FW: Marriage: What It Is, Why It Matters, and the Consequences of Redefining It

Read on…

 

Feed: God the Crucified
Posted on: Monday, March 25, 2013 9:24 AM
Author: noreply@blogger.com (Pastor Lange)
Subject: Marriage: What It Is, Why It Matters, and the Consequences of Redefining It

 

Abstract Marriage is based on the truth that men and women are complementary, the biological fact that reproduction depends on a man and a woman, and the reality that children need a mother and a father. Redefining marriage does not simply expand the existing understanding of marriage; it rejects these truths. Marriage is society's least restrictive means of ensuring the well-being of children. By encouraging the norms of marriage—monogamy, sexual exclusivity, and permanence—the state strengthens civil society and reduces its own role. The future of this country depends on the future of marriage. The future of marriage depends on citizens understanding what it is and why it matters and demanding that government policies support, not undermine, true marriage. Full Article, by Ryan T. Anderson

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FW: All Glory, Laud, and Honor - Old Tune ?

An interesting proposal…

 

Feed: HYMNOGLYPT
Posted on: Saturday, March 16, 2013 7:33 PM
Author: Matt Carver (Matthaeus Glyptes)
Subject: All Glory, Laud, and Honor - Old Tune ?

 

Repost from 2010. Below is my tentative proposal for an alternate melody for the palmarum processional All Glory Laud and Honor (transl. of the "Gloria, laus, et honor"), mainly to avoid stealing a tune from another hymn (i.e. Herberger's "Farewell I Gladly Bid Thee"), mutilating it to fit it into another hymn . . . Following my tune I include an example of how a similiar thing was done long ago for the German vernacular version. I am no musician, so I welcome corrections and suggestions. Since it is used for the processional, it might be better to make it rhythmic as below. Work in progress version: Here is the music for the old German vernacular version. Note that the melody is somewhat expanded. The verses here (Israel es tu Rex) use what appears to be another melody from that in Liber Usualis.

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FW: Download Our Entire Discography From NoiseTrade

Previously Reviewed by QBR…

 

From: Page CXVI

Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2013 5:26 AM
Subject: Download Our Entire Discography From NoiseTrade

 

 

Good morning friends! We have some exciting news. Noisetrade has partnered with us for our March Jubilee Giveaway! We are thrilled and honored to work with an outstanding team of people who care deeply about music. If you have not already received our 74 song, 11 album, 2 band (Page CXVI and The Autumn Film) giveaway, please visit our giveaway on Noisetrade now! Also, help us spread the word by telling your friends to access our giveaway on noisetrade this week! Tweet this on Twitter Share this on Facebook And if you want blog about it please cut and paste the info below and spread the word! Exciting news!!! PageCXVI and The Autumn Film are still celebrating 7 years of music by giving away their entire discography from both their projects Page CXVI and The Autumn Film*. Noisetrade has partnered with them for our March Jubilee Giveaway! They are thrilled and honored to work with an outstanding team of people who care deeply about music. If you have not already downloaded their 74 song, 11 album, 2 band giveaway please visit their giveaway on Noisetrade now! *They had to leave out a few songs due to copyright/royalty issues, but are all available on iTunes. Happy Tuesday! Blessings, Page CXVI        ©2013 Page CXVI | PO BOX 1025 Lafayette, CO 80026

 

 

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FW: Almost or Way Off. . .

Peters…

 

Feed: Pastoral Meanderings
Posted on: Saturday, March 09, 2013 5:00 AM
Author: noreply@blogger.com (Pastor Peters)
Subject: Almost or Way Off. . .

 

Lutherans have become adept at treating nearly all of evangelicalism as almost Lutheran but not quite.  Some describe evangelicals as incomplete -- especially with respect to the sacraments.  We seem to find ourselves fully at home with conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists in the way they speak of inerrancy, in their strident posture for the historicity of those things liberals have deemed myths, and in their emphasis upon personal faith.  ELCA is thoroughly at home in the liberal wing of mainline Protestantism and Missouri seems very comfortable with the conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists.  Should we? Perhaps it is because I am becoming older and more curmudgeonly.  Perhaps it is because I don't have a great deal of patience with certain things.  Whatever the reason, I am less inclined than I ever was to see the conservative evangelicals and fundamentalists as almost Lutherans or incomplete -- lacking mainly a sacramental theology.  Instead, I am more and more conscious of the fact that we are way off, very far apart, and not nearly as close as we seem.  Lutherans are not high church evangelicals or fundamentalists with sacraments.  We are nothing of the kind. When it comes to Scripture, I cringe when we cozy up to those who use the language of inerrancy.  While they have a vested interest in a Scripture that does not err, they have no conception of Scripture as a living voice.  They protect facts that bolster propositional arguments.  We confess the Word of God which is a means of grace -- the sacramental Word that delivers what it says and does what it promises.  We think we are on parallel courses but I fear we are not even headed in the same direction.  We are not protecting a book or facts or the historicity of events.  We are not protecting anything.  We are confessing what Scriptures says (note the tense) about itself.  We are confessing the voice of God that speaks through Scripture (note the tense).  Christ is not the message of Scripture but its very Word.  When Jesus stood up in the synagogue to say "Today this is fulfilled in your hearing," He was not saying merely that the prophets spoke of Him but that HE spoke/speaks through the prophets.  That is a far different perspective than what we hear of from either the conservative evangelicals or fundamentalists. When it comes to faith, I almost wish we had another word to use -- oh, wait, we do!  It is the Biblical word.  Trust.  Conservative and liberal evangelicals as well as fundamentalists speak of faith mainly on the level of intellect or feeling.  In terms of intellect, faith is knowledge of Jesus, of salvation, and adherence to the propositional truths on which they build their house.  Infants and small children cannot believe this kind of faith.  It presumes understanding and it requires the ability to consent.  In contrast Lutherans do not say that faith is the fruit of baptism but is present in the infants as they are baptized.  This faith, which flesh and blood do not reveal but which is the fruit of the Spirit working through the Word (see above), is trust.  Jesus speaks of the little children who believe in Him and insists that unless we adults become like little children we cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.  The trust that comes so hard to us as age, experience, disappointment, cynicism, and suspicion take their toll, this trust is what infants and small children are born for.  In our debate over infant baptism, we forget that the crux of the issue is not infants or baptism but what is faith.  We speak of faith as if we mean the same things but one group sees faith as largely human endeavor, a decision or choice, implying understanding and the ability to give consent.  The other sees faith as trust imparted by the Spirit working through the means of grace. When it comes to the Sacraments, it is not just that some real presence or actual power is missing in the way evangelicals and fundamentalists speak of the water or bread and wine.  It is a fundamental disagreement about the way God has chosen to work.  We Lutherans confess that God works through means.  These means are the Sacraments (the visible Word, so to speak) that convey exactly what they promise.  So it is not that their baptism is missing a little added extra, they have no baptism in which Christ works, the Spirit moves, connection to the death of Christ and the impartation of Christ's new life is given.  All that is left is human activity -- presence in obedience to a summons, promise of future compliance, and an adequate description of the ordinance itself.  In the same way, it is not simply that bread and wine are left without the corporeal presence of Christ, they do not believe that Christ can be present there.  Period.  Remember the old question, can God create a rock so heavy He cannot lift it?  Well, the bread and wine are that rock.  It is not merely that they do not go far enough, they are not even on the same path when it comes to the real presence.  They insist that Christ does not mean what He says, He cannot (in contrast to other places where they insist that Scripture says exactly what it means).  It is not a question of language but of belief.  These groups cannot use our language because they do not believe as we do.  A snack and a memory, no matter how spiritual that remembrance, and that is all you get, all Christ ever intends, no matter what He says. Now I am not saying we need to be Thomists and head on the road to Rome.  What I am saying is that our courtship with evangelicalism and fundamentalism (or for other Lutherans mainline Protestantism) has stripped us of our very identity.  We have become, for all intents and purposes, evangelicals and fundamentalists who like to use a liturgy and dress up on Sunday morning.  Worst of all, we believe it about ourselves.  We try to read our Confessions through this lens, we explain the liturgy as something no one ever has to use but it is part of our own history, and we treat the sacraments as if they were antithetical to our piety instead of the core and center of what it means for us to believe and to pray. The great danger facing Lutherans in America today is that some of us have exchanged a vibrant and vital Confessional identity and practice for the loosey goosey Alice in Wonderland of mainline Protestantism in which words don't mean what they say and faith is a good feeling that results in good behavior.  The rest of us seem content to believe that Lutheranism is basically a cleaned up evangelical or fundamentalist body which puts on dresses on Sunday morning and follows a ritualized format in which, guess what, words do not mean what they say but mental assent to propositional truth that results in good behavior equals faith. All in all, it makes me wonder what on earth we are observing in that 500th Anniversary coming up in 2017.  Perhaps instead we should have the ELCAites through a cocktail party featuring a great camembert and a whole grain cracker with their mainline counterparts and Missourians invite their evangelical and fundamentalist friends to a prayer meeting with sweet tea and fried pies for dessert.  "I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand." St. Anselm

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FW: Worship Series

Weedon…

 

From: Issues, Etc. [mailto:issuesetc@charterinternet.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 07, 2013 4:25 PM
To: revpaulcain@gmail.com
Subject: Worship Series

 

Dear Friend of Issues, Etc., How the Church worships tells you what she believes. The Historic Liturgy of the Church has been her constant, weekly confession of faith in the crucified and risen Jesus.  What are the Scriptural roots of the Liturgy? How have its parts remained the same over the centuries?  How have they changed?  We have just completed an in-depth, 24 part series on the "The Historic Liturgy" with Pastor Will Weedon, Director of Worship for the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. To listen to or download these 24 hours, click here. Thanks for listening. Wir sind alle Bettler,   Todd Wilken, host Issues, Etc.   P.S. Feel free to share this series with your friends on FaceBook, Twitter, Pinterest or via email.  You'll find share feature links at the bottom of the audio page.

 

Forward this email This email was sent to revpaulcain@gmail.com by issuesetc@charterinternet.com |   Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Lutheran Public Radio | PO Box 912 | Collinsville | IL | 62234

 

FW: Why Evangelicals should adopt a Catholic form of Worship

Curious.

 

Consider…

 

Feed: Luther, Baptists, and Evangelicals
Posted on: Monday, March 11, 2013 8:52 AM
Author: noreply@blogger.com (Gary)
Subject: Why Evangelicals should adopt a Catholic form of Worship

 

I was "surfing" the internet as per my usual early morning routine, and came across a link to this article on the blog of another Lutheran blogger.  Any evangelical or ex-evangelical should find it very interesting: http://www.hprweb.com/2013/02/what-evangelicals-can-learn-from-catholics/

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FW: Listen to Luther, Melancthon, and Chemnitz on your mp3 player for free!

Mp3 for free…

 

Feed: Steadfast Lutherans
Posted on: Thursday, March 07, 2013 9:07 PM
Author: Pastor Joshua Scheer
Subject: Listen to Luther, Melancthon, and Chemnitz on your mp3 player for free!

 

On my way to the 2013 BJS Conference I had some time to listen to stuff on my cheap mp3 player while I sat in the airport and flew on the planes.  So since I was working on catechizing my youth on the glorious gift of baptism I was listening to the Large Catechism.  This was possible through a free download at Librivox of the Book of Concord.  I had been informed of this because the pastor who did this great work was from my own Wyoming District, Pr. Jonathan Lange.  Pr. Lange has done the Church a great service by reading and recording these texts for us to listen to.  He has also done a number of other great Lutheran works. Click here for the Book of Concord. For all of the works done by Pr. Lange, click here.  (includes Luther's Bondage of the Will and Galatians Commentary) So the next time you load up your mp3 player, along with those great podcasts from Issues Etc., Table Talk Radio, Fighting for the Faith, you may want to take something a little older and yet still relevant, the Book of Concord. When I asked if I could promote this stuff by Pr. Lange, he also let me know that a number of Luther's sermons can also be found in audio format.  Click here to listen to some Luther sermons.

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FW: Steadfast in Education: Why Lutheran Schools and Why Lutheran Teachers?

Pr. Hinton…

 

Feed: Steadfast Lutherans
Posted on: Saturday, March 09, 2013 7:36 AM
Author: Pastor Daniel Hinton
Subject: Steadfast in Education: Why Lutheran Schools and Why Lutheran Teachers?

 

Why do we need Lutheran schools? Why do Lutheran schools need Lutheran teachers? Though these are simple questions, their answers get at the whole reason that the extensive system of Lutheran schools exists in the first place. Lutherans in North America have been school-builders from the beginning. In fact, the opportunity to establish schools apart from the purview of the State was at least as enticing to these first Lutheran immigrants from Europe as freedom from a state religion. But why? After all, schools are a lot of work. All the planning, budgeting, instruction, assessment, recordkeeping — operating a school requires immense sacrifice of time and money on the part of the congregation. Yet in spite of all that, Lutherans (especially those most interested in a confessional identity) have insisted upon operating schools all across the country. So what drove them to establish all these and work tirelessly to keep them open? Put simply, it's all about the gospel. Lots of other sorts of schools can teach lots of different things. Any school can teach children to behave and to be good boys and girls. Any school can dig deep into the wisdom of the ancient Greeks — in fact, there is much we all could learn from the founders of Western civilization. Any school can teach citizenship and character and morality. But all of that is of the Law, and we Lutherans know better than anyone that while the Law is good and wise, it lacks the power to save. It is wise for us to ask the question "What problem is the school designed to solve?" Naturalists like John Dewey would say that the primary problem that a school is designed to solve is that of ignorance of the world. We Christians, in contrast, might concede that a child ought to know something of the world, but that knowledge is of secondary importance when compared to the gospel, which alone can save us from death. In fact, ignorance is not the greatest problem facing man — death is. All worldly knowledge cannot fix death. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ saves sinful man from sin and death. Lutheran schools do teach math, grammar, and history — and many of them do so quite well. But above all, Lutheran schools proclaim this gospel — that Jesus Christ has taken away death and sin and hell by His atoning death. Many students in Lutheran schools don't get to hear that on Sunday morning. Many of the children in Lutheran schools are members of the congregation who attend the Divine Service faithfully — but they still need to hear what God has done for them in Christ. Lutheran schools are in the business of preparing young people for the Last Day when the dead are raised and the saints in Christ stand with Him in eternal peace and bliss. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews asks, "How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?" Christians must contend with fallen flesh, the world, and the devil — all of whom would snatch the precious gift of eternal life from us were it not for the Spirit's work through this gospel to keep us firm in the faith until that Day. But why Lutheran? After all, there are lots of other Christian schools and Christian teachers. Why does Lutheran identity matter? Simply put, it is when Lutheran schools are staffed with Lutheran teachers that the gospel has the best chance of being proclaimed in its purity. (For the record, the word "Lutheran" here refers more to one's actual confession than simply on which roster one's name appears.) To be sure, there are lots of Christian schools and Christian teachers and they are dedicated and sincere. But any adulteration of the gospel runs the risk of the Christian doubting — or worse, in causing him to trust someone or something other than Christ for his eternal salvation. The world thinks this is unloving, but it's why Lutheran schools ought to be for Lutheran teachers. No one else confesses justification the same as the Fourth Article of the Augsburg Confession. No one else's theology is designed to reflect salvation by grace alone through faith alone in all its articles. No other theology ought to be taught in our schools, and the way to ensure this is twofold: First, the pastor ought to oversee the theological curriculum and instruction of the school (if not outright do all the instruction himself). Second, teachers ought to hold to the confession of the Evangelical Lutheran churches (and remain diligent in the study of that confession) so that any time theological matters are discussed in class, students can be directed to the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. They seem like simple questions, and they are. But like so many simple questions, they matter a lot. Lutheran schools, at their best, deliver the gospel to students and strengthen them for the Last Day when the dead are raised and the saints stand with the Lord. And it's precisely for that reason that Lutheran schools ought to care about an unapologetically Lutheran identity.

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FW: New Lutheran Quote of the Day

Pless…

 

Feed: Weedon's Blog
Posted on: Monday, March 04, 2013 12:34 PM
Author: noreply@blogger.com (William Weedon)
Subject: New Lutheran Quote of the Day

 

The Evangelical Lutheran pastor uses three primary books for the life of study and prayer. He uses the Scriptures, the fountain and source of all true doctrine; the Small Catechism, which confesses the doctrine drawn from the sacred Scripture; and the hymnal as it expresses this doctrine liturgically and doxologically.—John. T. Pless "The Triangular Shape of the Pastor's Devotional Life" in Lord Jesus Christ, Will You Not Stay?, p. 328. [To which I must note the wonderful gathering of the three into one in the Treasury of Daily Prayer...] http://feeds.feedburner.com/WeedonsBlog

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FW: Where angels fear to tread...

Consider…

 

Feed: Weedon's Blog
Posted on: Monday, March 04, 2013 12:26 PM
Author: noreply@blogger.com (William Weedon)
Subject: Where angels fear to tread...

 

I got an interesting phone call today from a friend about screens. Some folks at her church are wanting to put one up in the nave. She wanted my thoughts. Well, for what they are worth: 1. First of all, let's recognize that screens are neither commanded nor forbidden in God's Word. That seems like a huge "duh" because they're a result of technology moving in ways that the folks back then couldn't even begin to imagine. Which means they fall into the technical category of adiaphora. 2. That should lead us to the next question: is their use wise? For not all things are wise which we are free to do. And that's where I'd invite us to do a bit more pondering than we are wont to do in such matters. Here I'd ask a few more questions: What does the use of a large screen suggest about context? It's not a neutral thing. It, like most everything else, has associations in our culture. What are those typically? I would think we could agree that they tend to fall into that form of media consumption we call "entertainment." Is that a context we want carried into the Church? Nothing against entertainment, mind you. It has its place in our lives. But is that place in that wondrous transaction where God assembles His Holy Bride to lavish upon her the gifts His Son died to win for her and lives to deliver to her? Looking at Hebrews 12 is always helpful. Check out the summary of the Chapter: our God is an all-consuming fire. Let our worship be acceptable, therefore, that is, offered with reverence and awe. Is it possible to extricate the screen from its cultural setting (think Theatre or Man Cave) and bring it into that holy assembly without carrying along with it something casual, something bordering on the frivolous? Not saying that it cannot be done; but I am saying that it's a lot harder to do than we imagine. Somehow, it shouldn't surprise us that folks are in the theatre type seats, sipping their lattes that they bought (!) in the "narthex" and evidencing no sense of actually being in the presence of the One before whom angels veil their faces in awe; in the presence of the Lord Jesus, before whom John fell at his feet as one dead. One final reflection: idols. The people of God have always struggled against them, these things. These creations of our own hands from which we expect every good. Surely to any impartial observer in this day and age, technology is our idol. We lie to ourselves when we talk about just "using it." No, the way our kids are with the texting on their phones, staring into screens, isn't just "using" their phones. Watch the panic when you can't connect to the net! YIKES. Hey, I know whereof I speak because I have passing familiarity with that idol too (just not the texting variety - ugh! I HATE getting or sending texts. There. I said it.). But many times when the arguments for the screen are bandied about, what runs beneath the surface is exactly idolatry over technology: "If only we could get a nice with-it screen and projector, we might get folks back...or keep the kids...or..." well, you get the idea. It's looking for from technology what we no longer trust the Word of God, simply spoken, to deliver. And we need to repent of it. It's a silly as thinking that reproducing the perfect museum piece liturgy from 17th century Magdeburg is the cure to what ails us. Um, no. That's not the solution to anything (and you know that I LOVE 17th century Magdeburg). Still I can't help but wonder if there isn't ONE place left on God's green earth where I can go and NOT be assaulted by a screen (where, underneath the entertainment, someone is usually trying to sell me something!)? Going forward, let's have some of these conversations about screens and such. Let's affirm Christian freedom and mean it, and yet because it's Christian freedom it doesn't mean "no one can tell me what to do!" (that's old Adam's idea of freedom) - rather it means, God's Word doesn't tell us one way or the other about this, but it sure gives us some helpful questions to ask in evaluating whether or not using our freedom in this or that way would be beneficial to worship in the Church. I hope the above might move the discussion beyond the usual: But *I* like screens! Yeah, well *I* don't. But I have my doubts... What are your thoughts? http://feeds.feedburner.com/WeedonsBlog

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