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Showing posts from January, 2011

In Memory of the Unborn on the 38th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

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Following is the presentation I gave today for the Langlade County Right to Life: Fifty years ago a single woman in California became pregnant unexpectedly.  She was in her early 30’s and thought she could not get pregnant.  She was divorced and certainly was not looking to start a family.  Most of her family lived far away in Wisconsin, and like many then she journeyed far west some years before to find new job opportunities.  At the time she was the manager of two very successful restaurants in LA.  Her baby was born late in December, 1960, and because she had smoked during the pregnancy the baby had a somewhat lower birth rate.  With a smaller cervical opening there was additional concern about her safety during the delivery.  Matters were complicated further when the baby came out with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.  Less than two months later this baby would have emergency surgery to correct a...

President Dean Wenthe to Retire

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Some of you no doubt have heard that the Rev. Dr. Dean O. Wenthe has announced his retirement as president of Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne.  He has served "the Fort" as president now for 15 years, and at age 66 I can well understand why he would consider this move. Amazingly he has been in the ministry now for 40 years, having graduated from Concordia, St. Louis in 1971.  I remember him as a professor when I was a student there 23+ years ago, although I never had the privilege of studying under him.  He always impressed me as a very approachable and gentle man.  My last encounter with him involved introducing him to an ELCA pastor who now serves a congregation where he did his vicarage.  It was during one of the symposia a few years back and I wanted this young confessional ELCA man to have a chance to meet Wenthe.  Dr. Wenthe was quite gracious and willingly took time at this reception to visit with my friend.  In some small way I suspe...

"Doctrines" of the LC-MS: A Response

Lois Meyer Voeltz at The Creator's Tapestry has presented an article calling for a "conversation" on the topic of what the Missouri Synod teaches.  This post is my contribution, for what it's worth.  Ms. Voeltz writes: The opening question for the New Year: how are the 'doctrines of the LC-MS' formulated? Is there academic/theological study, a vote by the Convention, are they mandated, or are they put into practice because of a tradition? A clear understanding of the process would be helpful. Years ago, as the question of my particular understandings of 'LC-MS doctrines' was asked, the first thought was the Three Solas. That wasn't the correct answer! Instead the topics/doctrines were abortion, homosexuality, and women in public ministry. What a surprise. Again, my question, how did these topics become doctrines of the LC-MS, with a very particular viewpoint? This post is by no means an attempt to give a f...

John Paul II and the Process of Sainthood

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A January 14 story from RNS reports that the late pope is closer than ever to sainthood.  If I understand it correctly, he has cleared the next to last hurdle, namely that of beatification , a difference from canonization only in terms of the extent and place the person may be venerated and invoked in prayer.   This stage to canonization was accomplished with the confirmation of a French nun's recovery from Parkinson's disease after "praying to John Paul."   Being a Lutheran the whole idea and process of canonization feels foreign to my theological orientation, and not a little uncomfortable.  Although we willingly recognize certain 'heroes of the faith' by special commemorations in the church's calendar, calling some even by the title "saint" (e.g. Saint Peter), such is done in the spirit of honoring of memory and example.  While the Lutheran church does recognize that those who departed this life to be with Christ may indeed intercede for us, ...

Nashotah Reflections

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Last night I returned home safely from a very intensive week at Nashotah House Seminary.  Condensing an entire course on Romans into 20+ hours proved to be utterly draining, yet invigorating at the same time.  Dr. Anderson led us through what is undoubtedly one of the most challenging books in the New Testament.  No wonder so many have fought so many battles on its epistolary turf.  St. Peter's early comments that many in his time had already misunderstood his colleague Paul proves even now to be prophetic.  Nevertheless, what a glorious treasure trove of theological gems hiding within the apostle's robust letter! We were assigned two commentaries, one by Joseph Fitzmyer, as esteemed Jesuit scholar, and one by Leander E. Keck.  Both are commendable scholars, yet Fitzmyer's higher critical bent could not ultimately be hid, especially in his less than transparent comments on Adam in Romans 4.  Apparently he doesn't believe him to be a real person, althou...

May 21, 2011 - Mark That Date on Your Calendar - It's the End of the World!

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Described as a loosely organized Christian group, several people united by radio broadcasts and websites are predicting the end of the world. The date? May 21. Exactly. Kind of risky, if you ask me, considering that Jesus Himself said that no one knows the day or the hour. Not to mention the fact that the return of the Lord in glory is pictured as a "thief in the night." Can you imagine a thief broadcasting the exact date of his break in? Well, considering that May 21 is technically the "Rapture," and that this misguided doctrine teaches a secret first coming of Jesus, then maybe the 'thief in the night' thing is kind of covered. Well..... A major player in this prediction is a retired civil engineer named Harold Camping , the leader of the California-based Family Radio Worldwide , an independent Christian ministry. The 89 year old leader claims that the Bible functions as a cosmic calendar. Considering that he messed up by predicting the end of t...

More Anglicans Head for Rome

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According to an article in the January issue of Christianity Today , the Vatican announced in November that 50 Anglican priests, including five bishops, plan to leave the Church of England for the Roman Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI has opened a special clerical category for Anglicans who object to recent developments in the Anglican Communion. These "pe rsonal ordinariates" will let them retain many Anglican distinctives while belonging to a church that maintains opposition to female priests and gay clergy. In Baltimore, an entire Episcopal parish voted to switch to Catholicism for similar reasons. (Note: For Episcopalians with a strong Anglo-Catholic contingent, such moves are not altogether surprising, especially since their worship practices are already quite Catholic. Although the Church of England has worked to strike a balance between their Anglo-Catholic population and that of the more evangelically-oriented, High Church priests would adapt quite well to Rom...

Top 10 Stories of 2010

Here is a brief summary of the top 10 stories from 2010 from Christianity Today : 1 - Aid groups rush to help Haiti after suffering a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake, raising $750 million in a mere five weeks. The subsequent scandal over the Baptist missionaries' efforts to move 33 children to the Dominican Republic raises questions about 'amateur' aid. 2 - Thousands of global evangelical leaders meet in Cape Town to discuss missions. Their gathering reflects a much greater global diversity than in the past. (See also the Wikipedia article on the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization . LCWE was organized in part by Billy Graham in 1974 when some 2,700 participants and guests from over 150 countries met in Lausanne, Switzerland to discuss and promote evangelism.) 3 - Word Vision wins its unemployment case in the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It ruled 2-1 that the organization can fire employees who are not orthodox Christians. A loss could very well h...