And so it goes…you can have it both ways in the ELCA these days. To anyone who seriously thought, or still thinks, that what happened in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Orlando was not another seismic lurch into oblivion for the ELCA, I say, “Wake up and smell the Brokeback Mountain Java.” An ELCA Bishop has made it clear she will approve same-sex blessings. What a wonderful way to celebrate our Lord’s Nativity. What else could one expect from a so-called “bishop” whose own occupation of the office of the holy ministry is itself both anti-apostolic and anti-biblical?
Sometimes God Doesn’t Expand Your Territory
Remember Bruce Wilkinson of “Prayer of Jabez” infamy? The man who made a literal fortune peddling snake-oil theology? The man who made many actually believe that if they would repeat an obscure passage in the Old Testament God would give them miracles? Well, apparently, the mantra doesn’t always work. Wilkinson moved to Africa with a grand dream and left in a huff, leaving many in the lurch. You can read the story from the Wall Street Journal. Another grandiose, theology of glory, train wreck. Oh, by the way, the publishing company that pumped out this tripe, Multnomah, just about went bankrupt when it put all its eggs in the “Jabez” basket. They increased capacity, they purchased warehouses, and then the Jabez fad faded and they were left with unsold inventory and debt. That was an interesting fact that we didn’t hear much about either. We must be careful when people come along making grand promises and casting their effusive visions. Sadly, often these grand visions go down in flames. It never ceases to amaze me how American Evangelicalism goes in for this nonsense. It is a blight on the Gospel and bring the entire body of Christ into shame and disgrace in the eyes of the world.
More evidence for December 25 as Christ’s birthday
I’m sure you, like me, have for many years quietly accepted the claim that December 25 is an entirely arbitrary date for Christ’s birth and is in all likelihood a date chosen by Christians to counter-act a competing pagan festivity. Well, this may all be quite wrong. Follow the link for the rest of the story.
Christmas and Vocation
I believe my friend, Dr. Gene Edward Veith, will appreciate how Luther uses the narrative of our Lord’s birth to make good points about the doctrine of vocation. I found this quote and its accompanying footnote in an article by Professor John Pless. Here is what Luther had to say:
Here is another excellent and helpful lesson, namely, that after the shepherds have been enlightened and have come to a true knowledge of Christ, they do not run out into the desert-which is what the crazy monks and nuns in the cloisters did! No the shepherds continue in their vocation, and in the process they also serve their fellow men. For true faith does not create people who abandon their secular vocation and begin a totally different kind of living, a way of life which the totally irrational monks considered essential to being saved, even though it was only an externally different way of existence. [Klug, Luther’s House Postils, Vol. 1:48]
Professor Pless comments:
In Luther’s homiletical treatment of the shepherds, we are given an excellent window into his doctrine of vocation-a doctrine that contemporary Lutheranism desperately needs to recover in light of the “neomonasticism” of contemporary American Evangelicalism. One may see Harold Senkbeil, Sanctification: Christ in Action (Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House, 1989), 12-15. In his treatise of 1520, “On the Freedom of a Christian,” Luther writes (LW 31:371): “We conclude, therefore, that a Christian lives not in Himself, but in Christ and in the neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith, in his neighbor through love. By faith he is caught up beyond himself into God. By love he descends beneath himself into his neighbor.” This is expressed liturgically in the Post-Communion Collect “We give thanks to you, almighty God, that you have refreshed us through this salutary gift, and we implore you that of your mercy you would strengthen us through the same in faith toward you and in fervent love toward one another. . .” Homiletically, Luther gives expression to this in his Christmas sermons. For example in a 1521 Christmas sermon Luther says (Lenker, 146): “These are the two things in which a Christian is to exercise himself, the one that he draws Christ into himself, and that by faith he makes him his own, appropriates to himself the treasures of Christ and confidently builds upon them; the other that he condescends to his neighbor and lets him share in that which he has received, even as he shares in the treasures of Christ.” Contra Richard Caemmerer’s distinction of “faith-goal sermons” from “life-goal sermons” (Preaching for the Church [St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 19591,179-190), Luther preaches faith which is active in love.
Source:
John T. Pless, “Learning to Preach from Luther in Advent and Christmas,” Concordia Theological Quarterly, Fort Wayne: Indiana, Volume 62, No. 4, October 1998, pg.
A Plenary Indulgence
I know I’ve already blogged on this once before, but I just read the full text of the papal declaration, at the Vatican’s web site. It bums me out. Just when some begin to hope that maybe, just maybe, this papacy might represent a definite turn away from the traditional errors of Rome, this is what we get. Some things never change, I guess.
Link: A Plenary Indulgence 8 December Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Why Calvinism is So Wrong
A number of folks have asked me for a more in-depth presentation on the errors of Calvinism. I would refer all interested in a thorough-going critique of Calvinism to purchase and read the three-volume systematic theology by Dr. Francis Pieper titled Christian Dogmatics. Interestingly, when this work was published it was the second volume that was printed first. The second volume in the series deals with The Person and Work of Jesus Christ. Quite telling that a Lutheran dogmatician would want his work on Christ released before any of the other traditional categories of theology. I’m providing several quotes from the work of Dr. Pieper to help clarify why Calvinism is so wrong.
Here is a discussion of Calvinism’s error regarding Christ.
Here is a discussion of Calvinism’s error regarding universal grace.
Dr. Kurt Marquart
Please remember in your prayers my dear friend and father in the faith, The Rev. Dr. Kurt Marquart, who has learned he has ALS disease. For quite some time he and his dear wife Barbara have been searching for answers to continuing medical problems Kurt has been facing. A recent trip to the Cleveland Clinic provided answers, but answers none of us ever would have wanted to receive.
Top Ten Used Book Searches in 2005
For many years I’ve tried to keep this web site a secret. For, you see, this is the place where I buy most of my books these days. Yes, so great is my bibliophilia that I simply must replace all paperbacks with the original hard back editions, where possible And so, I’ve been hesitant to mention www.bookfinder.com for it is the greatest used book site on the Internet. Here is an interesting blog post they put up recently, on the top ten used book searches in 2005.
Link: BookFinder.com Journal: Top 10 out of print books of 2005.
The Pope’s Santa Hat
The traditional hat, known as a camauro, was commonly worn by popes in
the medieval period to keep their heads warm on cold days and it
featured on many paintings at the time, but it has rarely been worn in
modern times. Various reports have taken note of how this pope is using once again various items of papal clothing not used for many decades. Read more about this here.
Link: Scotsman.com News – International – Pope caps audience with his ‘Santa hat’.
Another Wake-Up Call About Islam
Is Islam a “religion of peace”? Check this out.
Link: All Things Beautiful: The Jihad Apocalypse ‘A Muslim Obligation’.