Northwoods Seelsorger

This review is personal and in no way exhaustive.  It simply seemed like an interesting thing to do as the old year winds to a close. Looking back at the first post on this blog back in January, I noticed that after years of concerns and tensions surrounding the teaching of Dr. Matthew Becker (part of which is documented in this blog), we went from an exoneration of his theology (and the frustration that it would never be dealt with properly), to his final departure from the LCMS .  All this within a span of six months.  Amazing. As one of my more recent posts indicates, I am finally in the last stages of my degree, begun way back in 2010.  I had hoped, originally, to have finished it before now.  However, the life of a pastor, husband, father, chaplain, firefighter and circuit visitor is full, and the thesis received attention as I was able.  I made a final push this summer and by summer's end the last page of the last chapter was reached. A post in Febr...

In the conviction of adding to my knowledge of Luther and the Reformation, I embarked on a reading of Heiko Oberman's book Luther - Man Between God and the Devil (1982).  As I had intended in previous years, the book was started around the Reformation this past Fall (I often wanted to read something about Luther and the Reformation each Fall around the time of the Festival of the Reformation.)  With 330 pages to work through, it took me longer than expected to finish (Which was complicated by the lure of other books read and reviewed while I worked on this one.)  That is not to say that it was heavy or overly technical.  The truth is, this book was a joy to read.  It provided a wealth of insights into Martin Luther, and having now completed the book I realize I'll need to reread it again to truly absorb many of the author's points.  Given that this was a translation from the original German, I was impressed that the text did not read in a wooden way, but ...

A full and complete draft of my thesis has now been sent to my readers for review and suggested revisions as of December 21.  Within a day my first reader had completed his review and responded by email.  I await anything from the second.  Hopefully by the end of January I can make the necessary revisions and schedule a defense.  The final word count as of December 21 was 38,618, totaling 120 pages with 385 footnotes.  Without footnotes it is 30,167. 

For months now I have been working, on and off, to finish a book by Luther as an attempt to include something about the great Reformer as part of the Reformation season.  Once again, however, I was distracted by another fascinating book.  As many are aware, Bill O'Reilly, with Marin Dugard, has authored a whole series of books in the "Killing..." series.  I now own and possess a few of these.  This book, Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault that Changed a Presidency (2015) is a brief but informative treatment not only of Reagan's earlier past, but especially of his presidency, and then of his eventual physical and mental decline leading to his death in 2004.  It was interesting to read about a history of events that took place mainly while I was in college and seminary, but in which I apparently took only passing interest. Many names sounded familiar, as did numerous events, but I never looked deeply into them.  Only now, well into my middle years, am I cat...

This past winter and spring I read Tim Townsend's book Mission at Nuremberg: An American Army Chplain and the Trial of the Nazis. My review is here .  It was good to see that this exceptional book was recognized by the Concordia Historical Institute at its annual banquet in November.  Also up for commendation was Carl F. Schalk: A Life in Song, by Nancy Raabe, a book I have read in part, but worthy of recommendation for those interested in the history of liturgy and song in the LCMS.  The story of the banquet and awards can be found here . The picture to the right is of  author Tim Townsend, right, poseing alongside Col. (Ret.) “Hank” Gerecke, son of Chaplain Rev. Henry Gerecke — the subject of Townsend’s award-winning book.

Sometimes a book both moves and humbles you.  This was that kind of book.  Considered the definitive biography of Pastor Bob Childress (1890-1956), a man who grew up in abject poverty to become a well known minister in the backwoods regions of Virginia.  He was an unlikely success story with his initial struggles to complete the formal education necessary to be a minister in the Presbyterian church.  Nevertheless he demonstrated both great potential and intelligence, as well as a tremendous love for people.  Throughout his career he preached to several churches on a regular rotating basis traveling thousands of miles a year on nearly impassable roads, but also spent a lot of energy and time assisting people with other basic needs.  The world in which he ministered was rife with alcohol abuse and violence, held back by isolation and ignorance.  Childress worked tirelessly to bring not only the Gospel to the area, but also education, roads, bridges an...

In the interest of possibly extending my season for deer hunting, I recently purchased a relatively inexpensive entry level recurve crossbow.  It was a Barnett Recruit Recurve.  Now that the gun deer season has officially closed, I'm not yet sure if I will buy a license to hunt for the month of December.  The bow's site still needs to be sited in and I haven't purchased any broadheads yet.  I also have only shot it a few times at close range, so it might be better to work at it throughout the intervening months and start fresh next fall. I decided on a crossbow for fairly simple reasons.  Without the time to dedicate to the many hours of practice necessary for a compound bow, a crossbow would allow me to transfer my skills and experience from rifle shooting.  I think there was also a bit of fascination with its medieval roots. As a student of history it felt like I was going back to a simpler time.  However, it is interesting to note that at one ti...

O'Reilly has provided a very readable and fast-paced account of the final months of World War II and the eventual demise and death of history's most famous man of evil, Adolf Hitler.  With larger type face and an abundance of photographs and maps, this book was a relatively quick and easy read.  For one interested in the history of WWII I found O'Reilly's book quite interesting, learning new details of people, places and events I had not known before.  The style of writing offers a vivid picture of the events chronicled and keeps the reader's interest.  By the end of the book you have that sobering feeling one gets after delving into the blackness of that time and the dark wickedness that inspired so much of the bloodshed, suffering and destruction at Hitler's orders.  Besides Hitler O'Reilly provides many other portraits of key individuals in the story as well as numerous appendix-like articles detailing events and people mentioned elsewhere in the narrativ...

When I first saw this book at my local Good Will store it was not yet the anniversary date of 9-11.  Originally my goal was to read it before 9-11 as a way of honoring this momentous date and my brother fire fighters who died that day.  Nevertheless, it would be nearly a month later that the book was finished. I especially like the picture of the book seen here, opened so that both front and back are visible.  For the book is largely about the 12 men pictured there who died in the collapse of Trade Center towers.  The author weaves a story of life at the firehouse, the personal backgrounds of the deceased firefighters complete with accounts of family and friends and various individual stories, and ends with the memorials and recovery efforts to reclaim their physical remains.  As a firefighter I appreciated this book on a level I might not have without the past 12 years experience on my department.  Although these men were career firefighters there is a...

I have long had an interest in the spiritual realm.  In high school I began reading books on the presence and activity of the demonic.  Years later after I arrived at my first call in 1987 I found a book in the local library by Malachi Martin entitled HOSTAGE TO THE DEVIL: THE POSSESSION AND EXORCISM OF FIVE LIVING AMERICANS (1976).  Although I attempted to read the book I was unable.  It was simply too much.  In 1996 I ran into this book again at a used book store and purchased it.  I think it wasn't until I arrived at my fourth call in 2000 that I may have finally finished it.  Possession and exorcism are powerful topics and sometimes difficult to study. Recently at a local library book sale I ran across a copy of POSSESSED: THE TRUE STORY OF AN EXORCISM by Thomas B. Allen.  It is endorsed on the back cover by Malachi Martin with no little praise.  In short it is the account of the 1949 case of possession and subsequent exorcism that insp...

I had known about this fire event before, as well as the fact that the "Great Fire of Chicago" often received far more of publicity, regardless of the fact that the Peshtigo Fire was far larger (300 people vs. 2,200 dead, and the destruction of multiple towns).  However, until I read this book I couldn't possibly imagine the extent of the loss and damage left in its wake.  The book by Gess and Lutz helps the reader appreciate the genesis of this incredible blaze by carefully documenting the circumstances leading up to a truly 'perfect storm.'  Some may desire a more technical account, and there are other volumes that address this.  However, Gess and Lutz have researched their topic well and the notes at the end provide many references for further reading.  All told the story is well told and captures best the horrid tragedy that still defies description.  While the numbers of those who perished remains fluid depending on the one telling the story, there is ...

As of August 26 I finally finished the reviewed stage of my rough draft:  106 pages of research, 3/8 of an inch thick, clearly the longest paper I have ever written.  It now awaits being proofread by my wife, then submitted to the assigned readers at Nashotah House.  After their review with predicted suggestions for revision, I will revise and then schedule the defense.  I hope this all can be accomplished well before the first of the new year.  According to past posts I finished up my course work back in the summer of 2011, a long 4 years ago.  About that time and stretching over the next couple of years I wrestled with the proposal phase, eventually completing a total of two different thesis proposals, totaling over 40 additional pages of work. My final proposal was submitted in the Spring of 2013, over two years ago.  It appears that I was finally able to start writing around August of 2013, once I received the green light from my adviser.  I...

Some books keep you tied to the page unwilling to take a break, waiting eagerly to discover the next point.  This, unfortunately, was not one of those. This reviewer took far too long to finish the book. While the format was interesting at times, the latter part felt slow and encumbered with a bit too much detail seemingly unrelated to the immediate point at hand.  The first section attempted to tell the story of life in a Medieval Irish monastery through historical fiction.  It traced the early beginnings of Skellig Michael, a small outcropping of rock off the coast of Ireland where a limited group of monks led a rather austere existence, to the ending of its active existence and the eventual migration of the order to the mainline in the matter Medieval era (588 AD - 1222 AD).  Enlightening to students of Christian monastic existence was the revelation of the harsh and demanding nature of the early Celtic practice.  The Irish not only withdrew from the world, t...

Numerous posts have been written on this blog over the years reflecting on and reacting to the teachings of Dr. Matthew Becker.  One post even ruminated on why he remained within the LCMS.  As of July 15 he will no longer be on the clergy roster of the Missouri Synod.  If interested you may read about this turn of events here on Dr. Becker's own blog.  He will be joining an ELCA parish, something many of us felt would be a much more appropriate 'fit' for his theological views and beliefs.  In all honesty I was frustrated over these last few years as I read the many papers and posts he authored and wondered how this could be tolerated in the Synod.  Perhaps what confused me even more was realizing that he was trained and educated as a pastor in the same system as I was, albeit at different seminaries.  There should never be rejoicing over such events as if someone won and another lost.  It was the prayer of many that Dr. Becker would change his ...

I just read an article entitled "Dear Conservatives: There are Millions of Christian Liberals and We’re A Lot More Like Jesus Than You" from the Forward Progressives website.  I then read a related article entitled "10 Ways Conservatives Don't Act Like Christians" from the same site.  Both upset me greatly.  Yet not because I was necessarily offended as a conservative.  They upset me because of the generalizations, assumptions and stereotypes that are too often used to characterized people.  They upset me also because of the misinformation about Jesus and his teachings.  Especially when it comes to painting Jesus as a 'I-don't-care-what-you-believe-and-I-accept-everyone-as-they-are' kind of person.  Like a typical liberal might like to be painted.  But that is so off base.  Anyone who has read the Gospels knows that Jesus reached out to the poor and the forgotten and the neglected of his society.  Yet He also called to repentance thos...

Gifted to me by my daughter and son-in-law at Christmas, this was my first book of the new year.  Given that my father was a WWII veteran, and possibly present at the Nuremberg War Trials as an MP, this book held special interest for me from the beginning.  However, what captivated me most was the central character of the story: Pastor Henry Gerecke.  Pastor Gereke, a product of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, became one of the chaplains assigned to minister to high ranking Nazi war criminals, chief among them being Herman Goering (who later committed suicide before being executed.)  Reaction to the Nazis even today is often one of revulsion and disgust, and for good reason.  They were responsible for the systematic execution and slaughter of countless people, primarily a significant numbers of Jews.  Their brutality ranks as among the highest in history.  One can only imagine the challenge of a man sent to be the pastor of those responsible for ...

I just finished reading a fascinating biography of a great Lutheran teacher: SALT, LIGHT, AND THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES: AN INTIMATE LOOK AT THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ALFRED (RIP) REHWINKEL by Ronald W. Stelzer. Again, a book I picked up for a steal at a mere $5 at the recent Symposia in Ft. Wayne. It is published by Christian News and can be found here if you would like to order and read for yourself: http://www.christiannewsmo.com/Salt_Light_an…/4010000350.htm . Rehwinkel, as s ome will remember, was the author of the very popular book THE FLOOD, originally published in 1951 by CPH, but has been reprinted many times over the decades (17 times when I purchased my copy several years ago.) In fact, it is still offered by CPH both in paperback and as an ebook: https://www.cph.org/p-261-the-flood.aspx . Dr. Rehwinkel (1887-1979) lived well into his 90's. Ordained in 1910 he lived through a history of the LCMS that stretched from the early frontier days, when we were sti...

In about seven days the deadline arrives for my first draft to be submitted.  Originally I was aiming to meet that date.  At present the thesis is over 60 pages and part one is fairly well finished, except for editing.  If I stayed up late every night and burned the candle at both ends I might have made it.  But I'm not sure it would be the level of quality I want.  Furthermore, why is this date critical?  If I want to go through the commencement exercises in the spring it is necessary to meet this deadline.  However, there is nothing in my life requiring this to be done this spring.  Even if some opportunity opened up, having the actual certificate in my hand would not be essential, provided I met the requirement of the degree, which I hope to do by summer's end.  For now I have a lot of reading to accomplish for part 2......

A while back I backed off of blogging.  My intent was to post on less politically charged issues in the church and concentrate more on personal interests.  That almost worked.  While I was in Ft. Wayne for the annual Symposia I learned of the official exoneration of Dr. Matthew Becker of all charges made against him for false teaching.  This did not seem surprising to me as he has taught this way for some years with seemingly minimal backlash. His posts on the ALPB forum were equally transparent.  It seemed that officially no one could really deal with this.  He was free to teach and write openly in defiance of the Synod's position on a whole range of issues: evolution, women's ordination, higher-critical interpretation of the Bible, and so on.  He even took issue with the Athanasian Creed.  I have documented on this blog what Dr. Becker has said and written contra our synodical positions and doctrine (which a quick search will reveal if you are s...