You think Michael Moore hates coporations, wait until you see what he thinks about small buisness.

Lo and behold, I find that Preacherman is back. He fell off all our maps about six months ago and I really hadn't bothered to check and see if he was still blogging. Well, he has reemerged and the blog looks better than it did. I'm very glad to see Pastor Jeff back.

The Empty Cradle Will Rock: How abortion is costing the Democrats voters--literally

Consensus has bee on a rampage recently, trying to keep up with the mailings of Jesus First(NI!). Anyway, there are six more articles now available.

Days of Peace or Three More Years of Turmoil?

Daniel Preus–The Best Choice for President

Allah and Zeus—“Also the True God”?

THINGS THAT WOULD IMPROVE THE LSB

The Lutheran Service Book Proposal: Some comments, encouragements and cautions

A Sobering Lesson from the Methodists

For those of you who have bothered to read my profile and have actually bothered to look under my interests, you will have seen I have potificated on just about all of them except one: amateur radio. Unless you had read my profile, you would have been clueless that I am an amateur radio operator. In case any hams are reading this, I love six meters and my callsign is Kahlua Beer Zero Vodka Tequila Whiskey. I don't talk much about amateur radio because, honestly, it hasn't held the place in my life it once did. I once lived and breathed amateur radio. It was one of my favorite things to do. I'd fire up my handheld radio and see whomever was on the repeaters at the time. My interest in six meters came later on when my dad bought a six-meter all-mode radio (I don't remember what type of radio it was). I personally own a ICOM IC-T8A tribander. If I can ever get my 5 wpm code, I would probably fly through the general and extra class tests. Yes, I am a no-code tech and I was licensed in 1996. I've put off learning code for quite a while now.

I thought I was going to be in Aliceville, Kansas. Why in the world would I be going to Aliceville, KS? My uncle is the pastor of . I am going there for two reasons. First, to celebrate with my cousin and his wife the baptism of their baby daughter. Secondly, I am going to celebrate the retirement of my uncle. It is earlier than it would normally be, but his health hasn't been the greatest and, because of that, he has decided to retire early. May God be gracious to him and grant him peace with this decision.

This is not good news. New polio outbreak in Africa.

I just added two new blogs and moved and changed the link to another blog. Don't ask me what I did. I don't remember. At this point, I'm just going to start updating my blogroll without really talking about what I did. I've already done that a couple of times.

I think it's time to go through the list of stuff I've neglected.

Belated Congratulations to Chris Burgwald on the birth of his daughter.

Belated happy birthday to us as yesterday was the anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession and also the first published Book of Concord. Whohoo!

I think I've covered everything I needed to catch up on. Probably not, but that's all I can remember at the moment.

I now have a new e-mail adress. It is daniel dot sellers at gmail dot com.

Why go to gmail? One gigabyte. It's that simple.

Reformation Today Endorses Daniel Preus

Nobody Expects the Missouri Inquisition

Update:

Beneath the Synod “Ablaze”–A Burning Problem

We’re All One in Christ, No Matter How Large or Small

The Board of Directors: Wise leadership

The Choice Before Us:
Continued Conflict or a Process of Peace

The picture below is courtesy of Right Wing News

I doubt that any sort of large split will happen in either church. It's more likely to happen in Missouri... but less likely in the ELCA.

And also lately I read about a new "synod" that is comprised of congregations who broke off from the ELCA because of the gay issue.

But guess what? They have female pastors. They aren't conservative. That's why you won't be seeing ELCA congregations joining the LCMS any time soon.

I wanted a chance to respond to this comment made by Brian, but I am not sure how much space my reply is going to take, so I'm placing it here. The last time I talked to Chris (I have another friend attending the ELCA seminary in Minneapolis that I've known for a while who happens to be named Chris), he thought that chances were the ELCA was going to split into four synods. I don't know how much things have changed since I last talked to him (it has been a while), but things don't look good. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the more conservative elements within the ELCA merged with our liberals to form a new synod. I personally believe that the conservatives will start talking with WELS and the ELS to try to form either a new synodical conference or a new synod. As a matter of fact, if we were smart, we would start talking to them unofficially right now.

Has the LCMS Really Lost 500,000 Members in the Last 30 Years?

One more reason to be conservative.

Oh Lord, please don't burn us,
Don't grill or toast your flock,
Don't put us on the barbecue,
Or simmer us in stock,
Don't braise or bake or boil us,
Or stir-fry us in a wok...

Oh please don't lightly poach us,
Or baste us with hot fat,
Don't fricassee or roast us,
Or boil us in a vat,
And please don't stick thy servants Lord,
In a Rotissomat...

I just felt a little silly.

Sudan News

How to ignore genocide.

More on Sudan

Keep reading

Read some more

Even more

Kofi's Being an Idiot Again

Josh might loose some respect for Paul Maier

Possible surprises at the convention

An Analysis of Many of the Resolutions Coming before our Convention

Enjoy.

Now that I've let loose with the below post (it didn't turn out nearly as bad as I thought it might), I need Thomas because a few more indulgences are in order...

I have been thinking about the whole Contemporary Christian Music debate that continues to fester within the synod. There is one lesson from the past that the defenders of CCM continue to either be ignorant of or don't really want pointed out: the Church, very early on within its history, banned instruments as part of the divine service. Now, why would the Church put such a restriction upon its people? It's because the instruments had very specific religious functions in the pagan rituals of the Greeks and Romans. The Early Christians understood that to bring instruments into the church was also to bring the pagan gods into the church, which was an obvious violation of the First Commandment. It was understood that the culture would invade the Church. The Church had enough problems with its members falling back into their old habits without having music tempting them. So now, the defenders of CCM need to explain themselves and tell us why we need to begin using "modern" music in our worship. How is it that by using the badly misnamed "contemporary" styles we don't import pagan culture into our churches? The burden of proof is on them, and I haven't heard one good explanation of how that isn't happening yet.

I rarely if ever go off on rants and just completely let my composure go. It does happen, however, and it is about to happen again. The reason I put this up is because I'm going to warn you that what I am about to say has the potential to be as bad as one French rant I made quite a while ago. This is me saying there will be foul language ahead. If you have kids around, get them away from the computer. Even better, wait until they are in bed before even reading the next paragraph.



















WARNING: RESULTS OF A DECAPTIATION AHEAD. DO NOT LOOK UNLESS YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE IT. DO NOT LOOK EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE IT

Fucking terrorist dipshits. At least one of them has their brains scattered across the desert of Saudi Arabia. I am now in a mood for what I would call proportional responses. They behead someone, we take ten prisoners from Guantanamo and begin castrating them. Ten heads for one. They kill one of our soldiers, we kill ten prisoners. Violence is the only thing these fucking assholes understand; that and threats to their manhood. What if we chopped the dick off every convicted terrorist? Why not? They want death, so that will not do any good. The threat of a man named Bubba saying his mouth sure looks pretty isn't something these numbnuts are ready for. Put these guys in the regular population of prisoners and see how long they last with a bunch of gangbangers and skinheads ready for some action. These guys don't need death: they need sex changes. Let's see if they are willing to endure rape for Allah. Shitheads.

I often don't talk about it much, but I do have a love for Jazz. My collection isn't anywhere near as big as my classical collection or do I know anywhere near as much about jazz as I do classical, but I have listened to jazz longer than I have classical. My listening is just much more sporadic. Right now, I'm listening to the sax styling of John Coltrane. Jazz is such a break from everything I've listened to recently. It's nice to hear some excellent musicians playing American music. Jazz is the only style of music that can actually claim to be purely American and, quite unfortunately, popular everywhere else but America. Most Jazz musicians have more talent than many of the people who end up making all the money in music. Jazz, like classical, takes a lot of energy to enjoy. Jazz, however, seems to be a little more accessible to the little guy. Because of the improvisation involved, every time a piece is performed by a performer, you'll get a different performance. The song never sounds quite the same.

Consensus has put its new newsletter up on its webpage. Take a look and see what's going on and what role politics are playing in dictating doctrine.

I have been wondering around places on the internet I haven't really been. It's quite interesting. You run into stuff like this. I really have to admit this is extremely funny. Only click on the link if your computer is capable of stereo sound.

Johnny (not Joey, my bad) Ramone is dying of Prostate Cancer.

Another Update via CAT41

"Absolute power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

And Kerry wants the U.N. to be a partner in Iraq, the same U.N. that screwed Iraq over?

There was an earthquake near my old stomping grounds.

One more reason to be conservative.

More news from Concord.

Thomas has some thoughts on the picture I posted below.

I know many of you might be tired of me talking about President Reagan, but I did want to make a comment on the national funeral and the burial service. I had 24 hours and a wedding to think about it, and one thing I noticed was how mixed church and state were throughout the memorial services. As a Lutheran, I cringed with how much mixing there was. I do understand that church and state will often collide at funerals (the funeral for any vet proves that point) and it is understandable. Even then, there is still some separation there. You could have easily come to the conclusion that state and church were one throughout the memorial services. I also realized that, while the eulogies were well done and often beautiful (Lady Thatcher's eulogy comes to mind), they take the emphasis off of Christ and what he has done for us and places it squarely on the deceased. That is not to say there is no time for eulogies. Some of the best eulogies I ever heard happened spontaneously at the meal provided after the funeral. Stories about the deceased are told, memories revisited, and bad jokes are repolished.

Even with that, I am a high church sort of guy who likes pageantry. President Reagan's funeral services gave plenty of that. At his burial service, I knew exactly when tears would be shed and I tried to be strong. I tried, but Taps is just one of those songs which brings a finality to this whole process. Taps is the call to sleep. Taps will bring the tears. It didn't help that Mrs. Reagan broke down soon after. I shed tears of empathy for her. She lost he soulmate. I sat and watched C-SPAN until they finally cut away from their coverage while the US Air Force Band paid their last respects. Airman after airman stepping up to the coffin and saluting their President.

After all this sadness, I must say congratulations to Tanya and Nick. I hope the presents I bought you served you well.

Ray Charles died. I've been too busy remembering a hero, and now I can remember a great musician. How many times did I get chills when hearing him belt out "America the Beautiful" in that soulful gospel style that only he could do. I remember an interview he did with some reporter whose name escapes me where he played poker. The cards were printed in Braille, so Ray would cheat as he was dealing because he could feel exactly what the reporter had. Ray took the guy for some money that day. How did a kid who was blind, black, and without a mother end up making it in this crazy country of ours? Who knows, but I'll miss his voice. R.I.P.

How to lack class. Yes, they have the right, but it is a classless, base act to protest a funeral.

One Confessional pastor has thoughts on Ronald Reagan. It is a rare thing to see a pastor publically comment on a political figure. Believe me, most pastors will chew your ears off if given the chance to talk about politics privately, yet they will not discuss politics (normally) from the pulpit or even in Bible study. This is a rare thing indeed.

So Now They Think He Was Charming.

I actually decided to put up a profile and, even better, I included a picture taken much closer to now than my confirmation picture. It is me as Seargent Mucker. Don't ask.

I sit here watching C-SPAN's coverage of people paying their last respects to President Reagan. A group of police officers just walked by and saluted. Most people silently walk past and look, bowing their heads at some point out of respect.

CLINTON DISAPPOINTMENT: LEFT OFF FUNERAL SPEAKERS LIST. He just can't stay out of the limelight, just like OJ.

The Terrible Swede had the courage to ask me who the other three major figures that helped shape my political views. Friedrich A. Hayek is one of the most influential men to my thinking. He was pointing out the errors of socialism long before anyone else. He came to influence the next person on my list, Milton Friedman. He is one of the brightest thinkers in the history of economics, especially when it comes to monetary policy. Finally, William F. Buckley Jr. rounds out this list. National Review was very influential in how I thought throughout high school. Honestly, my reading that magazine helped jump my SAT verbal score by 100 points. Besides that, much of my thought on social concerns was refined by his influence.

Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who!


What Monty Python Character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

I am thankful I am not Sir Robin.

Update:


Take the Which Monty Python & The Holy Grail character are you? Test @ The Monty Python & The Holy Grail Unofficial Fan Site



You're a BRUCE! Well then governer, you a rather
lucky sort! You love a good party and can
befriend anyone (especially after a few
Fosters). Austraila! Austraila! Austraila!
Austraila! Austraila! We Love You! Amen!


Which Monty Python Character Are You
brought to you by Quizilla

My #1 result for the SelectSmart.com selector, Monty Python and the Holy Grail Character Quiz, is Robin's Minstrels

Here We Stand is the newest Lutheran blog on the block. I am a proud contributor to this blog, and Josh is the force behind the blog. We'll see what happens.

Congratulations to Jesus First! They've graduated from the Herman Otten School of Rhetoric and slandered every person who doesn't just want to roll over and let the culture define the church. Read this lovely piece of slanderous rhetoric. For people who cry about the Eighth Commandment, they go ahead and violate it at will. Read the response to the slander.

More of Jesus First's Commentary and response.

More silliness within the ELCA

Mission Report About Sudan


Radio Silence: How NPR purged classical music from its airwaves. The only reason why I even think about listening to NPR is because they are often the only source of classical music over the airwaves. I can't sit there and listen to the morons that pontificate about Abu Grabe while not saying a word about the oil-for-food scandal (you know, the scandal that's bigger than all the corporate scandals combined). Morning Sedition and All Things Inconsiderate are normally forums for the banal and should be replaced by Bach, Handel, and even Schoenburg (and I hate atonal music, so that should tell you how little respect I have for National People's Radio News). I just don't believe government money should go to news coverage. If you want government money for a radio station, you're going to have to have a useful function in building up western civilization. Classical music does that. That's why I hardly ever listen to the local Public Radio station and I listen to the station out of Hutchinson. They play classical music, and not enough IMHO. Then again, if I were President, I would force every radio station to play a Charlie Parker song once an hour.

The Heratige Foundation has an excellent tribute to the Gipper. I am still grappling with the fact one of my political heroes is gone. There are only four people who really molded and helped me clear up what I believed politically. Two are dead and the other two are older and who knows when they will die. I'll have more to say later.

When the Lord calls me home . . . I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.

R.I.P.

Ray Bradbury thinks Michael Moore is a "horrible human being." He apparently doesn't like the fact Moore ripped the title of his movie from the title of one of Mr. Bardbury's classic books, Fahrenheit 451. (Warning: Ray has a few stronger things to say besides "horrible human.")

After that, I think we need a few more Blackadder quotes:

Messenger: My Lord, news: the Swiss have invaded France.
King: Excellent! (to one of the men standing) Wessex, while they're away, take ten thousand troops and pillage Geneva.
Chiswick: But the Swiss are our allies, My Lord.
King: Oh yes... Well, er, get them to dress up as Germans, will you?

King: Chiswick, remind me to send flowers to the King of France in sympathy for the death of his son.
Chiswick: The one you had murdered, My Lord...
King: Yes, that's the fellow.

Edmund: Fingers crossed...
King: Members of the Court and, uh, Clergy: I have, at last -- after careful consultation with the Lord God; His Son, Jesus Christ; and His Insubstantial Friend, the Holy Ghost -- decided upon the next Archbishop. (there is a murmuring among those gathered) May he last longer in his post than his predecessors.
Edmund: (to his friends) Fat chance!
King: I appoint, to the Holy See of Canterbury, my own son... (Baldrick and Percy are very excited; Edmund points a bit toward Harry)
King: ...Edwin, Duke of Edinburgh!

Edmund: Ah. Well, let's start with the pardons, shall we?
Baldrick: Right. Well, this is a fair selection. Basically, you seem to get what you pay for. They run all the way from this one, which is a pardon for talking with your mouth full, signed by an apprentice curate in Tukesbury.
Edmund: Ah. How much is that?
Baldrick: Two pebbles. ...all the way up to this one, which is a pardon for (reads) anything whatsoever, including murder, adultery, or dismemberment of (Edmund reads along) a friend or relative.

Blackadder : If you can't make money, you'll have to marry it.
Prince George : Marry? Never! I'm a gay bachelor, Blackadder, I'm a roarer, a rogerer, a gorger and a puker! I can't marry, I'm young, I'm firm buttocked, I'm...
Blackadder : Broke?
Prince George : Well, yes, I suppose so.
Blackadder : And don't forget sir, that the modern church smiles on roaring and gorging within wedlock, and indeed rogering is keenly encouraged.
Prince George : And the puking?
Blackadder : Mm. I believe still very much down to the conscience of the individual church-goer.

Unfortunately, I am going to have to disqualify some submissions. Both Chris H. and Josh are disqualified for submitting resolutions that are way too close to reality and the Terrible Swede is disqualified for simply not following directions and posting his resolution on his blog and not in my comments. It would be winning, however, if he had (the sarcastic mention of my name is excellent). Because Chris H., however, submitted more than one resolution and his latter resolutions are more in the spirit of what I am looking for, he is in the lead. Or at least he would be if Steven Brummett hadn't sent me this gem by e-mail:

WHEREAS, from the time of Pentecost the church has been empowered and
enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and,

WHEREAS, this enlightened and empowered church has striven to share the Holy Gospel with the world and,

WHEREAS, this evangelistic effort is always undertaken with great zeal and,

WHEREAS, this effort always takes place at DENNY's or (at another popular restaurant in lieu there of) and,

WHEREAS, the faciliation of this evangelistic effort is the sole purpose of the church and,

WHEREAS, this effort is also pursued by heterodox churches, particularly that Methodist church on the corner,

BE IT RESOLVED THAT, each congregation be encouraged and advised to eliminate the front 2/3 of the pews or chairs in the church's sanctuary (after all what GOOD Lutheran sits there anyway) allowing for members to be ushered out quickly.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, each pastor be encouraged and advised to limit his sermon to five minutes or to eliminate it completely,

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT, all congregations failing to adopt these practices be admonished and encouraged to withdraw the phrase "Evangelical Lutheran" from the official name of the congregation and forced to recite "Hail Luther" 95 times.

Two words: PURE GENIUS

I ask for resolutions and I get commentary on my resolution. It's a freaking example people! You are supposed to post your own resolutions! Do I need to write another example or should I post a naked picture of myself so you can see my beer belly to motivate you. Help me here!

I commend Bunnie and raise my stein to her.

I think I just thought up the first (and only) contest this blog might ever host. The idea is simple: write your own synodical convention resolution! This is your chance to be sarcastic or funny or both or whatever. The only rules are that you cannot break any commandments and that they cannot be serious. For instance:

WHEREAS, we members of congregations who have sent their representatives to this convention have a strong Germanic origin and

WHEREAS, these churches often like to hold either pot lucks or picnic's where brauts are served and

WHEREAS, many congregations do not provide the proper garnishings for these events, be it

Resolved, that congregations must include sauerkraut any time brauts are served and further be it

Resolved, that any congregation that does not provide sauerkraut shall be voluntarily revoking their membership within this convention and further be it

Resolved, that any member who does not eat sauerkraut shall be purged from the congregational rolls.

See, it's easy. You might have to break it up into parts to fit into my comments. If you want to, you can always e-mail them to me at beerisforamateurs at yahoo dot com. I'll make sure they make it onto the blog.

I'm sure some of you are wondering if I ever grew up. Yes and no. When I was having my bad day today, I went around doing my best Eeyore impersonation and while waiting for the next swipe Mr. Murphy of Murphy's Law fame took at me. That got me thinking about the Children's TV characters I most related to when I was a small tyke. As I thought about it, I realized I related well to Kermit the Frog, Oscar the Grouch, Eeyore, and Charlie Brown. From this, I realized I had this attitude of "the world is going to screw me" since early on. Maybe I got it from my grandfather.

I would also like to mention that the May "no irony" ban is no more since it is June. We can all go back to being sarcastic as usual.

Should I just wait for God to take me or should I just shoot myself now and get it over with. Today started bad and it hasn't let up yet. I find dying plants even though I am watering them, my car goes dead on me in the Taco Bell drive through, and I dump a bunch of filed cards out not once but twice from the same cabnets. I know I have had worse days, but that is no consolation. Little to nothing has gone right today. I think I'll just go home and pet my fish.