I just finished checking the email for Lutheran carnival submissions, and there hasn't been one yet. There was a piece of spam (actually, 149 pieces of spam) but no submissions. I urge you to get your submissions in by Friday at 7pm using the proper format. Mrs. T. Swede is hosting for the first time, so please send her stuff in so we aren't wasting her time. Also, I am still looking for hosts for Carnivals XXVII-XXIX. If you want to host, let me know.

I am so glad American Idol is over. Once the bad people are gone, I just lose interest. I guess you can call me a connoisseur of the bad. I enjoy bad poetry. William Topaz McGonagall is perhaps the best of the worst consistently. A Tragedy is considered to be the worst poem ever written in the English language. Don't believe me? Read it yourself. Alright. Want a sample?

Death!
Plop.

Trust me. It gets much, much worse.

Thus, I look forward to next year's American Idol so that we can see the bad show their stuff.

A few of you haven't bothered to read the "Wanna Comment" link because I've had two anonymous commenters on my last confirmation post. In case you have forgotten, let me remind you what I do to anonymous posters.

Anonymous comments will get you permanently banned without a second thought.

I have done that. It's nothing personal. I hate anonymous comments. Period. If you want to question me and my ideas, fine. If you want to wonder why we hold to the Book of Concord, that's fine too. You can do it just as well with your name and email address out there for all the world to see.

Lutheran Carnival XXIV is up at Nerd Heaven. The next host is Mrs. T. Swede at Journalistic Jargon. Posts are due on June 2. The Carnival should be up by June 4.

I have been distracted since Elle arrived a week ago. It's not to say that there hasn't been time I could blog, but we've been busy. Expect blogging to not be quite so regular and to be much more random for a while. Who knows when I'll blog next? Who knows what I will blog about?

I reread the comments of my confirmation posts, and I realized almost all of them were exceptions to the rule rather than the rules themselves. Admittedly, those exceptions test the rule, but no one bothered to argue that what I pointed out is the way things should be. Many of you seem to think that I think the pastor has no role in the instruction of our youth. Our pastors are the pastors of our congregations, from the newly baptized infant to the oldest member. First and foremost, our pastors should encourage parents to take their responsibilities seriously. If that doesn't work, then they need to step in.

The parents should be teaching the children because that's the way it was meant to be. Honestly, if you all want to continue to argue all the maybees and things that might happen, go ahead. Before you think of the next excuse, remember this: instructing our youth isn't about teaching them how to live. Instructing our youth is about teaching them how to die.

I hate yardwork. I have allergies, and all yardwork does is turn my eyes red and makes me sneeze. As much as I hate yardwork, the most pointless part of yardwork is edging. Edging truly is the most pointless activity in the whole yardwork sphere. We have to make sure our lawns don't cover any of the beautiful concrete we poured. Nope, can't have that. They have to look like we are in control when, in reality, they spend more time and energy in than lawn than in doing things that are more important. I propose we go back to the original definition of lawn: a sheep pasture.

LUTHERAN CARNIVAL XXIII

Here we are at the next Lutheran Carnival. As I am scrounging up addresses and trying to put together a mailing list of family and friends, I take a some time to get the Carnival up. Yeah. Who am I kidding. I drank too much Friday, and spent most of Saturday playing "The Sims." Now I'm racing to get the Carnival up.

When you dig into the annals of Lutheranism within the United States, you find some interesting characters. While digging around for obscure theologians, I found an unobscure person. This man is famous within the realms of Lutheranism, but his story isn't told anymore. Who is this? Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg. The son of Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, he accomplished a lot, including serving as the first Speaker of the House. Not too bad for a Lutheran Pastor.

The first post come from Frank at Putting Out the Fire. Titled We Only Believe in the Bible, he gives us his thoughts on the importance of the Confessions in response to those who say "We Only Believe In The Bible! Who are you to say what the Bible says?"

Chris Pluger (as opposed to all the other people named Chris in the Lutheran blogsphere. There are a few) of the blog Cafe Diem gives us Abide with Me where he reflects on a favorite hymn. Thanks to both Chris and Frank for their first-time contributions to the Carnival!

Kelly of Kelly's Blog gives us two posts. First we have Fascinating Little Comment on Ask the Pastor, where Following up on Pastor Snyder's excellent summary thoughts regarding the concept of an "age of accountability," Kelly notices that sometimes how a question is asked reveals something about how the nature of faith is understood. In her second entry, The Concept of "Children's Church", Kelly posits that today's practice of herding children away from the Divine Service into their own separate "mini-church" is often the result of viewing the Sunday service as a human work, not as a place where God distributes his gifts to all his people.

Dan of Necessary Roughness sends in two posts as well. His first entry, National Day of Prayer Tomorrow, a day before the National Day of Prayer on May 4, he looks at the prayer suggested on the National Day of Prayer website and offers some critique and alternative text. His second post, Rainbow Connection he adds a picture of a rainbow that he took outside his parents' house in Missouri, accompanied by God's promise never again to destroy all flesh on the earth.

John H., our British friend from Confessing Evangelical, sends in two of his posts. The first being Office Gossip, where he celebrates the "liturgical triumph" of the Church of England's new office book, Common Worship: Daily Prayer, pausing only to bemoan the lack of a (portable, modern English, non-Gregorian notation) Lutheran equivalent of similar quality. In his second entry, My Life as a Fool, his recent reading of/about Richard Dawkins leads him to recall his own days as an atheist, and how the arguments that sustained his atheism - very similar to those used by Dawkins - were not so much overcome as bypassed in his conversion back to the Christian faith.

Disgruntled World Citizen of Full Throttle and an Empty Gas Tank sends us two posts as well. His first, I Got This in the Mail Today, he discusses the best way to get a Qu'ran. Hey, it was free! His second post, Unveiled is an (opening?) salvo from him discussing the new "New"-hymnal of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod... and the uncomfortable feeling I got from the "marketing" campaign booklet that was received in the mail a few days ago.

Pr. Klages, Husband of Kelly, pastor in the LCC, and writer of the blog A Beggar at the Table, gets back to business with two posts. His first, part of his ongoing Anti-Brevary, Pricillian, he resumes his quest to discover the awful truth of heressies with this latest installment, in which he finds out more about the first executed heretic. In his second entry, Compiling a Compilation, he is looking for Christmas songs in all the wrong places. Can you help him?

Be Strong in the Grace sends in the post A Gift for my Son's First Communion. TKls2myhrt reflects on recent discussion in the confessional Lutheran blogosphere regarding the value of pastor-led confirmation programs. There also have been side arguments of the appropriate age of confirmands and the usefulness of confirming all kids at the same time. These arguments have intrigued, yet irritated TK. Probably because her household has been steeped in confirmation for the past three years.

Pr. Snyder of Ask the Pastor send two more posts in. In Pregnancy and Marriage, Rev. Snyder of Ask the Pastor responds to
a woman who doesn't want to marry until after she has the child she is carrying. He uses Scripture and logic to encourage her to marry quickly, even in a small civil ceremony, then save the larger celebration for a more appropriate time. He then examines the fallacy of an Age of Accountability in terms of salvation, emphasizing Original Sin and baptismal regeneration as arguments against such a concept.

The Aardvark of Aardvark Alley sends two hagiographies of Friedrich Wyneken, Pastor and Missionary and Frederick III, Elector of Saxony. Aardvark Alley provided several new hagiographies during the past fortnight. Among them are a couple of interest to Lutherans. He remembers Friedrich Wyneken, a founder of the LCMSand Elector Frederick the Wise of Saxony, Luther's protector and prince during the Reformation's early years.

Luther Library sends in the post The Blessings of Weekly Communion. Luther Library reviewer John bar Thunder examined and recommended The Blessings of Weekly Communion, a new book from Concordia Publishing House.

On the oops front, Vicar Chaz of Drowning Myself Whenever I Can sends in the post Sermon for Jubilate. Vicar Lehmann preaches a sermon that is strongly influenced by the recent death of a parishoner after a 12 year fight with leukemia. Sorry Vicar for missing your email.

Elle of IntolerantElle posts about CSI: Pawn Shop. The engagement ring she sent to me is missing. Who took it? Stay tuned.

Finally, I posted some more about confirmation. I give more reasons why I dislike the practice.

Nerd Heaven is the host of LutheranCarnival XXIV. Posts are due on May 19th. Send them in!

First, I have neglected my duty as host of the next Lutheran Carnival to remind everyone to send in your submissions ASAP to lutherancarnival AT gmail DOT com using the submissions guidelines. All posts are due by midnight CDT (0500 UTC Saturday). Why midnight? I have no plans to work on it Friday night because I'm turning 30 and I'm going to be drinking. If you want to come, meet me a Buffalo Wild Wings.

Secondly, John H. writes about the lack of a high quality daily office in Lutheranism. It's not because one doesn't exist. It does, but most people don't know about it. There is a downside to this book: it's all Gregorian chant and Jacobean English. There is an upside too: it's all Gregorian chant and Jacobean English. And really, for what you get, the price isn't too bad. Anyway, there are Lutheran alternatives out there. Just don't expect Fortress Press, CPH, or NPH to be stumbling over themselves to produce something of this quality. I still haven't bought it, but I am seriously considering it since Elle and I are getting married. It would be nice to have the Office in such a great resource.

Finally, pictures of men with children drive women crazy.

This whole planning a wedding thing is getting very interesting.

First, we had to decide on the service itself. Now. I'm trying to figure out how to get everybody where they need to be when they need to be. Finally, I need to decide who gets invitations and who doesn't. It shouldn't be too difficult, right?