German during the "Commemoration of the Faithful" service on Wednesday morning. The lectures were varied and stimulating, and eventually you will be able to find them on the seminary's site, although they have yet to be posted as of the writing of this article. Check back here to find them when they finally make it on the web. Since I attended only the Confessions Symposia this year, I can't comment too much on the exegetical portion, although I am sure that there is much here worth reading. The speakers that I found particularly interesting ...

Although I don't think that I have ordered from them in years, Christian Book Distributors continues to fill my mailbox with their many seasonal, sale, and professional catalogs. It seems that I also receive the "Preferred Customer" one too, which is interesting since I am not a frequent purchaser, if I purchase anything at all. But I do look at them from time to time. Perhaps I'm hoping that they might offer something "Lutheran" again, like they still did twenty-some odd years ago. That's how I purchased my set of Pieper's Dogmatic texts, and my Keil-Delitsch commentary set on the Old Testament. And I think that my wife may have ordered the volumes of Luther's sermons from them as well. But all along I realized that they were Reformed at heart, although I noticed that on the back page of my "Pastor's Resources" catalog they still offer "The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther" in 7 volumes for the very low price of $34...

For those of you who still check in here from time to time - my apologies! As a father of three (who have all been sick at one time this week!), a full-time parish pastor, and a part-time circuit counselor, life recently has been a bit complicated and busy. As much as I love to write, these responsibilities have always taken first place. Next week my eldest daughter and I will be traveling to the seminary in Ft. Wayne for the Confessions Symposium. I normally go for the whole week, but considering the overall costs and the local challenges of late, it seemed best to shorten my stay this time around. However, there will be plenty of time to take in all the exhibits and book displays (never to be missed!!). I heard from Pastor Bender that his catechetical institute is releasing the second volume of Dr. David Scaer's works, and that CPH has also recently released a book on women's ordination, Women Pastors? Women's Ordination in Biblical Lutheran Perspective ($26...