I have seen this posting at various blogs: here, here, here, and here; and I began asking myself whom would I list (provided I was cool enough to be tagged—not gonna happen)? What five people, past or present, inspire your spiritual life? Part of the initial instructions for this meme indicates that Jesus is assumed, so you don’t need to list Him. Ditto for Luther, if you’re a Lutheran.
First, I had to look up meme. Did you know it’s not in Webster’s Dictionary? I looked it up on Oxford Online. It deals with that which is imitated. Okay, moving on.
Whom would I list? I first thought of the pastor who confirmed me. As much as I liked him and his family and the fact that I did all my confirmation homework and all—based on the number of dancing Snoopies (Snoopys? How do you spell the plural of Snoopy?) drawn in my catechism, I would have to say that rules him out.
I suppose I could mention Pastor Todd Wilken and Dr. Gene Edward Veith, who have lately helped me hone my weltanschaaung (world outlook) through their work in radio and print media.
I guess it comes down to these people; I am not sure if I can come up with five.
1. My husband: He will discuss theology with me when I ask. He humors me when I ask him to bring home his Leviticus commentary so that I can study up for Wednesday morning Bible class at work. I know he knows way more than I ever will, but he’s still willing to explain it to me and correct me if I am wrong.
2. Pastor Norm Hanan and his wife Mary: These two wonderful people helped us transition from seminary to parish and put up with our horror stories. They listened, advised, prayed for us, let us (me!) cry on their shoulders when we needed to, and reminded us that the congregation members are sheep. I can’t say enough about them.
3. Pastor Henry Gerike: Some people may find this an interesting choice, but I say he has influenced me much. There are many things that he has taught anyone who has been in his choir about singing, hymnody, liturgy, people who write hymns, and scripture. In addition to these things, he has taught me more about being an organist. It’s a double bonus.
Hmmm. . . I can’t think of anyone else exclusively. Even the people listed above have inspired more than just my spiritual life; therefore, some may say they don’t count.
Maybe it’s just that many people have inspired me and influenced my life, and these are ones who stick out. Maybe I should say a few more thanks to the people who have shaped me thus far: Mrs. Mills for teaching me in high school how to be a college student; Mr. Wait for teaching me that choir is more than singing and for giving me a chance; Mr. Golden for everything, even picking on me; Pastor Chase for introducing me to a scary document—the Humanist Manifesto—it is influenced my perception on the clash between faith and postmodernism; the Higher Things folks (why didn't somebody think of it when I was in high school?) whose conferences have taught me much; and for Dr. Ronald Feuerhahn for having influenced many of the people who have impacted my life.
If you didn’t make an honorable mention, don’t feel left out, for I see the academy people off stage telling me that my three minutes are up and they will cut off the microphone shor. . .
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Preaching Tips
While reading Pastor Peperkorn's blog, I came across this comment and piece of advice by Pastor Wilken about being bored with preaching.
“Bring your own struggles with the text into the pulpit with you and lay them out for the hearers. Be honest. And, get to the Cross. If necessary, drag yourself and your hearers there kicking and screaming. Remember, the sermon isn’t over until Jesus is dead for three days. Get him out of the grave, and onto the altar, and then stop talking.
“Finally, stop trying to be interesting. Focus on Jesus, he’s interesting enough.”
Then there is Pastor Wilken’s sermon analysis diagnostic:
How often is Jesus mentioned? Is he the subject of the verbs? What are those verbs?
Then Pastor Wilken gave this piece of advice on Issues, Etc. today:
Don't give Jesus the week off, and don't let your pastor either.To [mis]quote Dolly Levi, “Advice on preaching from Pastor Wilken? The world should hear it and grow rich.” At least, I wish my pastor had heard and heeded it before yesterday’s sermon.
I am not a homilist. I do not purport to know how to write a sermon or any such thing, so I rely on pastors to tell me how to recognize good preaching. So here’s my analysis of the sermon I heard yesterday:
#1—I counted that Jesus was mentioned twice. For a Lutheran sermon, that does not seem like enough.
#2—He was the subject of the verbs, but they were wimpy verbs; they were not verbs such as “save,” “forgive,” “die,” or “rise”.
#3—He alluded briefly to the cross. He did not drag us kicking and screaming there. It was more talked around than talked about.
#4—Since Jesus never made it to the cross, then He never made it to the grave in the sermon; therefore, He could not have been gotten out and onto the altar.
#5—I think I missed the point. It was something about exercising our faith so that it doesn’t get flabby, fat and lazy. Even though pastor said we don’t save ourselves, we have to exercise faith ourselves. I think I missed something there.
All in all, if pastor didn't quite give Jesus the week off, he at least relegated Jesus to a lesser seat off to the side. To echo the words of the Greeks to Philip, “Sir, we would see Jesus.”
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Public Notice
This blog is temporarily down while the author comes up with something profound to say--or until the author stops feeling ornery, whichever comes first.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Self-Taught may be Hazardous
To be misinformed is more dangerous than to be uninformed. Too many people in the church are misinformed, as well as uninformed. It goes back to the wrong application of all God’s people being ministers. The doctrine of vocation has nothing to do with being self-taught in matters of theology.
Why bother with a pastor? It’s like the commercial where the man is on the phone and the doctor on the other end is telling him how to perform surgery on himself. The man skeptically looks at the knife and says, “Shouldn’t you be doing this?” How can we learn without a teacher? In most skills, when one self-teaches, one runs the risk of mis-learning. I would never expect one of my students to read multiple books on how to use a comma and assume they will pass a test without having guided them through the material; however, in the church we think that learning without a pastor to guide us is what congregations should be doing.
We allow ourselves to read and interpret scripture based on our own reasoning. We read a part of scripture and decide for ourselves what it means, even if it is contrary to what scripture really teaches. We allow ourselves to listen to all sorts of teachers through books, radio, television, others, even culture and develop our own personal theology based on the varying messages our varied teachers tell us. Then our pastor has to undo the incorrect teaching and we say, “No, I disagree with you.”
One caveat here is that there are untrustworthy pastors our there who are doing more harm than good; but a pastor who is trustworthy will not lead his people away from the truth, but rather always pointing them to Christ.We always need to be on guard as to the false teachings out there. You know what the FBI says—the best way to spot a counterfeit bill is to study the real ones. The best way to spot bad theology is to study the real deal. This means we can’t make up our own theology to fit our mood. We need to be solid in what we believe so we can say “no” to bad theology, not to our pastors who are trying to lead us farther into what we believe, teach, and confess.
Why bother with a pastor? It’s like the commercial where the man is on the phone and the doctor on the other end is telling him how to perform surgery on himself. The man skeptically looks at the knife and says, “Shouldn’t you be doing this?” How can we learn without a teacher? In most skills, when one self-teaches, one runs the risk of mis-learning. I would never expect one of my students to read multiple books on how to use a comma and assume they will pass a test without having guided them through the material; however, in the church we think that learning without a pastor to guide us is what congregations should be doing.
We allow ourselves to read and interpret scripture based on our own reasoning. We read a part of scripture and decide for ourselves what it means, even if it is contrary to what scripture really teaches. We allow ourselves to listen to all sorts of teachers through books, radio, television, others, even culture and develop our own personal theology based on the varying messages our varied teachers tell us. Then our pastor has to undo the incorrect teaching and we say, “No, I disagree with you.”
One caveat here is that there are untrustworthy pastors our there who are doing more harm than good; but a pastor who is trustworthy will not lead his people away from the truth, but rather always pointing them to Christ.We always need to be on guard as to the false teachings out there. You know what the FBI says—the best way to spot a counterfeit bill is to study the real ones. The best way to spot bad theology is to study the real deal. This means we can’t make up our own theology to fit our mood. We need to be solid in what we believe so we can say “no” to bad theology, not to our pastors who are trying to lead us farther into what we believe, teach, and confess.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Having it Both Ways
On Fridays on Issues, Etc., they read and respond to e-mail in the first half hour of the program. Today they read an e-mail from a man who was conflicted. He wishes to attend a church where the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, but he also wishes to attend a church where there is activity. He struggles to find a church with both. He mentioned congregations that were active versus ones that are dying. I understand what he means. There is a real disparity in our church body, the LC-MS, regarding congregations.
I live in a metropolitan area where there are many LC-MS congregations; about 105 within 20 miles of my zipcode, according to the LC-MS website. There are small mission congregations, rural, inner-city, megachurches; you name it; included in that 105. There are more in the area; I just didn’t go far enough out from my zipcode.
Of the aforementioned 105 congregations, I know of many that are confessional. Many of those are smaller rural parishes who are struggling with smaller rural parish issues. The young people are moving away, the older members are transferring to the church triumphant, and they can’t convert the cows to add to their books. The confessional urban parishes are struggling because they don’t have the base of members like they used to, and so they have limited activities—choirs are shrinking, ladies’ groups are disintegrating, and youth groups, well, who has time for that?
There are many of those 105 congregations that are young, vibrant, and growing; they’re not always confessional. Many of them have sacrificed theology for numbers. There is at least one, of them who have removed the “Lutheran” part of their name so as not to offend newcomers. (One is considering a similar move.)
Then there are the middle-of-the-road congregations which are neither hot nor cold. One of which is the church I attend. They want activities, they want numbers; on the flip side, they are fighting the youth flight and the elderly passing problems.
What’s a person to do? Where are the congregations which have schools, choirs, men’s and women’s groups, youth groups (Higher Things, of course), and solid preaching with many people of many ages?
Okay, let me back-pedal for a minute. I’m not saying a church can’t be small. I’m not saying that confessional equals a perfect congregation. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being old. I know the struggle of trying to be active in a church when all the other participants are old enough to be my parents. I understand the vexation of sitting in the pew weekly waiting for the pastor to show us Jesus.
I leave this question hanging out there: Why are there so few congregations that have both solid teaching and activities?
I guess it goes back to why are there so few Lutherans when Lutheran doctrine is the clearest exhibition of Scripture. (I hope you know what I mean by that last statement—I don’t know how to word it.)
I live in a metropolitan area where there are many LC-MS congregations; about 105 within 20 miles of my zipcode, according to the LC-MS website. There are small mission congregations, rural, inner-city, megachurches; you name it; included in that 105. There are more in the area; I just didn’t go far enough out from my zipcode.
Of the aforementioned 105 congregations, I know of many that are confessional. Many of those are smaller rural parishes who are struggling with smaller rural parish issues. The young people are moving away, the older members are transferring to the church triumphant, and they can’t convert the cows to add to their books. The confessional urban parishes are struggling because they don’t have the base of members like they used to, and so they have limited activities—choirs are shrinking, ladies’ groups are disintegrating, and youth groups, well, who has time for that?
There are many of those 105 congregations that are young, vibrant, and growing; they’re not always confessional. Many of them have sacrificed theology for numbers. There is at least one, of them who have removed the “Lutheran” part of their name so as not to offend newcomers. (One is considering a similar move.)
Then there are the middle-of-the-road congregations which are neither hot nor cold. One of which is the church I attend. They want activities, they want numbers; on the flip side, they are fighting the youth flight and the elderly passing problems.
What’s a person to do? Where are the congregations which have schools, choirs, men’s and women’s groups, youth groups (Higher Things, of course), and solid preaching with many people of many ages?
Okay, let me back-pedal for a minute. I’m not saying a church can’t be small. I’m not saying that confessional equals a perfect congregation. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being old. I know the struggle of trying to be active in a church when all the other participants are old enough to be my parents. I understand the vexation of sitting in the pew weekly waiting for the pastor to show us Jesus.
I leave this question hanging out there: Why are there so few congregations that have both solid teaching and activities?
I guess it goes back to why are there so few Lutherans when Lutheran doctrine is the clearest exhibition of Scripture. (I hope you know what I mean by that last statement—I don’t know how to word it.)
The Bridge is Back
When I think of the I-35 bridge collapse in Minnesota, I next think of Issues, Etc. I know; it sounds like an odd connection. The bridge collapsed one week to the day I drove under it coming back from a live broadcast of Issues, Etc. at University Lutheran Chapel near the campus of the University of Minnesota. Now, while still odd, it makes a little more sense.
Not to trivialize the tragedy of the bridge by any means, nor to disrespect the families who lost their loved ones; I do see some similarities.
A corroded infrastructure led to a collapse. There was a public outcry, and rebuilding began again. The bridge collapsed, they investigated, rebuilt, and are now moving on. Issues, Etc. went off the air, they protested, started over, and are now moving on.
When the bottom falls out, what can one do?
There is never a returning to normal. There is learning from what has happened. There is moving forward with a new sense of not taking anything for granted. There is a fresh reminder that God is in control, even if things are out of control.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Balance
There is a line in The Karate Kid where Mr. Miyagi tells Daniel, "Better learn balance. Balance is key. Balance good, karate good. Everything good. Balance bad, better pack up, go home. Understand?"
I'm sure every generation stands at a crossroads of the past and the future, and we are no exception. We stand at a crossroads of faith and culture. Postmodernism has challenged Christianity to the point where the new atheists are asserting that training a child in faith is a form of abuse. People need the Gospel as they always have; yet are ever as rebellious. The Midwest is in a state of denial about globalization, as someone told me recently.
Balance. How do we balance in the church? In our own lives we have to balance vocation with being workaholics for Jesus (as the same someone told me recently). In the church we have to balance midwesternism with globalism. We have to balance faith and culture. We have to find the balance between past and future. To be backward under the name of conservativism is not balance. To throw out liturgy in the name of relevance is not balance. Even "blending" worship styles is not balance.
I don't have the answers, obviously, or I wouldn't be sending this out to the cybersphere. We need to find the balance where we stand firm and where we move forward. Contradiction? Paradox? Perhaps, but not beyond the realm of Christians who are sinners and saints.
Maybe we find balance only through our paradoxes.
I'm sure every generation stands at a crossroads of the past and the future, and we are no exception. We stand at a crossroads of faith and culture. Postmodernism has challenged Christianity to the point where the new atheists are asserting that training a child in faith is a form of abuse. People need the Gospel as they always have; yet are ever as rebellious. The Midwest is in a state of denial about globalization, as someone told me recently.
Balance. How do we balance in the church? In our own lives we have to balance vocation with being workaholics for Jesus (as the same someone told me recently). In the church we have to balance midwesternism with globalism. We have to balance faith and culture. We have to find the balance between past and future. To be backward under the name of conservativism is not balance. To throw out liturgy in the name of relevance is not balance. Even "blending" worship styles is not balance.
I don't have the answers, obviously, or I wouldn't be sending this out to the cybersphere. We need to find the balance where we stand firm and where we move forward. Contradiction? Paradox? Perhaps, but not beyond the realm of Christians who are sinners and saints.
Maybe we find balance only through our paradoxes.
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