Always young when he is born in the hearts of the holy.

Here is nice portion of the epistle to Diognetus, translated by a blogger.



To them, appearing, the Word revealed these things, speaking plainly. He was not understood by unbelievers, but related these things to his disciples, who being considered faithful by Him knew the mystery of the Father.

For this reason He sent the Word, in order that He might appear to the world, dishonored by the people,
preached by the apostles,
believed on by the gentiles.

This one was from the beginning, appearing to be new was found to be old, and always young when he is born in the hearts of the holy.

This is the eternal one, today considered to be the Son, through whom the church is made rich and grace, being unfolded in the saints,
is magnified,
showing the mind,
manifesting the mystery,
announcing the times,
rejoicing over the faithful,
giving gifts to those who seek,
to whom will not break oaths of faith nor transgress the boundaries of the Fathers.

Next fear of the law is sung,
the grace of the prophets is known,
faith in the promises is established,
the tradition of the apostles is guarded,
and the joy of the church will spring up.

Sermon for Second Sunday of Easter, March 30, 2008

I had to use a different site to store the sermon. You will have to go a couple of screens to get to the file. Then you can download it and listen to it.

"Jesus Builds his Church" Sermon for Second Sunday of Easter

And, yes, that is my horrendous singing at the beginning of the file. Humbling to hear that. I hope I am nt always _that_ bad. I guess my shot at Idol is gone :)

More Attention on Issues Etc

The white Horse Inn radio program devotes a segment to the demise of Issues Etc.


Rod Dreher well known commentator weighs in.


Mere Comments, the blog of Touchstone Magazine, hopes for its return.


And Get Religion discusses it as well.

LCMS in the Press

The LCMS is landing on the bad side of the press due to the Issues Etc. cancellation and firing.

The Wall Street Journal has an article detailing the cancellation in the larger context of the LCMS and First Things weighs in with a piece by Anthony Sacramone

I hadn't posted this before because it was all over the internet but here is the official letter from Mr. David Strand on the reasons for the cancellation.

The priest but lends his hand and tongue

In turn, these are stern, comforting and humbling words:


For the priest, though his own life be well-ordered, who does not exercise with due diligence his responsibility towards others shall go with the wicked to hell.

Knowing well therefore the greatness of their danger, give them every respect, even though they should not be very holy persons. For it is not fitting that they should be judged by those placed subject to them.

And should their own life be not worthy, in no way will they injure you in regard to the things committed to them by God; for neither priest, nor angel, nor archangel can do anything to what is given to you by God; for the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost arrange all things. The priest but lends his hand and tongue. For it would not be just that because of another's evil life they should suffer harm who approach in faith to the symbols of our salvation.

Chrysostom, Homilies 85/86 in John, cited in Sunday Sermons of the Great Fathers, vol. 2, p. 268-269.

Low, White, Octave of Easter, Dominica in albis, St. Thomas, Whitsunday

Those are all names for this coming Sunday in the church year, the Sunday after Easter. It is a fascinating day. A big "let down" Sunday following Easter yet the readings and customs surrounding the day make it one of great pastoral and theological significance.

How do we live post Easter lives? Where is Christ now that he has risen? Where and how can we find him? How do Christians who live a life of ongoing sinning get connected to the risen Jesus? How does baptism relate to our daily life as Christians? How do I know Jesus is risen? How do the apostles figure into the life of the church? If the resurrection of Jesus is an established physical fact how does faith play a role? How do we put our hands into the wounds of Christ?

Good questions all related in one way or the other to this coming Sunday.


Here is some wikipedia stuff on "Low Sunday" :

The Octave Day of Easter, sometimes known as Low Sunday (and also known historically as White Sunday, Whitsunday, St. Thomas Sunday and Quasimodo Sunday), is the Sunday after Easter Sunday. Since 1970 Low Sunday has been officially known as the Second Sunday of Easter (referring to the Easter season) in the Roman Catholic Church. On April 30, 2000 it was also designated Divine Mercy Sunday by Pope John Paul II.

St. Thomas Sunday is so called because the Gospel reading always relates the story of "Doubting Thomas," in which Thomas the Apostle comes to believe in the Resurrection of Jesus only after having placed his finger in the nail marks and his hand in the side of Jesus. In the Gospel accounts, this event takes place on the eighth day after the Resurrection, hence their significance for this Sunday.

Divine Mercy Sunday is the culmination of the novena to the Divine Mercy of Jesus, a devotion given to St. Faustina (Mary Faustina Kowalska) and is based upon an entry in her diary stating that anyone who participates in the Mass and receives the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist on this day is assured by Jesus of full remission of their sins. The devotion was actively promoted by Pope John Paul II, who officially set its commemoration on this Sunday in 2000.

Prior to the 1970 Roman this day was called Low Sunday. It was sometimes said that the name derives from its relative unimportance compared to the solemnities of Easter Day, but it is more likely that "low" is a corruption of the Latin word Laudes, the first word of the Sequence of the day: "Laudes Salvatori voce modulemur supplici" (Let us sing praises to the Savior with humble voice). Laudes means "praises".

Traditionally, the newly-baptised would receive baptismal gowns that would be worn until this day, and the official Latin name is Dominica in Albis [Depositis], "Sunday in [Setting Aside the] White Garments". Hence "White" and "Alb" Sunday—which is also the etymology of Whitsunday (Pentecost).

The name Quasimodo came from the Latin text of the traditional Introit for this day, which begins "Quasi modo geniti infantes..." ("As newborn babes...", from the First Epistle of Peter (I_Peter 2:2). Literally, quasi modo means "as recently [sc. born babes]".

Bill Gates on religion

This quote popped up in quotes of the day. Harsh.

Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.
- Bill Gates

Issues Etc is no more.

You have probably heard about this but Issues Etc, the KFUO radio program on Lutheran theology has been canceled. It is a real loss in my opinion.

Weedon has several posts.

McCain has a post as well.

Brother Micah

One must preach against sin. Just make sure they are real ones not made up.



Like Brother Micah.

Bible in hand, Micah Armstrong strides into the middle of a small group of students at the University of Alabama and starts preaching.

You're going to hell if you drink beer, he says. You're going to hell if you curse. You're going to hell if you smoke dope, masturbate, fornicate, watch a Hollywood movie, listen to rap, read Harry Potter books or attend most Protestant churches, Armstrong says.

Homosexuals are hellbound, too, he says. So are women with low-cut tops, short hair, pants or jobs.

"Women have two places: In front of the sink and behind the vacuum," Armstrong proclaims.

What power, what delicious sweetness

Luther on Philippians 2: 5-11.

All this Christ surely did not do because we were worthy of it. Who could be worthy such service from such a one? Obedience to the Father moved him. Here Paul with one word (obedience)unlocks heaven and permits us look into the unfathomable abyss of divine majesty and behold the ineffable love of the Fatherly heart toward us -- his gracious will for us.

He shows us how from eternity it has been God's pleasure that Christ, the glorious one who has wrought all this, should do it for us. What human heart would not melt at the joy-inspiring thought? Who would not love, praise and thank God and in return for his goodness, not only be ready to serve the world, but gladly to embrace the extremity of humility? Who would not so do when he is aware that God himself has such precious regard for him, and points to the obedience of his Son as the pouring out and evidence of his Fatherly will.

Oh, the significance of the words Paul here uses! Such words as he uses in no other place! He must certainly have burned with joy and cheer. To gain such a glimpse of God -- surely this must be coming to the Father through Christ. Here is truly illustrated the truth that no one comes to Christ except the Father draw him; and with what power, what delicious sweetness, the Father allures! How many are the preachers of the faith who imagine they know it all, when they have received not even an odor or taste of these things! How soon are they become masters who have never been disciples! Not having tasted God's love, they cannot impart it; hence they remain unprofitable babblers.

Tuning the Pipe Organ

An interesting prose poem here. Not specifically Christian but well done.



Tuning the Pipe Organ

By Lavonne J. Adams

I grew up with the accoutrements of pipe organs

filling our garage, some as small as piccolos,

some arriving like giants in rough-hewn crates.
On occasional Saturdays, I helped my father tune

what he had built inside quiet churches, each dim
as an underwater scene, each cool as a cave

no matter what season. I preferred the older
sanctuaries with their faint smell of damp,

with their dark mahogany pews and marble floors
that would clack beneath women’s Sunday heels.

I walked with my father the length of the nave
toward where a crucifix hung like a compass,

then veered right or left toward the organ’s console.
Before he disappeared down some dark hallway

like he would one day disappear forever, my father
settled on the bench, pulled the knobs he called stops,

and then began to play. Sound filled the church
like a full-bodied wine as his fingers skirled

three cliffs of keys, as his feet ranged the pedals
like some intricate folkdance. My job was

much simpler—to begin with middle C,
to hold down each note until I heard

his disembodied voice calling Next.
A few of those low notes were like fog horns,

others were like ogres bellowing, but each was
capable of palpating my lungs, of claiming my throat.

Stained glass cast its jewels across my lap, and
in that moment I understood something about eternity.

For that moment, I felt close to holy.

Christ is really present in preaching!

Rev. Kent Schaaf has posted this bit from Gerhard Forde:


"....law and gospel are rightly divided in preaching when the sermon is not primarily didactic, but rather something that claims listener on God's behalf. We need to 'sacramentalize' the word: it gives Christ and all his blessings. Christ is really present in preaching! Hence, preachers need to be bold enough to give Christ to their hearers. Preacher are tempted to give the text a moral- translating into our terms or allegorizing it in order to offer us something to do. We miss Luther's insight that it is the Scripture that interprets us. Preachers need to read the pericopes so as to allow themselves to be exegeted by them and then preach in a fashion that allows the text to do its deed to the hearers."

Sometimes pastors have to shovel the walk ...

Here are some wise pastoral words from a post by the Lutheran Logomanic:

I guess that my views on these things have changed over the years. It would be nice if I could spent 100% of my time doing clearly pastoral work. But we don’t live in heaven; we’re on earth. Here on earth the pastor gets done what needs to get done so that the work of the ministry may be carried out. Sometimes that means shoveling the walk.


The whole post is worth reading.

Sermon for Lent 4, Series A, March 2, 2008

Sermon for Lent 4, Series A, March 2, 2008

A LCMS Case for Social Justice

Here is an interesting post on the LCMS and social justice. Some interesting comments. The author, Rev. Paul Sauer, contrasts policy statements from denominational headquarters with individuals and congregations just doing the work of reaching the needy. I agree. He also lauds Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, President of the LCMS, on grappling with these issues.

The better way seems to be for the Church to provide opportunities for social service in the cause of social justice. While reasonable Christians may disagree on what constitutes a just or unjust war, all Christians should be able to get behind caring for the families of active duty soldiers who are left behind, providing assistance and counseling for returning soldiers, and offering aid to countries affected by war. While reasonable Christians can disagree on the socio-political causes of poverty and how best to eradicate it, no reasonable Christian can deny that it is our God-given responsibility to offer assistance to those who are impoverished, in whatever form our conscience and world view deems best. While reasonable Christians can disagree on the best method of educating young people, all should agree that work toward the eradication of illiteracy is a noble goal.

The great problem with social statements is that at their best they are only worth the paper they are printed on, and at their worst they can be needlessly divisive. Change doesn’t come from Chicago or St. Louis or Washington DC, it comes from the priesthood of the baptized, who live out their priestly vocation of service in the communities and parishes where they live.

He was acknowledged by the Creation as God

He was truly crucified for our sins. For if you would deny it, the place refutes you visibly, this blessed Golgotha, in which we are now assembled for the sake of Him who was here crucified; and the whole world has since been filled with pieces of the wood of the Cross.

But He was crucified not for sins of His own, but that we might be delivered from our sins. And though as Man He was at that time despised of men, and was buffeted, yet He was acknowledged by the Creation as God: for when the sun saw his Lord dishonoured, he grew dim and trembled, not enduring the sight.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. Lectures, 4.10

Truth wrapped in a joke

Unitarian joke:

The only time you will hear the phrase "Jesus Christ" in a Unitarian church is when the janitor falls down the stairs.

From todays Prairie Home Companion joke show.

Lent, the Church Year , Communion as evangelical fad

The ancient, traditional church is the latest thing, according to the Washington Post.

Read all about it here.

Wonder what the next fad will be.

Hillary Clinton, fratricidal maniac

I am normally not heavily interested in the election process. But the Democratic primary process has been unusually interesting. I have been reading various blogs and articles as the spectacle has unfolded. Here is an article from a Democrat that outlines a case against Hilary Clinton. Fascinating stuff.

A tidbit:

Clinton's path to the nomination, then, involves the following steps: kneecap an eloquent, inspiring, reform-minded young leader who happens to be the first serious African American presidential candidate (meanwhile cementing her own reputation for Nixonian ruthlessness) and then win a contested convention by persuading party elites to override the results at the polls. The plan may also involve trying to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations, after having explicitly agreed that the results would not count toward delegate totals. Oh, and her campaign has periodically hinted that some of Obama's elected delegates might break off and support her. I don't think she'd be in a position to defeat Hitler's dog in November, let alone a popular war hero.

Pope to rehabilitate Luther?

Not that he needs rehabilitation.

But apparently the Pope is considering declaring that he was not a heretic.

Two Books worth reading ...

... are the two volumes written by surgeon Atul Gawande. One is entitled "Complications" and the other "Better".

They are an insiders view of the surgery and medical field. They are excellent.

Valuable for pastors family with loved ones in the hospital, or anyone with a curious mind, they lay open the real world of medicine and surgery. They are honest, humble and eye opening.

Dr. Gawande is able to write simply and well and is able to present the medical field as one of human error along with great human skill and dedication.

Here is a description from Amazon:


Gently dismantling the myth of medical infallibility, Dr. Atul Gawande's Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science is essential reading for anyone involved in medicine--on either end of the stethoscope. Medical professionals make mistakes, learn on the job, and improvise much of their technique and self-confidence. Gawande's tales are humane and passionate reminders that doctors are people, too. His prose is thoughtful and deeply engaging, shifting from sometimes painful stories of suffering patients (including his own child) to intriguing suggestions for improving medicine with the same care he expresses in the surgical theater. Some of his ideas will make health care providers nervous or even angry, but his disarming style, confessional tone, and thoughtful arguments should win over most readers. Complications is a book with heart and an excellent bedside manner, celebrating rather than berating doctors for being merely human.

Earbuds versus headphones

I hate earbuds.

Maybe this is a generational thing but they really bug me. I have recently purchased a small inexpensive mp3 player and have tried to get used to jamming these nodules into my ear canal but I am not adjusting.


I grew up with giant appliances called "headphones". Not portable by any means with a thick cord connecting them to another immobile device called a record player. But they were comfortable and I must say delivered better sound. I bought a huge pair at a garage sale down the street from my house in high school and kept them until just a few years ago.

Even the words are so different, aren't they? "Headphones" versus "earbuds".

I am missing the headphones.

Article in Touchstone Magazine

I have an article in the latest Touchstone. The article is entitled "Sermons that Survive by the Grace of God". Alas it is not online but you can subscribe here and read all the good things in the magazine.

Here is the first two sentences of my article:

Who, among the X-Box children and Fox News parents in our pews, can be expected to sit still for twenty minutes to watch and listen to someone . . . just stand there . . . and talk . . . about God? So many other ways to “share the Gospel” seem better suited than the sermon to reach the visually minded, relationship-oriented citizens of the digital age.


You can read an excellent article by Michael Horton online.

Here is his introduction:

Never mind Paul’s exhortation to Timothy to submit to elders and pastors as official ambassadors of Christ. These days, even in more confessional denominations, it seems that instead of being the Lord’s servant, ambassador, and minister of reconciliation, a pastor is supposed to be the community’s quarterback, class president, or the one voted “most likely to succeed.”

That reminds me of a story ....

... the most dreaded words in sermon hearing.


Jolly Blogger shares these two video satires of bad preaching. Quite good. "Real Preachers of Genius."