Northwoods Seelsorger

For my 51st birthday my wife blessed me with the gift of a Nook , the e-book reader created by Barnes and Noble.  Many of you have probably long since discovered this technological tool, but the Seelsorger often lags behind the pack (Confession: I have yet to send a text message from my phone.  Goal for 2012.)  At any rate I have come to truly appreciate the benefits of this device.  Not wanting to spend a lot and finding the Barnes and Noble site very workable to find books, I began to explore the many offerings available for bargain prices.  What an amazing treasure trove of classics!  Works by Luther and other reformers, plus an abundance of works by several church fathers, are all accessible for just under a dollar.  Admittedly, the translations are not the most recent, and many of the books are public domain, some dating back many decades.  Nevertheless, for a small budget you can amass a nice portable library with the flexibility of adding ...

Christianity Today has once again announced its top ten news stories for the past year.  Do you remember any of them? 1 - Rob Bell tries to legitimize universalism, prompting huge backlash.  He later announces leaving Mars Hill Bible Church. 2- States adopt 80 abortion restrictions in their 2011 legislative sessions, an all-time high (the previous record was 24). 3 - Mideast Christians conflicted about the Arab Spring , especially a anti-Christian violence follows Mubarak ouster in Egypt. 4 - John Scott , evangelical statesman, pastor, and builder of the global church, dies at 90. 5 - Beijing's Shouwang Church holds outdoor services for more than six months, enduring mass arrests as it leads China's booming house churches in unprecedented demands for religious freedom. 6 - HarperCollins, which already owns Zondervan, buys Thomas Nelson ; it now has about 50 percent of the Christian book market. 7- How best to translate "Son of God" in Bibles for the Musl...

My wife also blessed me with a couple of smaller works from Reprisination Press, Why? A Layman's Guide to the Liturgy by Burnell Eckardt and Johann Konrad Wilhelm Loehe: Portrait of a Confessional Lutheran by D. Richard Stuckwisch.  I have purchased books from Repristination before and have watched as their inventory has grown over the years, eventually branching out from reprints and translations into more recent original publications.  I get regular updates and sales offers, so I see the works as they become available.  They have been especially helpful in providing valuable reprints and translations of Gerhardt and other authors from the Age of Orthodoxy.  If you are unaware of them or have never visited their site, take a moment and peruse the many fine offers at Repristination Press .  The introduction on their main page reads: Repristination Press was started in Fort Wayne, Indiana in June of 1993, beginning publication with several books by Wilhel...

After seeing the book at conferences and bookstores and passing it up, I finally determined that it was high time to stop neglecting it.  So when my dear wife asked for suggestions for Christmas I put Charles Porterfield Krauth's The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology on the list.  Even as the holiday quickly approached she was able to locate a copy on Amazon.com and I am now the proud owner of this 800+ page tome.  Having given her the CPH information I was surprised when I opened it up and looked for Dr. Larry Rast's preface and it was not there.  Come to find out this theological gem is part of the public domain and more than one publishing company has printed it.  My copy comes from Nabu Publishers, published in 2010, and is a public domain reprint. One reviewer of the CPH reprint notes that "They simply reprinted the old book, they didn't bother scanning it, OCR-bridging it and then using a cleaner typeface, which would make this much more readabl...

According to an AP article today, "Dreams of a white Christmas are hanging by a thread in the North, where unusually mild weather has left the ground bare in many places...."  Well, for those suffering with a green or brown Christmas, those of us up here in the "Northwoods" tundra section of the lower 48 will have a white Christmas.  Sorry to rub it in if your place is unseasonable mild, but northern Wisconsin is once again magically blanketed with a pleasant covering of frosty white.   To all who stop by to read - Merry Christmas!

Recently a Lutheran church participated in a gun buy-back program in New York in the wake of the tragic shooting of a career police officer.  It is run by the New York Police Department in an effort to get more guns off the streets.  As an NRA member such programs admittedly raise questions for me, especially regarding effectiveness.  I believe that guns should be used safely and legally and support any effort that will strengthen that discipline.  However, it would seem that this well-meaning (but misdirected) effort is not as effective as supporters would like it be.  On the site NewYorkDefenseLawyer.com the author notes: "It’s true that offering $200 for a weapon will likely draw people to bring in their firearms. But, more interestingly, how many of these people are bringing in all of their weapons and how many are simply bringing in the ones they don’t have a desire to use anymore? It is difficult to measure the actual effectiveness of these programs a...

As reported in an earlier post, the Freedom from Religion Foundation decided to put up a 'nativity scene' at the Wisconsin capital to counter one placed by a Christian group.  They put up their 'scene' on Wednesday.   According to a recent AP article it depicts Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein.  What the article did not report were the other figures and captions, including a child in a manger with the sign "Heathen's Greetings," and a female figurine announcing "It's a girl!"   According to The Blaze : "In the atheist version of the nativity, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein are the three wise men. The baby, an African girl, is intended to represent the birthplace of mankind. The beloved angels are an astronaut and the Statue of Liberty." Because the Christians put up a display the atheists insist they needed to have their views represented as well.  So, let's see if we can interpret their message as a...

As I reported earlier, OWN opened a Facebook page for the purpose of supposedly fostering discussion, even though the title of their group indicates the opposite.  As of yesterday they felt constrained to 'turn off' regular posting to the wall because of what they termed "spaming."  Experienced FB uses corrected this observation and noted that what was occurring, for the most part, was simply a spirited discussion, exactly what they were aiming for, or so it seemed.  Unfortunately, for them, much of the discussion was not supportive of their goal. As of today the reported "likes," a FB attribute to indicate popularity, is now at 222, up significantly from a few days ago when it was first launched.  It's hard to determine, however, where all those 'likes' originate, as some posters willingly admitted that they are LCMS refugees now living and working in the ELCA.  So, one would be cautious about concluding that this is a groundswell of support for...

'Tis the season to object to outdoor nativity scenes, especially those in public places.  Here in Wisconsin the Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation is once again working to counter the Christmas spirit.  In reaction to a conservative group setting up a nativity scene at the capitol building, they are applying for a permit, the AP article reports, "for an opposing display."  They claim that the nativity scene isn't appropriate for a state building.  So what will their display be?  One that's "slightly blasphemous" with an "irreverent tweak" on the nativity scene. Let's think about this for a moment.  First of all what is there in a typical nativity scene that should be so objectionable?  The article claims the scene includes "six statuettes."  That probably means there is one representing Joseph and Mary, three for the Magi, and one for the baby Jesus.  Or it could be Mary, Joseph, a shepherd or two, the baby Jesus and...

I found an interesting chronology on the Religious Tolerance site regarding when churches started to ordain women.  This timetable begins with the early 1800's, which is interesting in itself.  One of the arguments against women's ordination is its historic novelty, not its ancient roots. Given the more liberal nature of this site, I wonder why they didn't try to trace women's ordination further back?  Could it be that the church did not know such a novelty in previous eras, except in cases of heretical sects?  Furthermore, it is interesting to see how some of those initially ordained to the ministry in the 1800's, outside of the Quakers, either gravitated toward the Unitarians or came out of this group.  The Unitarian Universalist denomination, the site notes, became "the first large denomination to have a majority of female ministers. In 1999-APR, female ministers outnumbered their male counterpart 431 to 422." Looking at the remainder of the chronology...

Today it became official, according to website manager Carol Schmidt.  The name is changed, as is the mission. Initially the purpose was discussion surrounding the CTCR document "The Creator's Tapestry."  Such discussion did not occur, as was hoped.  Now the direction has changed.  As Ms. Schmidt notes: While we have no idea how many people in the Missouri Synod want to advocate for the ordination of women, some of us believe there can be no hope for discussion without a place and voice for such advocacy.  Without a voice for advocacy, all voices who desire true discussion will be silenced even if an appearance of discussion is projected. To widen their push for "advocacy" they have also opened a Facebook page .  Under the mission of the group the following is posted: There are many theological perspectives on the role of women in the LCMS, but not all aspects have been heard or considered. Studies conducted over the last four decades by the C...

A while back a website was formed in reaction to the LCMS's Commission on Theology and Church Relation's document "The Creator's Tapestry."  This document discussed the roles of women from a biblical point of view as understood in the Missouri Synod.  Predictably some disagreed with this document and established a site to address it, having been largely unsuccessful in getting the powers that be to seriously change their views or revise the document.  Although one could readily guess the underlying sentiment of the website and its author's, it appeared that the initial goal was simply to open the discussion about the role of women in the church.  That has now changed.  Although the address still lists the site as " www.thecreatorstapsetry.com ," the new title proclaims: "Ordain Women Now in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod."   To their credit they are at least fully honest about their true intent. Although it is no surprise to me, the...

We often think of Advent as the beginning of the church year.  However, the church's calendar is more cyclical  than linear.  Thus, one does not so much observe a beginning and ending as an ongoing cycle moving from one theme to another. The traditional Advent Wreath may be an appropriate way to illustrate this, as we move toward Christmas by moving in a circle, a symbol of eternity. One half of the year reflects on the life of the church, the other on the life of Christ.  Advent does make us think of beginnings and endings as it points us in anticipation to the end of time and the return of Christ, as well as the birth of Jesus.  Yet the best way to think of Advent is to see it in terms of the fulfillment of prophesy.  How do we know that Jesus will come again in glory, as He promised?  The answer is found in His first coming, the incarnation.  In a sense past, present and future are collapsed and made a single whole.  As we look back we f...

In the continued interest of keeping all informed of theological discussions on both sides of the fence within Missourian circles, please note that the Daystar Journal has published a new set of articles for the fall. I have not had a chance to fully read and review all of them, and will report my reflections as time and opportunity allow.  After going to the Daystar Journal site click on "Recent Articles" for the current selection. The introduction to the articles, however, indicates that the journal has decided to tackle topics in a "social gospel' direction this time around, a theme reminiscent of the 70's.  Still, the first article by David Domsch begins the offerings by taking a direct swipe at the LCMS under the accusation that it is a synod run entirely by fear.  After reading this brief selection one would be led to believe that Missouri is a dictatorial state.  Domsch also takes aim at the seminaries, which he obviously believes are failing to fulfill ...

Thanks to the former dean of Nashotah House, I discovered this little piece by way of his own blog "To All the World..."  The 'tool' is an interactive map of the U.S., that shows the percentage of faith groups represented by each state in the union.  Simply pass the cursor over the state and the bar graph to the right will immediately register the percentage of various religious groups. What was interesting to me is how many "unaffiliated" there are, sometimes equaling the number of Evangelicals and Catholics in certain areas. Check it out here . 

I shouldn't be surprised or shocked anymore.  When it comes to worship many churches assume that the form and music of worship remain neutral, and therefore subject it to whatever manipulation will attract the next crowd.  The Church of All Saints in Stockholm has simply applied that to the latest trend among the young, celebrating the upsurge of numbers while oblivious to the injury they inflicted on the spiritual life of God's people.  Take a moment and read the Associated Press article here reprinted by the Washington Post and judge for yourself. Even the writer noted early on that the so-called service resembled a "disco at a youth center" more than worship. With increasingly fewer worshipers the church felt it needed to so something to attract the younger crowd and turned to the tools of the entertainment industry. That the participants were entertained is a given.  "It was an awesome feeling," said one.  “It was superfun, it was really kicking......

Purgatory presented Martin Luther with one of his early theological challenges.  I suspect that some Catholics today would claim that purgatory is among those practices of the past that possess little meaning for the modern believer.  In Luther's day purgatory featured prominently in the believer's mind.  It was also tied directly to indulgences which became a major fundraiser, especially for those trying to raise much needed capital to build St. Peters and pay off debts resulting from the purchase of titles and positions.  Given this state of affairs it makes sense that such a practice was ripe for abuse.  However, past abuses aside, is purgatory a doctrine of the current Catholic Church?  The answer is yes.  Yet how central to Catholic teaching is purgatory?  Admittedly, purgatory also does not list among the primary and central teachings or truths of the church.  Alan Schreck (author of Catholic and Christian , 1984) sees part of the pro...

My attention was recently drawn to a resolution by the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta proposing a study that would lead to "honoring the contributions of Pelagius."  Resolution R11-7 reads: Contributions of Pelagius  Whereas the historical record of Pelagius’s contribution to our theological tradition is shrouded in the political ambition of his theological antagonists who sought to discredit what they felt was a threat to the empire, and their ecclesiastical dominance, and   whereas an understanding of his life and writings might bring more to bear on his good standing in our tradition, and  whereas his restitution as a viable theological voice within our tradition might encourage a deeper understanding of sin, grace, free will, and the goodness of God’s creation, and   whereas in as much as the history of Pelagius represents to some the struggle for theological exploration that is our birthright as Anglicans,   Be it resolved, th...

I love to write (which is why I started this blog).  However, going the next step and submitting something for publication always seemed like too big of a step.  This past January, however, one of my professors handed back a paper I'd written the previous summer and made the comment that he thought what I had written was "publishable."  That finally gave me the impetus to give it a try.  What did I have to lose?  I reformatted the paper, doubled checked it again, and sent it off to LOGIA: A Journal of Lutheran Theology .  What a surprise when the Reformation issue arrived this past week and I saw that they had published it!  The article is entitled "Romans 7: Personal Struggle, Defense of the Law, or Israel's Struggle?"  It arose out of a class studying the "New Perspective on Paul."   As one of the 'token' Lutherans in the class (at this Anglican seminary) I decided to defend Luther against the newer 'perspective.'  My professor d...

Imprecatory psalms present a challenge.  The call for judgment and punishment on one's enemies, to the Christian ear, sounds harsh and excessive.  This morning my devotions involved Psalm 109, a primary imprecatory psalm.  Obviously the verses contain very harsh calls for hardship and suffering upon the "wicked man," possibly more than most psalms.  The 'psalm prayer' at the end in my breviary tried to soften the tone as it reminded the hearer that Jesus "blessed" those who cursed him and asked the Father to forgive those who nailed him the cross.  Still, the psalm does not bless the wicked man.  In fact, it asks that his "sin be always before the LORD."  How do we reconcile such language with our faith? Although in no way coordinated with the cycle of readings, it so happened that one of the lessons to be read for today was from James 2.  The final verse of the reading seemed to throw light on the dilemma posed above: "For judgment is w...

Today is my day.  Coffee has been part of my life as long as I can remember.  We even grind our own beans to get the freshest taste possible. How much do I consume each day?  You measure that?  Come on! As it is National Coffee Day it occurred to me that it should have its own 'patron saint.'  Giving it the most shallow reflection possible, I thought how about James and John, the "sons of thunder"? Works for me.  Any better ideas out there?  We only have today....

If you follow the ALPB's "Your Turn" discussion board , you may have seen my name in several posts over the last week or two.  After following various discussions over the years I finally decided to dive in and actively participate.  What prompted my involvement was the postings from Dr. Matthew Becker.  Dr. Becker's writings on ALPB, his own blog , and on the Daystar Jounal have been documented and reviewed on this blog many times.  Until recently I had only commented on his public writings, but had never actually engaged him in active discussion.  The time seemed overdue to take that next step.  The discussions on the topic "Valparaiso University and the LCMS" are now closed.  Pastor Speckhard, the site monitor, realized that it had more than run its course.  I agree.  However, while it lasted it did prove to be a lively, at times contentious, but very revealing discussion.  It often surprised me how open Dr. Becker was about his vie...

Like Pastor Peters I am now old enough to ponder that question as well: How did we get to this point?  The good pastor reflects on the changes he has observed in the Missouri Synod over the decades and wonders out loud why we need the diversity we now have.  I pass it on for your review: "How did we get to his point?" at Pastoral Meanderings.

Earlier this year a reader recommended a book by Dr. Scott Hahn entitled The Lamb's Supper (Doubleday, 1999).  In light of my upcoming research and the fact that my papers were finished, I finally secured a copy by inter-library loan and read it.  Dr. Hahn's book attempts to offer a fresh approach to the Mass by returning to the last book of Holy Scripture for insights.  He does admit that while seeming to be somewhat novel, his book actually borrows from the ancient fathers and thus rediscovers the past as much as provides new understandings.  The first portion of the book offers a primer on the Mass, obviously anticipating readers who may be less knowledgeable about the liturgical forms.  He writes as a Catholic convert and thus seems conscious of others like himself who may be looking for encouragement to change.  He also writes for Catholics in need of rediscovering the old forms and learning again a meaning they may never have been taught.  To th...

In light of an ongoing discussion over on the ALPB site , I would like to recommend a fine article on the use of the Old Testament by Dr. Daniel Gard of Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne.  It is entitled "The Church's Scripture and Functional Marcionism."   (CTQ, 74: 2010, pages 209-224). The concluding paragraphs are worth noting here in summary: The core and center of the Scriptures is the person of Jesus. All that the Old Testament conveys points us to him. The Old Testament is more than a series of specific prophecies that find their fulfillment in the person of Jesus, with everything else simply "filler." All of the Old Testament, just as the New, is focused on him. He is "Israel reduced to one." The offices of Christ-Prophet, Priest and King-are understandable only in light of the Old Testament offices. Conversely, the Old Testament offices are understandable only in light of the incarnation. Everything that took place before the incarna...

Well, another milestone was reached early this morning.  At around 1:18 a.m. the last of my graduate papers was sent out to my professor.  I am now A.B.T. - "All but thesis."  What a relief!  The papers didn't sound too interesting to my high school aged son, but I enjoyed them.  They both revolved around the theme of my upcoming thesis.  For my course in History and Practice of the Church Year with Dr. Pfatteicher I wrote a paper entitled "The Apocalypse in the Revised Common Lectionary: An Analysis of Its Use in the Church Year."  The second paper, written for History of the English Hymnal with Dr. Herman, was "Allusions to the Apocalypse in Selected Hymns in English."  I am gaining a new appreciation for the book of Revelation and its relationship to the worship of the church.  One of the books recommended by a past comment on this blog, The Lamb's Supper by Scott Hahn, is one of my next projects to read. I plan to spend the next few mont...

Most of us realize that the era of church growth has come to an end. In fact, it never really existed.  The mega churches simply recycled the disgruntled church shoppers by luring them in with promises of entertainment and feel-good services.  The current number of Lutherans in this country rests at 7.4 million.  That number represents a 10% drop during the years 1990 to 2010.  So, all those efforts to "grow the church" did little to nothing to stem the tide of loss.  Truth be known we probably sent as many to other denominations as out the back door. Now compare that figure with a place like India which has enjoyed a 1,379% growth rate in the Lutheran Church in that same 20 year period.  They currently have 1.9 million members in a country known more for its Hindus and other non-Christians as for Christians in general.  Ethiopia gave me another surprise.  They have 5.6 million total Lutherans and have registered a growth rate of 495%.  ...

Yesterday my parish celebrated its 125th anniversary.  In 1886, gathering in a log cabin structure, they made a beginning in the yet unbroken wilderness of northern Wisconsin that would later become a thriving rural parish. Times such as this give pause for reflection and an opportunity to gain perspective.  Many congregations, like people, are known to go through periods of panic and concern, especially when giving wanes and pews are empty.  They look to the unknown future and predict a dismal outcome.  Unfortunately such forecasting is terribly shortsighted.  Looking back we realize that we have lived through times far more challenging than anything recently experienced.  Certainly the Great Depression should have signaled our demise when economic distress reached its critical heights.  Yet still St. Peter congregation survived.  Anniversaries remind the parish that it is all about God's grace.  Looking back they should be humbled to real...

Recently news came in that Concordia University - St. Paul (my alma mater, class of '83) has a new president: t he Rev. Tom Ries .  Although a graduate of the seminary his passion seems to lie as much with financial management as with theology. His post-graduate education involves a MBA from the University of Minnesota, along with an almost earned Ph.D, the emphasis being finances in higher education. After a time with the LCMS Foundation as president, CSP recruited Ries as its own 9th president in its 118 year history.  I have never had the privilege of serving on a search committee for a college, university or seminary, so my knowledge of the criteria used to choose a president is next to zero.  However, looking back at the various presidents of the institutions where I have studied, I wonder if the criteria is changing.  When I was in college the president was a former chaplain and two-star general in the U.S. Army.  Other successors, as I recall, were creden...

Over the years I have wrestled with evangelism.  Not so much the doing of it, but the guilt of it, or better said, the guilt of not doing it.  Looking back in the history of my congregation as we prepare for our 125th anniversary, I noticed huge evangelism pushes back into the 1960's, and no doubt beyond.  It was "Church Growth" and "web evangelism"  and things of this sort by the 80's when my ministry started.  I remember going down to Ann Arbor to be trained in the Dialog Evangelism II program that had just been launched.  They took D.James Kennedy's work and reworked it again from Biesenthal's prior reworking, changing the "dialog questions" to reflect the new realities they observed in the population.  By the time I arrived out here in the country in 2000 Evangelism as a 'program' seemed much on the wane.  At any rate, one finds it difficult to carry out traditional door-to-door methods when your neighbors are mostly a half mil...

Dr. Matthew Becker recently highlighted the case of Pr. Robert Stuenkel who admitted to communing with his wife in an ELCA church and now finds himself under the cloud of discipline for his actions.  However, beyond Stuenkel's personal situation, Dr. Becker takes the opportunity to expand his discussion to the Synod's overall policy and practice regarding Close Communion.  Having faced this issue in my own parish with all the emotion and divisiveness that it can often bring, I understand the difficulties involved in the actual application of this policy. It is not my intention of arguing the pros and cons of the Synod's close(d) communion practice or the general tenets of our fellowship practice, although such would be a useful discussion.  I simply wish to ponder the implications of dispensing with our policies in these areas and what it would mean, long term, for our churches.  Now I do not propose strict avoidance of all worship settings in other churches, or the...

Pastor H.C. Curtis, in addition to referencing C.S. Lewis, who I included in the previous post, also mentioned what he termed the "seminal" article on the subject by Dr. David Scaer.  Predictably Dr. Becker scoffed at the 'seminal' idea of it all, suggesting that even his peers at St. Louis had issues with what he wrote.  At any rate, for those who may not have read this essay, a pdf copy of the CTQ article, "The Validity of the Churchly Acts of Ordained Women" from 1989 can be found here .  It is worth reading, despite Becker's disapproval.  Dr. Scaer does refer to his writing as "an exploratory essay," recognizing that responses to the issue of women's ordination is a relatively new challenge for the church to face (perhaps much more then than now.)  He notes well how the movement toward WO may also bring about adjustments in other theological areas, including our view of God Himself (as in the intrusion of inclusive language substitutin...