Dead Ritual?

If you have ever heard discussions regarding the "worship wars" (so-called contemporary versus traditional worship), inevitably you will hear the point made that the traditional liturgy is a dead ritual. Yet how many rituals do we have in society? I don't hear people complaining about the singing of the "Star-Spangled Banner" at sporting events, or graduates wearing caps and gowns and walking down the aisle while "Pomp and Circumstance" is playing. Why doesn't anyone call those customs dead rituals? The traditional liturgy is based on Scripture, and Scripture is the life-giving Word of God. So, the liturgy is not dead, but we are dead in sin (see Ephesians 2). In his book Heaven on Earth, The Gifts of Christ in the Divine Service, Dr. Arthur Just states:

"Our Historic liturgy, which we call the Divine Service, is a pattern of formal, repetitive behavior. Those who feel that our historic liturgy is an impediment to missions and evangelism will point to the formal, repetitive aspect of our liturgy and describe it as a "dead ritual." But rituals themselves are neither dead nor alive. Those who participate in them make them appear as living, vital rituals or as dead ones. Said plainly, it is not the ritual that is dead, it is we who are dead." (p. 35).

Editorial update:  This post won blog of the week on Issues, Etc.  

Merry Christmas!!

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10. How wonderful to have Christmas fall on a Sunday this year. Blessings to you and yours this Christmas Sunday!

Christmas Catch Phrases and the True Meaning of Christmas

"Jesus is the reason for the season" is an oft-repeated phrase during the Christmas season. What does this mean? Sometimes the best way to explain what something means is to start by saying what it does NOT mean. To "Keep Christ in Christmas" does not mean that Christians should expect non-Christians to celebrate Christmas in a way that puts Jesus at the center. Why should they? Similarly, Jesus as the meaning of Christmas does NOT mean that I must show the world how much I love Jesus by demonstrating my holy life and my Christian themed family traditions, thereby giving people an irresistible reason to be a "fully devoted follower of Jesus". In other words, the Christmas season should NOT degenerate into a "me for Jesus" campaign. Jesus does not need my vote on facebook, and he does not save people because I love Him. The main point of Advent, Christmas, and Christianity is NOT that "I am for Jesus,", but that "Jesus is for me." In His perfect life of obedience, His death on the cross, and His resurrection, He paid for the sins of the whole world and gives eternal life to those who receive Him. At Advent we remember that He came to earth and was born of the virgin Mary; we remember that He will come again to take those who believe in Him home with Him. What better way to receive him this Advent and Christmas than by being in His House, hearing His Word and receiving His Sacrament. For to receive Him is to receive the forgiveness of sins, which is why He came that first Christmas. Then we can say with Simeon, who saw the baby Jesus, Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people. a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen Nunc Dimittis (Song of Simeon), from Luke 2:29-32 (Lutheran Service Book)

Savior of the Nations, Come

Verse one of my favorite Advent hymns, originally attributed to Ambrose of Milan in the 4th century: Savior of the nations, come, Virgin's Son, make here Your home! Marvel now, O heav'n and earth, That the Lord chose such a birth. Lutheran Service Book, 332

Church Is For Girls

Church Is For Girls
by Todd Wilken

I watched Oprah over vacation. Ordinarily, I don’t watch Oprah. You see, I’m a man.The Oprah Winfrey Show is for women. Just watch it. Oprah herself is
the iconic modern woman —sexy, spiritual and successful. Oprah’s guests and
topics are always female favorites. Oprah’s advertisers are aimed at women.
Most of all, Oprah’s audience is almost entirely women.
The few men in Oprah’s audience look out of place. When Oprah is
introduced, the women in the audience howl with joy, embrace and weep. The
men clap politely. Oprah talks with housewives about how clean their kitchens
and bathrooms are. The women in the audience nod knowingly. The men try to
look interested. Oprah hands out quilted Burberry jackets, home spas and
handbags. Again, the women in the audience explode in ecstasy. The men seem
unsure what to do. I can almost hear one poor guy thinking, “What in the
world am I going to do with a Eileen Fisher waffle-weave Merino stretch zip
cardigan and pant?”
Oprah plugs an upcoming episode, “Special Experiment: Men Turn Into
Women, eleven "manly" men must live as women.” I suspect that the men in her
audience feel like subjects in that experiment already.
As I watch these men, it dawns on me: I know exactly what they are
going through. I too have found myself surrounded by women, awkwardly out of
place as a man —in church.
It was one Sunday about a year ago. I visited a church while traveling.
The congregation that day was mostly women.
As the obligatory twenty-minute medley of praise songs began, the
women started to clap, sing along and sway. The music was the kind you’d hear
on any soft rock station. The lyrics weren’t just sentimental, they were sappy.
There was a woman in the pew directly in front of me. She was dancing —
full-bodied, hip-swinging, dancing. She was obviously loving it. She was the
pastor’s wife. The pastor, standing next to her, did his best to keep up;
doing what looked like the white man’s version of the Electric Slide.
But most of the men stood still and silent. They looked like they would
rather be someplace else. It occurred to me that these men were performing
the spiritual equivalent of waiting outside the fitting room while their
wives tried on a dress.
I felt the urge to leave —not in anger or protest, but in visceral,
awkward discomfort. Call me uptight. Call me insecure. All I know is that at
that moment I felt like I had stumbled into a Barry Manilow concert.
Church is for girls. That is what many men think. Columnist Doug Giles
refers to the typical American church as “Wussville.” He writes:


So why do most men avoid church? Here’s the veneer stripped-away
answer: going to church for the majority of men is an exercise in
unwanted effeminacy. Church, for most men, has not only become
irrelevant; it has also become effeminate. Hanging out in church for
most extra-Y chromosomes [sic] seems unmanly… (Doug Giles, “Where Are
God’s Warriors and Wild Men?” April 17, 2004, www.townhall.com)
Leon Podles, author of The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity,
puts it more diplomatically,
You may have noticed that, in general, men are not as interested in
religion as women are. There are usually more women than men at Sunday
mass, and there are far more women than men at devotions, retreats, and
prayer groups. The men who do come are often there because wives or
girlfriends have put pressure on them to attend. In fact, if men speak
honestly, they will tell you that men have a general feeling that the
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Church is for women. (Leon J. Podles, “Missing Fathers of the Church:
The Feminization of the Church & the Need for Christian Fatherhood,
Touchstone, A Journal of Mere Christianity, January/February, 2001.)
Here are just a few facts. According to a March 2000 Barna survey,
women are 100% more likely than men to be involved in discipleship, 57% more
likely than men to participate in adult Sunday school, 56% more likely than
men to hold a leadership position at a church, 54% more likely than men to
participate in a small group, 33% more likely to volunteer for a church, 29%
more likely to attend church. On any given Sunday in America, women make up
60% of those sitting in church. That percentage is steadily rising. (The
Barna Group of Ventura California, “Women Are the Backbone of the Christian
Congregations in America,” March 6, 2000.)
The same ratio prevails among the professional clergy. Podles predicts,
“...the Protestant clergy will be a characteristically female occupation,
like nursing, within a generation.” (Leon J. Podles, The Church Impotent: The
Feminization of Christianity, Dallas, Spence Publishing, 1999, p. xiii.) He
writes, “The situation in the mainline churches is far worse. The seminaries
have a female majority, and shortly the ministry will be a female occupation.
One will have to say male minister as one now has to say male
nurse.” (Podles, “Missing Fathers of the Church.”) But its not just the
mainline liberal churches. Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago is
widely considered “conservative.” Yet Willow Creek has female elders, and
has had a female pastor on staff since 1996. Members of Willow Creek are
required “minimally [to] be able to affirm with integrity the following: that
they can joyfully sit under the teaching of women teachers ... that they can
joyfully submit to the leadership of women in various leadership positions at
Willow Creek." (See Susan Olasky, “Femme Fatale,” World Magazine, March 29,
1997.)
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Are women more spiritual than men? While that is one possible
explanation for the data, there is no Scriptural support for such a
conclusion. Men and women are equally fallen, equally sinful, equally
forgiven in Christ, and equally endowed with the Holy Spirit. (Genesis
3:16-19; Romans 3:21-24; Joel 2:29; Acts 8:12; 1 Peter 3:3-4; Galatians 3:28)
So, why do many men think that Church is for girls? Is the Church
being feminized?
Not Feminized; Emasculated
First, I am not saying that Church really is for girls. What’s
happening in the Church is no more suitable for women than it is for men. Dr.
Michael Horton writes:
What we’re talking about here isn’t worthy even of …the feminization of
the Faith. It certainly isn’t worthy of the women in our churches, to
say that it’s OK for women to be characterized by sentimentalism. …It’s
a distortion of femininity, of genuine complements that women bring to
the table. It’s a distortion of that, and then a reduction of
everything, including “masculine aspects.” (Issues, Etc. “The
Feminization of Christianity I,” guest: Dr. Michael Horton. August 22,
2004.)
Second, with all due respect to Podels and others, the Church has not become
more feminine. The Church has become less masculine. The result is not a
feminized church, but rather an emasculated church.
We recently did a program on Issues, Etc. discussing the feminization
of the Church. When we opened the phone lines, most of the callers agreed
that the church was being emasculated. To my surprise, most of those callers
were women. One caller said,
I go into the churches and I either see the wives entirely domineering
—as though it’s a feminist movement— of their husbands, and the single
Christian men that I meet… are wimps. There’s no decisiveness in them,
they’re very soft, simple, almost like boys, as though they want to be
taken care of. …And I loathe that. I will not marry a man who isn’t a
strong Christian man. I won’t do it. I won’t marry some nice guy that’s
Page 5
like my little son. I don’t want a son; I want a man who is a Christian
man of God. (Issues, Etc. “The Feminization of Christianity II,” guest:
Dr. Kim Riddlebarger. August 22, 2004.)
The emasculated church presents a distorted picture of the Christian,
whether man or woman. More importantly, the emasculated church presents a
distorted picture of Christ.
Not only does the emasculated church have little place for real men,
the emasculated church has little place for the real Jesus.
Romancing the Deity
For a long time now, Sunday morning has been about our feelings.
Instead of focusing on how God deals with us in Christ, we focus on how we
feel about God in our hearts. We pray, sing and preach about our feelings. It
is now commonplace to hear Christians talk about an atmosphere of worship,
the mood of worship or a feeling of worship. Worship is now described in
blatantly emotional terms: moving, stimulating, stirring, exciting,
inspiring, exhilarating and even intoxicating.
A man might get impression that in order to really participate in
worship, he needs to get in touch with his feminine side. Men are typically
uncomfortable with this emotional emphasis. S.M. Hutchens has observed:
“Christianity in the West (Catholic and Protestant, conservative and liberal)
has come to be regarded by a great many men, and not without reason, as an
almost exclusively affective domain —something for women, children, and
unmanly men.” (S. M. Hutchens, “Please Me, O Lord,” Touchstone, A Journal of
Mere Christianity, May 2004.)
But the problem isn’t emotion per se. There’s nothing wrong with
emotion in worship, but that emotion ought to be appropriate to one’s gender.
Moreover, that emotion ought to be appropriate to its object. The object of
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Christian worship is supposed to be the man Jesus Christ. However, the Sunday
morning experience in the emasculated church requires a man to express
emotions toward Jesus he should not have. Horton writes, “most men I know
would feel somewhat uncomfortable singing ‘love songs’ to another man, even
if he is Jesus Christ.” (Michael Horton, “Are Your Hymns Too Spiritual?”
Modern Reformation, July/August, 1995.) Hutchens writes about what he calls
“the increasingly erotic overtones of the ‘personal relationship with Jesus’”
and his own awkward experience one Sunday:
A handsome young woman, attractively dressed, stood before the
congregation with an eight-inch microphone, the head of which she held
gently to her lips while she writhed and cooed a song in which she,
with closed eyes and beckoning gestures, begged Jesus, as she worked
her way toward its climax, to come fill her emptiness…. It was the “In
the Garden” tryst of the old hymnbooks carried to the next phase of
intimacy and excitement. Jesus has been walking and talking with the
revivalists and telling them they are his own for many years now, and
it is not surprising that, given his romantic propensities, they should
be expecting him to move to the next phase of the courtship ritual.
(Hutchens, “Please Me, O Lord.”)
It’s not just the songs. In the emasculated church, the Sunday sermon
sometimes sounds like a personals’ ad posted by Jesus: Sensitive male seeks
personal relationship. Dislikes negativity and intolerance. Likes listening
while you talk, long walks on the beach, sunsets and backrubs. I have so much
to offer. I promise I will change your life!
The “Jesus” in these sermons comes off as a little lonely and a little
needy. He’s willing to overlook your sin if you will just be his friend.
These sermons portray Jesus as forever standing at the door, corsage in hand,
waiting for his date to answer the doorbell.
Needless to say, the “Jesus” who is the subject of such sermons and the
object of such worship in the emasculated church is not the Jesus of
Scripture. “The Jesus whom Scripture reveals isn't user-friendly. He is too
Page 7
harsh with sinners and too determined to die for them. He can't stop talking
about His Cross, and why He must endure it. He is too human, too divine, too
bloody, too dead, and too alive.” (Todd Wilken, “Everybody Loves Jesus: The
Culture Cherishes a Counterfeit Christ,” For the Life of the World, October
2004, vol. 8, no. 4.) The emasculated church has traded the Jesus of
Scripture for the “Jesus in my heart.”
I’m Your Handy-Man
Not every emasculated church repels men. Some attract men by the
thousands.
Joel Osteen is pastor of the largest mega-church in America. The growth
of Lakewood Church has eclipsed even mini-denominations like Willow Creek and
Saddleback. Lakewood will soon move into Houston’s 18,000-seat Compaq Center
after a 70 million dollar renovation. Joel’s secret? A simple message,
typical of the emasculated church:
We’re all about building people up. We’re all about helping people
reach their full potential. …I believe that’s the message this
generation needs to hear. We’ve heard a lot about the judgment of God
and what we can’t do and what’s going to keep us out of heaven. But
it’s time people start hearing about the goodness of God, about a God
that loves them. A God that believes in them. A God that wants to help
them. That’s our message here at Lakewood. (www.lakewood.cc/index.htm)
Combining his Word-Faith roots with his seeker-sensitive savvy, Osteen
has produced a message that is overtly therapeutic. Osteen presents this
self-help message in a winsome and non-confrontational style. His sermons
read like long lists of suggestions —advice on how to be nice. As a result,
the subjects of sin and the Cross seldom come up. When they do, these
subjects are milked for maximum emotional, rather than theological, impact.
According to Osteen, sin is essentially self-doubt. Rather than being
moral and spiritual depravity, sin is a failure to live up to your innate
Page 8
goodness and potential. Sin is bad because it makes you or others unhappy.
The solution, according to Osteen, is realizing your potential with God’s
help:
…God wants to make your life easier. He wants to assist you, to promote
you, to give you advantages. He wants you to have preferential
treatment. But if we’re going to experience more of God’s favor, we
must live more “favor-minded.” To be favor minded simply means that we
expect God’s special help… (Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now, New York,
Warner Faith, 2004, p. 38.)
Lakewood is also typical of the emasculated church in another way.
Osteen himself functions not only as pastor to Lakewood’s thousands, but also
as the model modern male.
To the women in his audience Joel Osteen is the man they wish their
husband could be: young, good looking and sensitive. Osteen routinely tells
the women in his congregation that they are under-appreciated by their
husbands. Likewise, Osteen regularly regales the congregation with stories
from his own marriage and family, in which he invariably emerges as an
exemplary husband and father. For the women in his congregation, Osteen is
James Taylor’s Handy Man:
If your broken heart should need repair,
Then I am the man to see.
I whisper sweet things, you tell all your friends,
They'll come runnin' to me. (Otis Blackwell, Jimmy Jones, “Handy Man,”
1959.)
For the men, Osteen has long lists of how they are single-handedly
ruining their marriages and families. As a remedy, Joel dispenses advice on
how to be… more like Joel. It’s Christian Eye for the Straight Guy. After
all, something must be working for Osteen. As often as the camera pans to his
beautiful wife, Victoria, she looks blissfully satisfied. She is the
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spiritual version of the smiling wife at the end of the Enzyte Male
Enhancement Pill commercial.
Doubtless, some men in Osteen’s audience are there against their will,
at their wives’ insistence, but not every one of them. One wonders how men
could be attracted to Osteen’s message, but many obviously are. Apparently,
the emasculated church is also the emasculating church.
Few other pastors are able to position themselves between men and their
wives as successfully as Osteen does. However, even if he lacks Osteen’s
total package, the pastor in the emasculated church tends to become the
object of adoration for the women and of emulation for the men. In his
message and his method, Joel Osteen is the shape of things to come in the
emasculated church.
Jesus Didn’t Come to Give You a Backrub.
The attrition of men from the Church, and the emasculating of men in
the Church are just symptoms. The emasculated church has little place for
real men because the emasculated church has little place for the real Jesus.
Long before the term “metrosexual” was coined, Jesus was made over into
one by the Church. Today, the popular picture of Jesus, especially among
Christians, is of a polite, affirming and obsequious wimp.
This is a Jesus shaped by 21st century postmodern sensibilities. This
Jesus helps you find your purpose, reach your potential, realize your
innate goodness, and achieve self-fulfillment. He was sent by a sugar-
daddy god from a country club heaven to help us be all we can be. He
said nice things, did nice things, and never hurt a fly. He lived to
show us that we are better than we think we are. He died to show us
that you can accomplish anything if you just apply yourself. His
message fits neatly on a bumper sticker. His spirit is the spirit of
the age. (Wilken, “Everybody Loves Jesus.”)
In an emasculated church, the Judge Who will pronounce His verdict over
all mankind has been reduced to a therapist who just listens. He gives
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sinners affirmation when they need absolution. In the emasculated church, the
Good Shepherd Who faces the wolf and lays down His life for the sheep has
become the shepherd who sits safely in the pen, petting the sheep and
stroking their wool. He’s there to sympathize rather than save, to feel your
pain rather than bear your sin.
The real man Jesus isn’t interested in affirming sinners or making them
feel better about themselves; He’s only interested in saving them. The real
man Jesus doesn’t have time to groom the sheep; He’s too busy fighting and
dying for them.
Yes, the church has been emasculated and therefore left unmanned. Many
men think that Church is for girls because, frankly, many churches are.
So, should the Church start sponsoring arm-wrestling contests and
Monday night football? No. Should the Church tailor its message to real men?
No!
The Church should tailor its message to real sinners —both men and
women. That means preaching the message of the real Jesus. That means calling
real sinners —men and women, unbelievers and believers— to repent. That means
presenting the real Jesus’ life, death and resurrection as the only hope for
real sinners —men and women.
The real Church isn’t for girls. The real Church isn’t for boys either.
The real Church is for sinners because the real Jesus is for sinners.
This article may be freely reproduced and distributed with proper citation
and without changes.

Why do Lutheran pastors wear clerical robes, anyway???

Here is a link to a show on Issues, Etc: "The Gospel for Former Evangelicals: The Office of the Pastor.": If you don't have time to listen, and want my bullet-point "why Lutheran pastors wear clericals", here it is: (1) No, we don't put the pastor on a pedestal when he wears a clerical. On the contrary, it is his uniform, just like a policeman wears a uniform to work. (2) The clerical is not to make a big deal out of the man. Although in many evangelical churches the pastor's personality and appearance is expected to make people comfortable and communicate that the pastor is just one of you, in our churches the clerical is used to hide the man, and magnify the Word. (3 )We do not think it is a meritorious work when the pastor wears a clerical. We do believe that symbols are useful in communicating truths, but we do not worship the symbols.

Stan's vicarage begins

Although Stan's vicarage began the first week of August, today he was officially installed during the service. This photo was taken after the service. We are glad that Stan has the opportunity to serve here. (By the way, in case you are wondering what a vicar is, in our church body a vicar is somewhat like a student teacher. A vicar does many things that a pastor does, under his supervision. However, several things are reserved for the pastor).

Historical "Church Mission Statement"

Yesterday a man showed up in our driveway who was interested in seeing the church. He told us that his father was the pastor here before WWII, and that his older siblings were born in the parsonage. There is a lot of history here, and I find it fascinating. Here is another bit of history that I find very relevant to the discussions about "Church Mission Statements". The church has recently printed this in its bulletin, regarding handbills that were posted to advertise the church services during the Depression years:

English Services-First, Third, and Fifth Sundays

German Services-Second and Fourth Sundays

English Bible Classes-Sunday 9:00

This seems quaint and far away from us today-but one part of the handbill is as relevant to us today as it was when it was published, probably about 1930. It says:

The Lutheran Church

*Recognizes the preaching of the Word as its only business

*It proclaims to man, without fear or favor, the whole counsel of God

*It avoids sensationalism and practices plain Gospel preaching

*Its service does not aim to entertain but to lift up the heart to God

*It leads you to know your sins and your Savior from sin, Jesus Christ


The parts that really got my attention were the statements about avoiding sensationalism and entertainment, since that is such big part of many American churches today. There really isn't anything new under the sun, and the church's mission will never change, no matter how much "new-fangled" technology is available. Technology is a gift from God, but the church must not let the technology lead it away from the ministry of Word and Sacrament.

Church Decor

I have noticed that young Christians who are members of churches with plain "worship centers", (or ones that double as gyms)have a tendency to pick a different location for their weddings. They are often looking for something more aesthetically pleasing. There are different reasons that many modern churches do not fit the bill in this area, ranging from concern that certain decor may break the commandment to not worship idols, to sheer pragmatism. This is one of my favorite Luther quotes, discussing why images are allowed in homes and in the sanctuary (we call it so, because it is a sacred place, where God comes to us in Word and Sacrament). And no, I am not promoting the worship of icons. Please read on (if you want a shorter read, my favorite part is the last paragraph).

According to the law of Moses no other images are forbidden than an image of God which one worships....Concerning this I have a powerful passage in Lev. 26.1, "I am the Lord your God. You shall make for yourselves no idols and erect no graven image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land, to bow down to them."...It is because of worship that idols and figured stones are forbidden...Where they are not worshiped, they might well be set up and made....
We have also an example of this in the Old Testament. For Joshua (Josh 23[:26]) set up a cairn at Shechem under an oak as a testimony...However, because it was a stone of testimony, and not for the worship, he did not do this against the commandment. Thereafter also Samuel (1 Sam 7 [:12]) set up a stone and called it Stone of Help...But because no worship but only remembrance was intended, he did not sin...
No one is obligated to break violently images, even of God...One is obligated, however, to ...instruct and enlighten the conscience that it is idolatry to worship them, or to trust in them, since one is to trust alone in Christ...Images for memorial and witness, such as crucifixes and images of saints,are to be tolerated...And they are not only to be tolerated, but for the sake of the memorial and the witness they are praiseworthy and honorable...
Now we do not request more than that one permit us to regard a crucifix or a saint's image as a witness, for remembrance, as a sign....Pictures...we would paint on walls for the sake of remembrance and better understanding...It is, to be sure, better to paint pictures on walls of how God created the world, how Noah build the ark, and whatever other good stories there may be, than to paint shameless worldly things. Yes, would to God that I could persuade the rich and the mighty that they would permit the whole Bible to be painted on houses, on the inside and outside, so that all can see it. That would be a Christian work...
God desires to have his works heard and read, especially the passion of our Lord. But it is impossible for me to hear and bear it in mind without forming mental images of it in my heart. For whether I will or not, when I hear of Christ, an image of a man hanging on a cross takes form in my heart...If is is not a sin but good to have the image of Christ in my heart, why should it be a sin to have it in my eyes?

God made us physical people, and certainly in this generation there is an understanding of the influence of the visual. There are visual images that point worshipers to themselves, and others that point them to God. It is good and pleasing to engage all of our senses in the worship of God. It can point us to Jesus, who took on human flesh, with all of its senses, and made His dwelling among us.

Vicarage Placement!

Stan received his vicarage placement last night, and we are happy to announce that we will be staying put for the upcoming academic year! We are very pleased to have been placed in the same congregation Stan is currently serving in as a fieldworker. His vicarage begins August 1st, and lasts for one year. Consequently, we will not have to change the name of blog for the time being.

Spring Summary

Here are a few things that have been happening this spring:

In March we were able to go on a trip to Kentucky to help clean a church that reopened a couple of years ago. Our fieldwork church had the idea to send our youth to this particular church to help out; we were very surprised when we heard that this was the church that our friends were at on vicarage!

Elise with her friends


John with his friends


Removing church cushions, so we could clean the pews



Group shot of the 3 families that worked together. We had a lot of manpower under the age of 18! Even the youngest ones helped out.



Lindsay's 10th birthday

Waiting

Today marks the new year in the church calendar: Advent. It is the only time that I actually enjoy waiting for something, or in this case, Someone. During Advent, we not only wait for the remembrance of His coming that first Christmas, but look forward to His second coming.

And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21:28

Lo! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for every sinner slain;
Thousand thousand saints attending
Swell the triumph of His train:
Alleluia,alleluia, alleluia!
Christ the Lord returns to reign.
-verse 1, Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending, LSB 336

He Builds

This quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a timely comment for the modern church that so often looks to the world for ideas on how to grow the church, rather than looking to Christ, who promised to build His church.

It is not we who build. [Christ] builds the church. No man builds the church but Christ alone. Whoever is minded to build the church is surely well on the way to destroying it; for he will build a temple to idols without wishing or knowing it. We must confess-he builds. We must proclaim-he builds. We must pray to him-that he may build.
We do not know his plan. We cannot see whether he is building or pulling down. It may be that the times which by human standards are times of collapse are for him the great times of construction. It may be that the times which from a human point of view are great times for the church are times when it is pulled down.
It is a great comfort which Christ gives to his church: you confess, preach, bear witness to me and I alone will build where it pleases me. Do not meddle in what is my province. Do what is given to you to do well and you have done enough. But do it well. Pay no heed to views and opinions. Don’t ask for judgments. Don’t always be calculating what will happen. Don’t always be on the lookout for another refuge! Church, stay a church! But church, confess, confess, confess! Christ alone is your Lord; from his grace alone can you live as you are. Christ builds.

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

Yesterday Stan and I were laughing about a time I recalled when he wasn't sure he looked good in black. I reassured him that he did, and that black was very "in". Little did we know back then that he would be wearing black a lot in the future. He says that it simplifies his life: "Should I wear black, black, or black this Sunday?"Yet whether he thinks he looks good in black or not is not important; he is not up there to preach about himself, but Jesus Christ.

I had the privilege of hearing him preach his first sermon today. I look forward to many years of hearing him proclaim Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, in the rich variety of ways that the Biblical text allows.

For where Christ is not preached, there is no Holy Spirit who creates, calls, and gathers the Christian Church, without which no one can come to Christ the Lord.
(Large Catechism, Part II The Apostles Creed, section 45)

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified....and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:2, 4-5

Here is a link to a well-written article on what makes a good sermon, entitled "A Listeners Guide to the Pulpit", by Pastor Todd Wilken.

Who Does the Seeking?

You hear a lot about the grammar foibles of our culture, especially with the technology that is available that makes it soooo easy to be lazy about proper grammar. Here is a grammar foible at large in American Christendom, that makes the church just as lazy about true doctrine:

"Seeker-sensitive church."

Although this label is probably outdated already, the thinking underneath it remains in many American churches today. The idea is that we must make the "seeker" comfortable, and get them interested in coming to church. Don't tell them that they are sinners in need of a Savior, that might drive them away. Don't talk about doctrine. Just get them to believe in Jesus. This is a bait and switch tactic, that smacks more of American consumerism than the one true faith.

Here is the bad news from Romans 3:11- no one understands; no one seeks for God. (So if no one seeks after God, there are no "seekers"!)

Here is the good news from Luke 19:10-"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

Instead of trying to make the church "seeker-sensitive", or whatever label you want to slap on it, we should view the church as the Bride of Christ. He is the seeker, not us sinners, who are dead in our trespasses and sins! For despite all of the church's antics to make herself attractive, He seeks us, and only He can wash us clean and make us radiant through His Word and Sacraments.

Our Days

It's been a busy week at the Palmer household. Thursday, Elise, John, and Lindsay sang in choir at the seminary chapel; yesterday, we made about 165 kolaches (Czech recipe from my side of the family), and the kids played in the first snow ; today, the kids were in the Christmas program (great job, kids, and great job on the piano, Elise!), we went caroling at two nursing homes and even got to sing on the radio. Also on the radio, John asked the question, "What does Christmas mean to you?" To which he replied, "The birth of Christ." The pastor asked him why that was important, and he said, "Because he died on the cross for us." Good answer!

Seeing the older folks at the nursing home, thinking about Christ's first and second comings, and the close of another year always makes me think about the brevity of life. Even my little Bethany has lost her first tooth, which is a big reminder that she isn't so little anymore!

"So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

Thankfully, in my lack of wisdom, Jesus is my wisdom: "God chose what is low and despised in the world...so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'" 1 Corinthians 1:28-30

His Coming

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke 1:76-78 (emphasis mine)

These verses are Zechariah speaking about his son, John, and his special job to prepare for the coming of the Lord. We are also preparing for the coming of the Lord, during the “new year” in the church calendar, Advent. I have now experienced one full year of the church calendar as a Lutheran, and have found it to be enriching and Christ-focused. I like the rhythm that it gives: following the Advent of our Lord, his Passion, the time of the church. I also like the connection that it gives me to the Christians who have worshipped this way for centuries. God’s truth stands firm, and He preserves His church. I recently read a blog post in which the young writer stated that “each generation reinvents the church.” I found that to be a disturbing statement. We don’t define the church, God’s Word does. We do not fit the Word to the culture; God’s Word speaks to the world. It is His Holy Spirit, through His Word, that still convicts of sin through His Law, and brings salvation through the Gospel.

It is that Word that proclaims to us His first coming as a babe in the manger, fully God and fully man, born to atone for our sins, and that Word proclaims His second coming, as Savior and Judge.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all. Amen. (Revelation 22:20-21)

Celebrating the Reformation

Last Sunday we enjoyed a beautiful Reformation service at historic St. Paul's Lutheran church in downtown Fort Wayne. It was Elise and John's first time singing with the Homeschool seminary choir. I felt like I was in Europe in a cathedral, listening to Bach, and singing, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."
This Saturday we will celebrate at home with games, CANDY, and by watching the Luther movie. Elise drew this picture based on the DVD cover of the movie. It is one of her best drawings.
Sola Scriptura
Sola Gratia
Sola Fide
Solo Christo
Thanks be to God for preserving His Word!

Church Picnic

Today, after church, my family and I went to Zion Lutheran's church picnic. First, we ate a very tasty lunch of hotdogs, hamburgers, salads, desserts, etc. After we ate, we went to the parking lot, where a moonwalk, cotton candy stand, and a dunking tank were set up. Although we were standing around in 90 degree weather, we all had a great time! At the dunking tank, kids had a blast doing the dunking and being dunked. John and I were dunked several times, and we even got Dad to do it once! Here are some pictures of the event.

Ice Cream...and pie!

We had a great time at the ice cream social...so much that this is the ONLY picture we took. Elise remembered to take a picture right before we left. Bethany was happy because she had such a big bowl of ice cream. The food was delicious (besides the meal and ice cream, they were serving pie!!) We also enjoyed visiting with people, and the church raised $2300 for the African mission.