Lutheran Carnival II: Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison, Kyrie Eleison

This is Jakob Andreae, another forgotten man in the history of Lutheranism, but a very important one. He was a contemporary of Chemnitz and an extremely important contributer to what became the Formula ofo Concord. You can read about him here. Thus, this carnival is in honor of another faithful servant of whom too few people know.

In case you are wondering what the theme for this carnival might be, look no further than the first word in the blog: random. I assigned all the emails I received a number based on when I received your email. Then, I wrote all the numbers on small pieces of paper and began pulling them out of a hat. Silly? Absolutely. Unnecessary? You bet. Keeping with this blog? Absolutely.

First up is Rev. Todd Peperkorn of The Lutheran Logomaniac who submitted the post Table Manners at the Lord's Altar. How should children (and their parents) behave at the Lord's Altar? This little article is a catechism for what to do, where, how and why it is important. It confesses Christ's presence in His Supper, and what this means for how we treat it.

The second post is by Stan Lemon at Confession of a Young Lutheran. His post The Dormition of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord is a meditation on the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It contemplates her role as an icon of the church and the deep incarnational significance of Christ dwelling within her womb. This post raised quite a bit of controversy (and not just on his blog). He also posted More on Mary, which clarifies on a particular phrase he wrote, "He gives us Himself in Mary, in the Word, in bread and wine, and in Water." His response clarifies what was meant by this statement and further explains the incarnational nature of our Lord and what it means for Him to take on our flesh.

Pr. Walter Snyder at Ask the Pastor gives us a post called Structure for Daily Prayer. Responding to a questioner's wandering mind, Pastor Snyder offers advice for keeping one's prayer life focused, full, and vital.

Jonathan of Jonathan's Christian Weekly gives us Ouija Boards. This is about the ouija board, a somewhat popular children's game which involves the apparent presence of a spirit communicating with the "players". A discussion with Biblical references follows. Just so you know, I have questions about one or two things he says.

Rachel at The Moose Report gives us a post called The time has come to post on Blended Worship. This post discusses the important points of a presentation at the WELS Worship Conference on blended worship given by Rev. James Tiefel, professor of Worship and Homiletics at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon.

Charles Lehman (AKA Chaz) of Drowning Myself Whenever I Can has a post called Christ fills the Old Testament. It is a brief essay attacking antiseptic Christless Old Testament interpretation and illustrating Christological interpretation of the Old Testament using the concept of seed.

An old friend from other places on the internet, Seminarian Ryan Fouts, and his blog Little Loci discusses the Theology of the Cross -- About Christian or the Christ? Luther's "Theology of the Cross" is one of the most misunderstood teachings of Lutheranism. Is the "Theology of the Cross" about our suffering, a therapeutic insight to "get us through" daily life's trials? No! It's all about Christ's self-revelation for us: it all goes through the cross!

Peterson of Cyberstones submits a post on The Golden Age of Missouri: Not Granpa's. He considers the current strength of the LCMS in light of her history and finds it better today than ever before.

I posted on the question What Exactly is a Confessional Lutheran? I did more rambling than answering the question, but I think it turned out OK.

Kelly of Kelly's Blog graces us with the post Garnet, for Evelyn. After winning first prize in the local exhibition with a poem she wrote some time ago, Kelly shares it with the blogsphere.

Bob Waters has a blog post so large, he built a whole new blog for it. His post called God Bless You is a response to a post from a week ago by Melancthon on What is Lutheranism.

Karl of Full Throttle & an Empty Gas Tank gives us a post on Lutheran Reading, Where he talks about what he's been reading and his initial thoughts about the new Book of Concord.

David of David Creates with Legos; God with Logos wants to see how far a simple question will go on the Carnival.

Pastor Klages of A Beggar At The Table gives us a post on Cerinthus
. He cracks open his e-copy of the Ante-Nicene Fathers to dig up the dirt on one of the earliest, yet littlest known, heretics.

Dan at Necessary Roughness writes Of Churches and PowerPoint. Some Confessional Lutherans are turned off by the use of PowerPoint as a rule. PowerPoint is just another visual aid, and done correctly, can be used to enhance services. Most people who use PowerPoint in worship services can benefit from pointers learned in delivering effective business presentations.

Pastor Mark Hasty at Coram Deo submits the post Division by Zero. It is an examination of the confessional concept that the preaching of repentance is a proclamation of the Gospel, NOT of the law.

Tim at Balaam's Ass talks about Wholesome Irrelevance. There is no room for conservative, liturgical, traditional Christians in the usual categories of American Protestantism (i.e., Fundamentalism and Liberalism). So where do we fit? Is the "otherworldliness" of confessional Lutheranism irrelevant in our modern world? And is that wholly a bad thing? Or are we, as D.G. Hart says, "wholesome[ly] irrelevan[t]"?

Greg Alms of Incarnatus Est has a post on The Three Births of Christians. The three births of Christians (birth, baptism and death) all show forth clearly the gift character of life as a child of God. God gives us birth; all is by grace.

Elle (a very cute lady, if I might say) of Intolerant Elle posts on her new Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord. Elle weighs in on her new copy of A Reader's Edition of the Book of Concord.

Orycteropus of Aardvark Alley asks the question Luther Bigger than Oprah? A bit of Lutheran trivia moves Orycteropus to the throes of excursus on the influence Martin Luther had on the publishing world of his time.

Finally, Kathy of Kathy's Small Group Discussion Topics has The Story of the Two Swords. Kathy leads small group discussions for inmates at a county prison as a volunteer for Yokefellow Prison Ministry. This post is a story she uses to help the men think about having faith to the point of taking action and suffering for the belief.

That's it for now. The next Carnival will be hosted by IntolerantElle. On September 3, Aardvark Alley hosts, and on September 10, Necessary Roughness gets a chance to host. Beyond that, we are still looking for volunteers to host. If you would like to, you can email me at daniel DOT sellers AT gmail DOT com. The schedule will be updated at Lutheran Carnival. You can always find who is hosting on a particular week there.