Northwoods Seelsorger

After several months of silence someone found an article I wrote back in May of 2009 on Dr. Francis Collins and the issue of Evolution and decided to leave a comment, which I was notified of via email. This led to a bit of a 'dialogue' on the whole issue in the comments section, which may still be continuing as I wait to see if more comments are yet posted. I bring this up to any of my readers would might be interested in the subject, as you would not know of this (since it is a past article out of view) and I wanted to see what any of you thought of the recent conversation. These 'conversations' have happened in the past on the Northwoods Seelsorger , and it is interesting to witness the mood and emotions of the debate from both sides of the isle. Without becoming too defensive, I seem to sense a bit of condescension on the part of evolutionists, especially as they try ever so deftly to inform those of other views that they are somehow illogical, backwards, nar...

This past year our offerings declined noticeably at our rural church, yet such a decrease in giving hit many churches in a down economy. It even hit the mighty Crystal Cathedral , the 10,000-member shrine of Dr. Robert Schuller . After decades of seemingly unlimited growth a nd outward success, the Cathedral is now forced to tighten its financial belt to ride out the economic slump. Lay offs, selling of property, and cutbacks in the airing of the once popular Hour of Power all signal a turn in the fortunes of a ministry many once looked upon as the model church growth congregation. According to a recent AP article the Rev. Dr. Sheila Schuller Coleman , Dr. Robert Schuller's daughter and the church's recently appointed leader, admitted that "the era of blockbuster televangelists is fading and viewership is declining even as the ag e of the average viewer creeps upward." "I can't imagine anybody younger than 40 watching some sort of televangelist," ...

I'm not sure why, but in the last year or so I have been promptly reminded by Jesus First via email each time they update their online newsletter. Perhaps I'm on a synodical mass mailing. At any rate I pass on to you a note that they have once again published a couple of articles, although I don't see anything too worthy of comment. It seems mainly 'boilerplate' material for them - trying to remove any suspicion about the efforts of the current administration, especially with regard to the colossal restructuring of the Synod slated for the upcoming convention this summer, and Charles Mueller's usual labeling and categorizing for LCMS churches and pastors. His latest effort concerns how LCMS churches approach "change." The theme addresses the upcoming convention also. Putting the best construction on his words the appeal seems to be for civility and open minded discussion about matters to be discussed. That's certainly not something again...

Could it be yet another sign of the waning of the far left in Missouri? Voices/Vision, the 'voice' of those openly promoting women's ordination in the LCMS, once located at http://www.voicesvision.org, seems to be no more. Or their website is no more, at least not on my server. Is all this simply going 'under ground' or may I dare hope for a new day? We'll see.....

Since the beginning of the year the DayStar Network site was once again down. They had been down around mid-October of last year as well. Now they are back. As I had reported before, the lack of updates and frequent disappearances seems to indicate a waning influence for the liberal left on the web. Or maybe it's just DayStar. I'm still wondering.....

When a daily newspaper asks a pastor to share a prayer for the new year, one might think that such an offer gives a unique opportunity to present a clear witness to the Gospel. Unfortunately, in our PC world such opportunities are too often reduced to empty words saying little of value. Take this prayer by the Rev. Stephen Hamilton Wright, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Wausau, Wisconsin [which is a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA) ] recently published in the January 3 issue of the Wausau Daily Herald : Source of All Hope, Fill us with hope in the new year, and lead us to live accordingly. Teach us to listen calmly to our neighbors, and those with whom we disagree. Inspire respect for the sincerity of those who practice different faiths, who also seek to serve others. Show us that there is more truth than any of us knows, and make us eager to listen for it, even from unexpected places. Teach us peace, in our hearts, homes and world. Let us to generosity, and h...

Recently I dropped in on Dr. Ed Schroeder's Crossings website and found an interesting Q & A regarding the whole question of homosexuality and the Bible and the ELCA decision regarding openly practicing homosexuals in the active ministry. Many within the ELCA willingly accepted the liberal drift of their church body, and even the older set tolerated and learned to enjoy the adoption of female clergy. However, it seems that the homosexuality question was a 'deal breaker' for some in this otherwise acquiescent crowd. Finally opening their Bibles they were faced with a fundamental dilemma: how do we explain away what seems so clear in God's Word? Well, the counter-reformation troops have been hard at work developing answers to just such questions, and one appeared as of late on the Crossings site. It is written not by a theologian, but a laymen. Still, it is inspired by Schroeder's hermeneutic of Gospel reductionism which helps to explain how one can take...

According to the Religious News Service one of the biggest religious news stories of the past year was President Obama's address to the Muslim world at Cairo University on June 4th. The entire speech is located here on the White House site. Overall I see the address more as a policy presentation than as a religious statement. In short the president sought common ground between practitioners of Islam and the west, and to dispel stereotypes. One statement in his speech needs further study and clarification, however: "Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance." Now certainly the examples he gave were indicative of the point. However, unexplored in this statement and speech is the entire history of Islam , starting with its genesis as a movement of dominance by force. Also, his selective quotes from the Koran (sorry, Mr. President, I'm not ready to preface this book with "holy" since I reserve that for the Bible) fail as well to adequately explore the s...

Occasionally I drop in on the DayStar website to see what new articles are there. A while back the entire site was out of circulation since the host was apparently behind in renewing it. Now, while trying to access the site today I received this message: Forbidden You don't have permission to access / on this server. Curious.....Not sure what this means. Oh, well. Perhaps someone else knows what is going on here.