I am sure more than a few of you are wondering what the cryptic message I left Friday meant. I am sure a few of you know what I was talking about and are wondering what I might have left to say. For the first group, I need to explain myself. For those of you in the second group, I'm going to take the one point that seemed to hit home and expand on it to the point where it becomes painful.

If you've read some of what the Terrible Swede has said about what has happened at our church, you at least have some idea of what is going on. One of the things you must understand about Immanuel was that it was the liberal congregation in town. They started putting females into major roles within the church in 1991, with the direction and full blessing of the pastor at the time. When they submitted their revised constitution, the District rejected it because it allowed females in major leadership roles in the congregation, including elders. So, they elected female elders and went on happily and the District did squat about it. The pastor neither followed the rules of dissent (yes, there is a formal dissent process within the LCMS, believe it or not (see here for a take on the dissent process)) nor even attempted to do so, as far as can be seen. Of course, the feminism lead to all sorts of other problems within the congregation (pro women's ordination, pro-choice elements, and open communion) which also had consequences on the events to come. In any case, the pastor took a call. The vacancy pastor had the same views as the previous pastor, and so things continued until the current pastor was called two years after the previous pastor had left. He soon discovered what he had to deal with.

How did I end up there? The current pastor, for all his faults, is the most confessional pastor in the area. I got to know the pastor through various ULC (University Lutheran Center at Wichita State University) events, and at the Terrible Swede's wedding, where I was a groomsman. In any case, I joined the congregation not truly knowing all that had happened. It all came to a head at the voters meeting from hell in December 2004. Let's just say most of the elements that didn't like what pastor was doing left, many for ELCA congregations. Many of us figured this would be the end of all the problems. It was. For a while.

In Early May, I went off to see Elle in Alaska. One of the greatest things that ever happened to me has its roots in that trip. I mention it for two reasons: Elle is the main reason why I did what I will soon tell you, and I got a nasty cold from flying in airplanes for 8+ hours with people carrying colds. That cold kept me from the May 2005 voters meeting where a decision was made that forced me and my many friends into action.

When I joined, I was under the impression that female elders were a thing of the past and that Immanuel would not go down that road again as long as our pastor was there. That was the impression I had and I think my friends had, at least. Since I was sick, I did not go to the voters Meeting. Can you guess what happened at the voters meeting?

The consequences of her election were not noticed immediately. She did not assist in communion initially. By October, however, she was at the altar distributing the Blood of Christ and disturbing my friends and I. We brought our concerns to the pastor, who allowed us to commune separately after the service for a while. This was not a set up that most people liked. The Altar Guild didn't like it because it meant they had to wait to take the communion set down. We didn't like it because we liked communing with the rest of the Church. The Council didn't like it because we were making a statement that we were not part of the congregation (which we were). In essence, it was the best compromise that could be reached at the time.

My Uncle died in January this year. I told you all about what a rough time it was for me. What I didn't discuss was what added to the pain. Less than a week after burying my Uncle, I was in a meeting to discuss ESL with my pastor and a gentleman who taught with me and the head of the Social Concerns Board. After that meeting was over, Pastor asked the gentleman and I to stay for a bit and talk about what happened on the Women Elder front. Pastor had told us that he was working on solving this problem. Ultimately, what the council decided to do was resubmit the constitution with the changes made in 1991 and ask district what they needed to change to get the constitution approved. In a move that surprised everyone, the constitution that was not OK 15 years ago was suddenly OK. District approved it.

It was at this point wondering if all was lost. I was trying to decide what I wanted to do and how I was going to go about doing it. My decisions varied from wanting to just fade away to fighting. It was one day at work while I was thinking things through while scanning well logs into the computer that I realized what I was going to have to do. All the while, I made sure my conscience was clean. I had to practice selective fellowship. I just did not commune when she was up there, which was a lot. The elders were minus one elder, so whomever happened to be around to fill in did, and she was it most of the time. The council eventually asked those of us who did not like the practice to commune in the front pew. What that meant was communing like a person who could not come to the altar. I was willing to go along with it, but there was no woman elder there that Sunday, so I communed as a normal communicant. After discussing it with one of the others who did not like the practice, I decided not to go along with it because he was not comfortable with it. The council then asked us again to commune in the front pew. I never did get a straight answer to the question of whether it was a strong request or if they wanted to force us to do it. At that point, I stopped communing anytime she distributed. I no longer communed after church.

As I said in the preceding paragraph, I made a decision one day in March at work. I had to take into consideration my future spouse, any children God may bless us with, and my sanity. If it were just me, I would have stayed and fought. I had to take kids I didn't even have into consideration and asked myself if I could honestly take my future wife there when she has problems with what is going on and my kids through it? How can I catechise my kids in the truth while going somewhere that doesn't seem to want the truth to get in the way of their clique? I couldn't. It was time to go.

So here I am again, floating in Lutheran Limbo, praying that I made the right decision, and fervently praying for my former congregation and its pastor. A lot of damage happened because of this episode, and many people suffered because of it. Was it worth it?

If anyone out there says that it was worth it, you need to be hit with a 2x4 over the head. I saw how you all reacted when I said that this episode killed the ESL program. I saw the uncomfortable looks you all had when I asked how are you going to minister to the neighborhood without ESL. The Church is no longer building the relationships that need to be built with the neighborhood and the trust that will bring people to join. That all went when we left. I heard lots of talk discussing how we need to bring people in to increase the cash flow of the Church. What do you all think ESL is? It was a ministry tool to try to bring unchurched Hispanics into our congregation, help them to become faithful and active members of the church, and to help the church continue long after we were gone. What happens when the older members all die? How will the church continue? It isn't going to continue as Immanuel Lutheran Church, I can promise you that. The hope for the future is Immanuel Inglesia Luterano. The neighborhood you are in demands it. How are you going to grow without ESL? How is the church going to survive in the bario continuing to be an English-speaking congregation? It may sputter along for five, ten, maybe even twenty years. At some point, the reality of the situation must become clear, and unfortunately, it may already be too late.

Do you think any Hispanic will find female elders acceptable? If you think so, you are deluding yourself. You might be able to convince the females of it, but there is no way any Latin male would ever go for it. Machismo is a big part of life in the bario. Female elders just are not manly. Without the fathers, you have a one generation stay of the inevitable. Read the studies. Fathers have a much bigger influence on whether their children go to church than their mothers ever will. If dad goes to church, his children are much more likely to go. Not only that, they are conservative on social issues. That means they are pro-life.

What does this mean? A congregation in the perfect place to do Hispanic ministry is completely out of touch with the surrounding neighborhood and, by its actions, cut itself off from the community. Unless something drastic happens quickly, I am afraid Immanuel will die.

So what are my options? There are two different ones, but I will let you all wonder until Sunday. Then I will reveal what I am up to.

I just wrote a huge post and lost part of it because I forgot to save it as a draft and because I then forgot to cut and paste. It sucks.

After this next carnival, we need two hosts for the carnival. If you are open to do the Carnival over the weekends of June 30th and July 14th, we can use you. Email me at daniel dot sellers at gmail dot com if you are interested in either date. The open dates are listed on this post.

I know many of you checked in after the meeting Sunday to see if I had anything to say. I have two words for you all: not yet. I have more to say, but it will be later.

Speaking of later, I am going to do a major overhaul of this blog and the blog template soon. I have a lot of rearranging and adding to do, so if you link to me, but I don't link to you, tell me please.

Kansas drivers suck. They won't let you merge, they don't know what a turn signal is, and the word freeway seems to mean someplace either to go 80 or 30.

How come every time I hear the song "Living After Midnight," I can't stop thinking about the fact Rob Halford is gay.

I bought a suit to get married in. I finally have a 100% wool suit. Every man needs at least one jet black wool suit.

Lutheran Carnival XXV: Witsunday is now up at Journalistic Jargon. You can continue thanking Ron for delaying the Carnival's appearance. Next up is Pr. Klages at A Beggar at the Table. The Lutheran Carnival is finally going international!

I've often been accused of being harder on my own than on those who are of other denominations. That is absolutely true. I will criticize much louder those who are in my own family than those who are outside my family. I hold them to a higher standard. So if you ever wonder why I have consistently railed against the LCMS while not saying a peep about the ECUSA or trying to cause havoc in the ELCA, it's because of this fact. I don't even let confessionals out of my crosshairs because we deserve criticism too. For instance, Josh is right about confessional Lutherans complaining about Ablaze!(TM) and then not living up to the great commission. We do a good job of criticizing, but not such a good job practicing what is being preached.

Time for me to hit the sack,

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?

This is the funniest geology website I have seen. The funny thing is, almost every geologist would say most of this should be true. The interpretation of the last picture is the funniest of them all.

Lutheran Carnival XXII is now up at Ask the Pastor. Thank Pastor Snyder for hosting while you are there.

The next host is Random Thoughts of a Confessional Lutheran. Remember you can go here to see who's hosting what when. By the way, there are still three spots open.

I think it's time to defend myself.

First thing, Pr. Todd Peperkorn wrote a post on hi blog called Confirmation in the Lutheran Church. This excellent summary describes confirmation throughout the history of the church. One of the most telling things is how confirmation made a comeback in Lutheranism during the age of pietism. Confirmation verses also came to being with pietism.

Secondly, rejecting confirmation does not mean no instruction should be given. On the contrary, children must be instructed in the faith to prepare them for the first communion. They must come to an understanding of the basics of the faith and show they are able to examine themselves. This should be instruction given by the parents with the help and support of the pastor. Again, we must encourage parents to pray with and teach their children. This also frees us from saying that everyone has their first communion at a certain age. Some kids might be able to come to the Lord's Table earlier than others, but we put on a "one size fits all" system. Kids who might be ready have to wait, and kids who aren't ready get sent to the table anyway. Parents and their pastor can make an informed decision about when they are ready to go to the Lord's Table, when they are ready. This will allow kids who are ready sooner to partake in the gifts of God, and those who may not be ready can continue to receive instruction.

When the defenders of the current system say that confirmation instruction is the only instruction these kids may get, I say that is part of the problem and the current system isn't helping at all. The current system allows for this! Dump your kid off at Sunday School, allow him to go to confirmation for two years, and the parents think they have done their job. The current system allows parents to be lazy. How, pray tell, is allowing this to happen part of the solution? How can you defend something that encourages the very behavior that we are trying to discourage?

Is no longer confirming kids radical? Yes. Are there other solutions to this problem without getting rid of confirmation? I don't know. Requiring parents to attend with their kids is one possibility. As much as I want to sit here and not trivialize my own confirmation (I did make a vow to stay faithful even until death), I sit here and wonder if my own confirmation was meaningless. Pietism had its way with me at that time.

If you are a parent not fulfilling your responsibilities at the moment, it's time for you to get cracking. Literally, it's now as easy as putting a CD on. If you are a parent and you are taking care of your responsibilities, even if you might be a little late in doing so, take heart. Be thankful that God is doing his good work for your children, even if it is hard work for them. You cannot undo what was done, but you can continue to be faithful, and learn from the past. I pray I can do half the job you all do.

Which Nigerian spammer are You?

The "Which is your favorite African Nation?" question got me rollong on the floor laughing.

HT: Katie's Beer.

Much of my relationship with Elle has been what people around here call bass ackwards. What I mean by that is that we have kind of done things in reverse. It seems like every major step we have taken has been out of wack with what people might have expected. We knew each other well before meeting, we didn't have our first date until four months into our relationship, and I knew she was the one before we met in person. So, it should come as no shock when I say we have set a date before I officially asked her to marry me. Much of the bass ackwardness of this relationship is due to the fact that everytime I fly to see her, I receive enough air miles to get a bump to first class. She has the ring (it is an heirloom of her family), it needs repairs, and I am 3000+ miles away. We need to get the ring repaired and resized. Not only that, we need to move her down here, plus our families need a much notice as possible for the weddings. Thus, bass ackwarness.

I need to get something off of my chest about confirmation: I think we should junk the rite. It was possibly one of the most meaningless rites of passage I have gone through, and that is exactly what it has turned into: a rite of passage. Confirmation classes and Sunday School are miserable excuses used by parents to not teach their children the faith. They figure Mrs. Higginsbottom and Pastor Sjovben will do it for them. Getting rid of confirmation will go a long way to fixing the situation. So what if grandma and mom are up in arms? They let things get out hand and didn't do anything about it. Blow up confirmation, kill Sunday School, and use all that extra time to teach the parents how to teach the kids.

I need to find something really obnoxious to write an enormous post about. I used to be able to pound out an anti-Kieschnick rant with the best of them. Now, I don't care all that much. I used to read every piece of information on Ablaze(TM)! I could get my hands on. Now, I just want to ignore the world and relax. I used to be able to spit venom with the best of them. Now, it seems like all I want to do is drink beer and wait. Maybe I've gained more wisdom as time has gone by. Maybe Elle is being a calming influence on me. Maybe there's something else driving this bout of apathy. Maybe.

Anyway, I have other things to think about. I have a lot of planning that needs to be done, and soon. I need to find somewhere new to live. I need to get more aggressive at work. I need a lot of things.

I probably need to crawl between the sheets and get some zzzzzzzzz. Maybe I can find something to rant about tomorrow.

I have been keeping busy as of late. Life seems to be getting a little better recently. Heck, it can't get much worse. Right?

I've been having too many pity parties for myself lately, and I realized it when Dr. Veith was posting quotes from Forde's On Being a Theologian of the Cross. I was going "Woe is me," and struggling with God, but now I remembered I am just going to have to struggle for a while. Once I remembered that, I had peace which had been missing for a while. Nothing is more depressing than seeing you didn't learn your lesson the first time. Nothing is more joyful than relearning the lessons you forgot and reapplying them to your life. I guess I'll continue to be stubborn, but I also need to remember we are all guilty of sin and the bad things that happen are a result of it.

I hope you Easter went as well as mine, and I wish you all well these next 40 days of feasting.

Sorry I haven't posted at all this week. I wish you all well this Holy Weekend. I am sure I will have news on Easter.

For those wo remember, I posted small devotions for all the days in Holy Week last year. I thought I would direct you to them again for you all to use as you wish.

Palm Sunday (oops)

Monday of Holy Week

Tuesday of Holy Week

Wednesday of Holy Week

Maundy Thursday

Good Friday

Holy Saturday

Easter Sunday

Lutheran Carnival XXI is now up at Necessary Roughness. Go thank Dan for all the hard work he did.

One of my well-kept secrets is that when I wake up in the morning, I awake to the sound of Christian radio ringing in my ears. Why do I do this? I do this because I want to get up, and when I'm hearing people piss me off, I tend to awake with a little more fervor and get going. I don't get nearly as mad as when I occasionally listen to National People's Radio and hear commentary being passed off as reporting (I've yelled at the radio at times), but I do wish to smack some sense into some of the preachers after listening to their pontificating on many subjects. This morning, as much as I put up with the late Dr. J. Vernon McGee's premillennialism, I often hang on to listen to Grace to You. This morning, I about wanted to take the pointed end of my hammer and destroy my radio. I would have yelled, but many of the people still sleeping would not have appreciated my enthusiasm for the subject.

There was just so much wrong about this sermon this morning that I really don't know where to begin. You know, with a name like "Grace to You," you would expect some sort of Gospel being proclaimed. Well, move over Gospel, because here comes the law. I do not know how John MacArthur did it, but he managed to condemn the pharisees while driving people to become pharisses themselves. Obey, obey, obey, obey, as if the love of our Lord Jesus isn't enough to move us to do good for our neighbor. Of course, he's preaching on whether or not someone is saved or not, and he's using the law as a weapon to put doubt into people's hearts. If you're not good enough and you're not obeying God you are deceiving yourself and you're not a Christian. If there is one good thing about this is that it isn't law lite or some other incarnation of a less than terrifying law. Heck, it probably would have scared me to death, except I have confidence in God's work in me, not my work.

So I went about my work today, scanning logs, digitizing log curves, trimming maps, and reading about siliciclastic tidal flats. Then I went to the Y and got pissed when some people hogged a weight machine. I went home, ate dinner, and now I lay in bed typing this post up on my laptop. Heck of a day John. I didn't manage to follow any of the beatitudes. Darn, I must not be saved. Of course, your decision theology always puts doubt into the hearts of believers, and they go around asking "Am I good enough?" I know I'm not good enough. Christ took care of that and, I know it might be beyond your comprehension John, but I did good for those around me. Those logs I scanned will help keep people warm in the winter, fuel your car so you can get to your job, and make money for my coworkers so we can all survive.

I would venture I did more good for people by doing my job than he did for his parishioners by preaching that sermon.

Important stories for today:

Microsoft Patents Ones, Zeros
Dove Campaign for Real Beauty Announces 2008 Presidential Canidate
Church franchise a hit, but hostile take-overs rattle congregations

The new Schiester is now up, with a commentary by a retired Jewish Rabbi.

I was reading about layered mafic intrusions today because I am bored. I am reading it out of a petrology textbook over 20 years old. I bought it because my more modern petrology textbook sucks. Blatt et al can go suck a rotten egg as far as I'm concerned. Best's first edition is better than Blatt et al's current offering.

James Lee Wilson's Carbonate Facies in Geologic History is a must for anyone who deals with carbonates on a regular basis, like I do. Carbonate Sediments and their Diagenesis by Robin Bathurst is also a must have.

You know, I am going nuts. I mean it. There is a lot of stuff that has happened to me over the past few months that I haven't discussed on this blog and probably won't discuss for a while, if ever. Some of this is just so screwed up that I really don't want to discuss it publicly, and the few who do know about all that is happening to me are not talking either. Well, in certain aspects, sort of.

The Scheister is coming soon, and there will even be a commentary by an old Jewish man to go along with it. Basically, you're getting the whole package. It needs a little more editing and maybe a little more background, but it should make you all laugh.

Lutheran Carnival: Laetare is now up at the Lutheran Carnival site.

Did the Russians give away our war plan?

The Return of Patriarchy

DeathStar and the new BoC.

Unless your head was buried in the sand (if it was, you better tell me if it was well or poorly sorted, rounded or angular, etc...), you have seen much of the Confessional Lutheran Blogsphere go absolutely crazy about the Doctrinal Review Board pulling its certification of the new Book of Concord (just called BoC from now on). Various hypotheses have appeared to explain this. I have now given a man you can have confidence in, a man whose integrity as a reporter is beyond reproach, a man who always gets to the bottom of a story no matter how much (expletive deleted) he has to wade through. Yes, I am talking about Samuel Simon Schmucker and The Scheister. No stone will remain unturned (or carefully looked over for ore), no lead remain unscrutinized, no bad geology joke will remain untold with Samuel Simon Schmucker on the job. Leave it to him to tell the whole story.

I wish to let it be known that I have only received four entries for the carnival. If you haven't taken the time to do so, grab your favorite beverage (be it hot or cold), sit down for a bit, and see what gems you can find in these older blogs. If you are having trouble figuring out where to look, here are a few suggestions.

The First British Lutheran Blog Ever
All the Fullness
Bunnie Diehl
Journalistic Jargon
Love and Blunder
Watersblogged
Full Throttle and an Empty Gas Tank
Theology Geek
Terrible Swede
Necessary Roughness
IntolerantElle
Yeah...
Katie's Beer
Nonpareil
The Moose Report
Beggars All

I do not know if this even begins to cover the possibilities.

I was playing with the Wayback Machine, preparing for the next Lutheran Carnival (hint hint) and I ran into an old post that truly demonstrates what kind of a blogger I was once upon a time.

WE ARE DEATHSTAR. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.

Why do I still find this funny? You know, I thought I was beyond all the pettiness and stupidity. I guess I can be serious and discuss theology with the best of them, or I can be, well, the guy who says things like that.

Anyway, the Carnival is due this Friday. As a reminder, you can't submit your own stuff, but only the stuff of others that is dated no later than March 2005.

What you do, do quickly is back and as feisty as ever. I have never been sure what to think about this blog. It reminded me of me a lot in my early days. That might be why I was one of the few people it seems in the Lutheran Blogshpere who is hesitant of accepting this blog. I have raised hell. I have called people out. I've been crude, rude, unsightly, and an ass, normally all at once. During this whole time, however, everybody has known who I am. I haven't been the most charitable to either Kieshnick or Benke. It's hard to be charitable when one admits he isn't much of a theologian (and we expect him to keep other theologians in line?) and the other constantly squats over altar and pulpit fellowship and takes a nice dump upon it. Maybe it will turn into a coprolite and then it will become interesting to me. Anyway, the point is you all know I said these things about them. If someone wants to bring the hammer down on me, there is plenty of opportunities to do it. As someone who does put his neck out there and waits for the chopping block to fall, I find the whole being anonymous thing to be annoying. Honestly, if your going to say inflammatory things and piss people off, at least put your name on the thing.

With that said, I am completely dumbfounded how LutherChik could confuse TK and me. She is a nice ELS lady from Minnesota, and I am an ass who attends a LCMS congregation in Kansas. She was the one who was polite, and I was the one who was being an ass. Do you see a pattern here? Her blogs are nice, and mine show what an ass I am. The fact you couldn't see what a gradeschooler could figure out probably should tell you and your copatriots to give up the "holier than thou" routine because you couldn't even figure out who "thou" is.

My dear Great Aunt had a wonderful church to belong to. It was what I always thought a Catholic Church should look like. There was a lot of artwork scattered throughout the church. Statues of Jesus and Mary predominated of course. This church also had some of the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen. The apostles are all presented in this stained glass. In the evening, the sun shines in and lights up the glass, giving it a otherworldly appearance. This is an old Catholic Church built after a tornado ripped through this small town in 1911 and destroyed the original church. It is part of the old German Catholic farming community that sprung up in the area. The priest is an older gentleman, but a man who showed both love and mercy to my Great Aunt. She was baptized, given her first communion, confirmed, married, and buried in that church. That blows my mind.

As with her brother (my great uncle) before, she died well. She died clinging to her baptism and clinging to the crucifix. Along with my uncle, they all set an example for me as to how to die. As long as I die clinging to my baptism and to the hope set in front of me through the crucifix, I have nothing to fear from death. They all look forward to the life to come, as do I even now. I thank God for the faith he gave all of them.

I walked into the Church, and besides the stunning beauty of the Church as a whole (they don't build them like that anymore), there were honest to goodness hymnals. Yes, I saw big red books sitting in the pew racks. I was stunned. I opened it up and actually found the hours listed and I also found the mass in the hymnal. There were missalettes also in the pews, but I didn't see the letters OCP anywhere in this church.

The choir was a liturgical choir and the priest gave something resembling a law and gospel homily. I think it is quite difficult for anyone who preaches at a funeral to not preach the gospel at some point. One of the most shocking things at the graveside service was when we prayed for the next person in the group who will die. It brought it all home: God can call us home at anytime.

I came away from this funeral mass thinking much more highly of Rome than the prior funeral mass I had attended. Maybe it was the whole country church vs city church dichotomy that made things more comfortable for me. Maybe it was just the environment that made things wonderful. I think I can say this: God willing, I pray I won't have to attend another funeral mass for a while.

Lutheran Carnival XIX is up at Be Strong in the Grace.

What are people saying about the LC?

Oh me..I may have spoken too soon. I checked out some of the past carnivals done by this group..some of them are a bit to the right of Atilla the Hun.--LoveisTruth

Those guys are mainly seminarians and Pastors from the LCMS. Not only that , they are part of the confessional movement. They are some hardcore people. From what I read in their blogs, The elca is not lutheran and 90% of the LCMS are not either. One is to liberal and the others are to Protestant. Honestly I think they want to crown themselves bishops. IMO.

There is useful information though, just to be fair.--thinkstoomuch

I've read through this "carnival" before. Waaaaay too scary for me.:-O (In the immortal words of Jerry Seinfeld in one classic Seinfeld episode, "That's one angry clown.")--tawonda

We're being compared to Atilla the Hun? I just thought we were people putting our ideas out there and trying to preserve 2000 years of catholic history. I also find it amusing they think all of us are disgruntled LCMS types. Maybe my girlfriend (who is WELS) might dispute that, along with the current LC host. She belongs to the ELS. Of course, some of our contributers come from Canada (LCC) and England (ELCE). What do I know? I'm only one of three snobby, stiff-necked, backwards laymen that run this thing. Oh yes, you heard me. I am a layman. There's no pastoral conspiracy, no clergy pulling the strings behind the scenes, nobody actually telling us how to run this thing. Rather, we have a group of laymen concerned about what people think about Lutheranism and willing shout to say there is a different way to be Lutheran besides the ELCA way.

How come death seems to be hovering around me and my family as of late? I had a great aunt die on Friday. Her rosary was today. I'll have a report about the funeral tomorrow.

The announcement post for LC XX is up. You need to read this post to see the new protocols implemented for this carnival only. Call it an experiment.

I saw Josh's comment on my last post, and it reminded me of something I know intrinsically but just don't think about all that much: blogging is hard. You don't know how many times I agonized about what to write about. There are days where the topics fall into your lap and you just write out your thoughts on the matter. There are other days where you know you have a list of about 20 things you want to write about and can't seem to remember any of them. Unfortunately, that is my situation most of the time. I try to remember all there great ideas I had in my head, but they just disappear into the void that is my brain, never to be seen. I have no idea why this happens now. It could be the fact that I've blogged about a lot of different things and I just have trouble finding creative things to blog about. There's also the fact that most people don't find the emplacement of granitic plutons all that exciting. I don't really find it all that exciting either. Mapping them is quite boring when it comes right down to it.

Anyway, I have this really crazy idea for LC XX. I'll just have to see if we (and I do mean we) can pull it off.

A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

I occasionally like to wax poetic and think about "the good old days." OK, the "good old days" was where the total number of Confessional Lutheran blogs could be counted on two hands. Two years ago, the whole of the Confessional Lutheran blogsphere was contained in 10 blogs. How do I know this? Between Josh and I, we linked to every know Lutheran blog. Two years ago, there were 10 of us. Josh railed against Calvinism, The Swede hasn't changed much, Preacherman was the "pastor" of this group, Thomas was wondering if he was still Lutheran, Chris the Brit was the only guy in the UK blogging, Chris of All the Fullness was doing what he still does, just more regularly, Dave of "The Sick Soul" held out hope for the ELCA, (I wonder what happened to him), Neal of "Yeah" was the only WELS/ELS blog out there (I wonder why he's not blogging much), Keith A raged as only a chemist could, and I made sure Kieshnick and company didn't get too comfortable. There were 10 of us each with our own niches and well-defined roles. Now there are hundreds of Confessional Lutheran blogs. Not too far after February 2004 is when the blogsphere exploded. By the time 2005 rolled around, I couldn't keep up with all the blogs.

One of these days, I'll have to write up a history of this little niche of the internet.

There has been a change of deadline for submitting posts to the Lutheran Carnival. I also put up a couple of suggestions for future carnival hosts.

Why didn't I find this blog sooner? My favorite 24 site has been Dave Barry, but now I have found Blogs4Bauer. Oh yes, not only do they have a blog, but they also host the Carnival of Bauer. They even sell merchandise! Not only that, it's run by a who's who of the insane conservative bloggers, which means it's actually funny. Anyway, this blog is going to the top of my list of very stupid links.

By the way, don't go there unless you are finished watching both episodes.

Also, the guy who writes this blog (if you don't get the joke, quit pretending to be conservative) contributes to Blogs4Bauer.

Am I obsessed or what?

I've posted everywhere but here as of late.

So Here We Stand is going nuts again over the old earth/new earth controversy. I made my peace with this topic long ago.

I went to something I felt at ease at today, a place where I was with people I enjoy, an event I like to walk around at, an event where I feel at home. Yes, I was at a gun show. As I walked around the pavilion, I saw all sorts of people, from white trash to the extremely educated, guys with limbs blown off to guys who have never seen a gym before, guys who wore camo to guys who had multiple piercings. There were the usual people with rebel flags and bumper stickers telling Billary where they can stick it, but also guys showing pride in their alma matter. Yeah, you can look around and see a lot of the stereotypes the gun grabbers want to believe, but the businessman that stood next to me as I was fondling some of Glock's latest creations said, "My friends ask me why guns and why not classic cars? Guns are a heck of a lot cheaper than cars and I enjoy it. They just don't get me." I guess you have to hold a gun and fire it to truly understand the magic these pieces of polymer and steel have over men. Economists often talk about guns and butter. I'll take the guns because I can't eat the butter anymore.

Glock

Edit: My girlfriend pointed out to me Glock's website is in German and English, but not in French. Hmmmm.

Has the Lutheran Carnival already been passed by? I'm starting to wonder about this because a significant plurality of the posts for the carnival are coming from two bloggers, and all the rest are just people who are posting because I have berated them to do so. I was honestly hoping this thing would grow, but it has turned into something I didn't wish it to be. I thought it would be a wonderful idea to cover the vast territory of confessional Lutheran blogging in one place. Have blog aggregators already passed the carnival by?

Thus, I need people to answer a few questions to help me determine where we need to go:

1. If you once contributed on a regular basis but no longer do so, why?

2. If you contribute regularly to the carnival, why?

3. If you have never contributed to the carnival, why not?

4. Should the carnival continue to exist? Why or why not?

5. If it should continue, what ideas do you have to increase participation in the carnival?

6. Should we add a few more people to help run this thing?

All in all, you opinions are appreciated. You can either leave you answers in the comment line or email them to me at daniel DOT sellers DOT gmail DOT com. If you email them to me, put "carnival survey" in the subject line. I really appreciate all who answer this, and I will use it to determine where to go from here. If you would link to this post from your own blogs, I would greatly appreciate it.

Also, this is your first notice to send in a post for Carnival XIX. Be Strong in the Grace is hosting.

Lutheran Carnival XVIII is now up at Full Throttle and an Empty Gas Tank.

Would anyone like to guess why I am in a funk? Let's make it multiple choice and see what you all think.

1. My main spiritual mentor, a man who I relied upon for advice, and was even comforted just by knowing he was there died.
2. I interviewed for a job and got beat out by someone else.
3. My throat hurts and I think I'm getting sick.

Which one of these many things is causing my funk? You guess, and I'll just sit here and curse Murphy.

Reapeat after me: the Gospel is always a Promise.

When you read the confessions, you see that the argument for law and gospel isn't discussed in those terms, but law and promise.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that much of this blog is just me daring the SP to excommunicate me. As I as reading the archives, I did everything short of calling him the antichrist and just waiting for the hammer to fall. As you can see, nothing has happened.

I am waiting with anticipation for the Ablaze(TM)! Flamethrower. I think it would be appropriate.

What is Lutheran missiology? After thinking about it for a while, it is having kids and living your faith in such a way that people look at you and ask "Why are you like that?" Rather than spend money on a program that even the Methodists rejected, we should be using the money to encourage parents to once again teach the faith to their children, quit using Sunday School as a crutch and teaching people to live out their faith in their lives. So now I've said my peace, will a defender of Ablaze(TM)! try telling me with a straight face how Ablaze(TM)! is faithful to Scripture and the Confessions? Let me give you a hint: It's up to you to prove it. You're the innovators.

The hunt for Lutheran Carnival hosts is on once again. If you have given any thought to hosting the carnival, take a look at the dates and pick one. You won't regret it. I think.

I wish these blogs had a funny button.

You scored as The Argument. You are the Argument sketch. You seem normal, but then one wonders if you really are when they get to know you. The Argument 100% The Dead Parrot 67% Nudge, Nudge 67% The Logician 50% Bring Out Your Dead 33% Holy Hand Grenade 33% Burn The Witch 17% How Not to be Seen 17% The Bridge of Death 0% Knights of the Round Table 0% Which Monty Python Sketch Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Sir Galahad. Sir Galahad the Chaste, that's who you are. By the way, Zoot has been very bad, it appears she needs a good spanking. Sir Galahad 80% Sir Bedevere 65% Sir Lancelot 65% The Black Knight 45% King Arthur 40% Knight Who Says "Ni" 35% Sir Robin 30% Which Monty Python Knight Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Babylon 5 (Babylon 5). The universe is erupting into war and your government picks the wrong side. How much worse could things get? It doesnâ??t matter, because no matter what you have your friends and youâ??ll do the right thing. In the end that will be all that matters. Now if only the Psi Cops would leave you alone. Babylon 5 (Babylon 5) 88% Moya (Farscape) 75% Deep Space Nine (Star Trek) 69% Serenity (Firefly) 69% Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda) 63% Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica) 63% Millennium Falcon (Star Wars) 63% Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix) 63% FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files) 56% SG-1 (Stargate) 50% Bebop (Cowboy Bebop) 50% Enterprise D (Star Trek) 50% Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics) created with QuizFarm.com

Just so you know, this quiz rocks. I have watched many a sci fi show, and Babylon 5 is still my favorite because it mirrors reality better than any other show I know.

HT: Bunnie

Lutheran Carnival XVII: Septuagesima

One of the neat things about having old hymnals is that some Sundays have these extremely cool names which no one ever uses.

Nikolaus Selnecker is someone you probably never heard of, yet he was instrumental in the meetings that eventually let to the Formula of Concord. He was also a musician and hymnwriter, and had many of the characteristics of his teacher and mentor, Phillip Melanchthon.

Now on to the carnival!

TheMrs of The Moose Report starts us off with a humorous post called Hamming Tremble with my Earring. She recounts communication collapse due to plugged ears.

Dr. Christopher Atwood of Three Hierarchies gives us the post The Promise, Ex Opere Operato, and Performative Word in Luther's Thought . Continuing his series on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church, CPA explains how Luther's understanding of the sacraments as promises is the key to understanding both the compatibility of the saving role of the sacraments with justification by faith alone, and the error in thinking they save ex opere operato simply in virtue of being performed.

Mrs T. Swede (a brave woman) of Journalistic Jargon sends in a post entitled On the Blending of Christianity with Islam. Interesting information has been disseminated from Africa, where, in some countries where Christians and Muslims had clashed in wars for decades, the two religions have merged into one called "Chrislam." Excerpts are taken from the article (at http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/ochrislam) and elaborated on, regarding the reasons behind blending these two religions. Mrs. T. Swede asks the questions (1) Can this blending really last successfully? and (2) What are the spiritual implications of worshipping two deities as if they were the same when we, as learned Christians, know they are not? A link is provided to the blog of a lady who has done more research into the religion of Islam. The quotes and commentary provided there are excellent for greater understanding of the religion of Islam.

The Aardvark of Aardvark Alley has been busy because he sent not one, but two posts. The first, The Presentation of Our Lord, he continues posting the feasts and commemorations of the liturgical calendar, this time including some of the history and theological significance of the Presentation of Our Lord in the temple and the Purification of Mary. In his second submission, Building a Lutheran Presence; Part 1, the Aardvark provides common sense ways for Lutheran bloggers to improve their sites, hold on to readers, and generally enhance the quality of their content and layout. He promises to continue with ways to increase visibility and attract new readers.

A newer blog that has popped up recently, Luther Library, seeks to encourage the reading of good books by confessional Lutheran pastors, church workers, and lay people through regular reviews and recommendations. This sounds like an excellent idea to me. It submitted the posts The Great Jesus Debates and The Defense Never Rests. The crew at Luther Library hopes to continue writing considerably more reviews than can be noted in any one carnival entry. This means that any number of good reviews won't be mentioned during the Carnival, so browsers are encouraged to read through the other entries, as well. Two of the several new posts are a review of The Great Jesus Debates, a study of early Christology, and The Defense Never Rests, the story of one man's pilgrimage from American Evangelicalism to confessional Lutheranism.

Pr. Snyder at Ask the Pastor also sends two posts. In his first, Hating the Messenger, Hating the Message?, he examines the problems some people have with their pastors that are outside the realm of what the Lord calls His ministers to be. Pastor Snyder uses the Bible and church history to sort out the differences among practicing what one preaches, Scriptural mandates for pastors, and individual freedom and personal differences. In his second post, Laughing, Crying, Living, Dying, Pastor Snyder answers a question about a possible Scriptural connection to the expression " Cry at a birth and rejoice at a funeral." He shows that while this folk proverb contains some truth, it finds its full meaning only in Christ.

TKls2myhrt of Be Strong in the Grace also send in a couple of posts. You can't underestimate the value of a caffeine buzz and a good cupholder asks the question "Coffee in church?" and goes from there. The second post, Baptism Dialogue, she discusses some of the comments thrown around on this post on Cranach.

On her other blog, Katie's Beer, she gives us Distraction driven from church. It it, she tells the tale of a couple who were not allowed to take their young grandchild into a church because he might be a distraction.

Vicar Charles Lehmann of Drowning Myself Whenever I Can also sends two posts. The first, a Sermon for Transfiguration, shows us that Jesus' glory does not come on the Mount of Transfiguration, but on the cross. His glory is the forgiveness of your sins. In his second A Devotion for Exodus 14 (uncut), he reminds us that The Exodus isn't just about the Israelites. It's about you.

Dan at Necessary Roughness also sends two posts. First, he gives us Onward Christian Environmentalists. He discusses the diversion of time by evangelical leaders from preaching the Gospel to supporting federal legislation to cap emissions from vehicles and plants. In his second post, Listening to Luther, he reviews Listening to Luther, a CD from Concordia Publishing House that contains recitation of the small catechism and the six catechetical hymns.

Sean at Hot Lutheran on Lutheran Action sends his post Habits and the Church. This post speaks out against everything you heard in Sunday school or youth group, insisting that going to church out of habit might actually be a good thing!

Kelly at Kelly's Blog submits two posts about the same painting she is working on. The first, New painting is coming along! asks a question: How does a young Lutheran artist deal with winter in Canada? By staying inside and painting on really big canvases. Kelly at Kelly's Blog posts some work-in-progress pictures of a painting series based on the saints of Hebrews 11. Abel is the subject of painting #1. In the post A Bit About Able, is an explanation of the painting. (ed. While I'm not an artist, the painting is turning out wonderfully).

Pr. Klages of A Beggar At The Table, also sends two posts: Pelagius, Part 1 and Pelagius, Part 2. He chips away at Pelagius and the effects of his teachings in this two-part post.

The Terrible Swede send his post called A Chime of Bells.... He shares general church-bell history, more specifically of his church, Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran (LCMS), downtown Wichita, Kansas. He includes pictures of his best friend, Dan the Geologist, playing (ed. more like mutilating) "A Mighty Fortress", a glance at some of the bells and the new pulling rope.

Elle of IntolerantElle blesses us with a post called Evolution Sunday. She reports on 10,200 clergy who are making it a point to celebrated the birthday of Charles Darwin this Sunday.

Josh of Here We Stand didn't submit these two posts, but I'm putting them in here anyway. His posts A Broken Family and Ethnic Boundaries both discuss the Doctrine of the Church and unity.

Finally, I add the post Strange Days to this. For those who ask, the thank you isn't sarcastic. It came out of a discussion we had on Thursday.

Thus ends this edition of the Lutheran Carnival. Karl at Full Throttle and an Empty Gas tank hosts the Carnival next. Consider this a preliminary reminder: Posts are due by Friday, February 24th. Also, I will be staring to look to fill the slots for Carnivals XXI-XXX shortly. Look for an announcement on the Lutheran Carnival site soon.

We are living in strange days, my friends. We are living in a time when there are LCMS pastors and district presidents (and even a synodical president) are being charged with teaching a faulty Christology. We are living in a time where many of the major minds of the ELCA are either Roman Catholic or are out doing their own thing independent of the ELCA. We are living in a time where pastors feel threatened enough to form a ministerium within the LCMS as a buffer against error. We live in a time where people have to go so far as to separate themselves from the synod by forming independent Lutheran churches. We live in a time where organizations are slowly counting for less and less, and the number of Jeremiahs increase weekly if not daily. We are living in a time where "mainstream" groups link to some of the nutiest websites dealing with religion. We are living in a time where it is hard to cling to the confessions.

Thanks to Pastor Hoger for the inspiration.

There are currently four submissions to the Lutheran Carnival. Four. Don't make me close this thing down before we reach XX. Send your submissions in to lutherancarnival AT gmail DOT com.

I finally got to adding a couple of blogs I should have added a while ago. Dohhh!

Now the swede is defending his thesis by saying the military gives its troops a version of Folgers instant coffee. If he's going to rag on me about tea bags, I can rag on him about the wimpy instant coffee. For a guy who claims to know about tactics, he sure doesn't act like it.

If the wimpy swede wanted an ass-kicking, here it is.

Apparently, a few of you are clueless about chai tea.

Anything that is bitter and doesn't have at least 5% alcohol by volume isn't worth drinking. By this rule of mine (a rule I believe all should follow), Bailey's is worth drinking but coffee isn't. Hops are acceptable since they are a vital part of beer. I think anyone who drinks bitter liquids without alcohol is doing penance for some deep, dark sin in their lives.

How was my day at work? I'm glad you asked. I was in my office with a box of chai tea which I bought because it is heavily spiced. The way you make chai is to make the tea and then add milk to it. You end up with 3/4ths tea and 1/4 milk. I didn't have any milk, so I went and bought some. 2%. Yummy. The first cup was quite good. The milk brings a nice balance to the spice and makes the spices much more subtle. If you like balanced flavors, go for it. It was so good, I had to have a second cup. I had the second cup, and suddenly my stomach wasn't quite as happy. It felt a little weird, but I ate lunch and didn't feel any ill effects. After a couple of hours, I decided to make a third cup of chai, and that's when it hit me. My stomach decided it didn't like me any more, and I was in pain before I finished the tea. Thirty minutes after that, I was on my way to the throne to take my seat as king of the office. I normally don't eat much dairy anyway. I have some skim milk and a bowl of cereal for breakfast and the occasional glass of milk. I eat a lot of cheese, and I do like ice cream, but that's an occasional thing. I just think I can't process milk the way I used to. I used to drink 2-3 glasses a day easy. Not any more apparently. I will survive and figure out what I can and can't have. Kind of like alcohol, I'll get to know my limits.

I need to make sure to announce that I am accepting entries for the Lutheran Carnival right now. I am hosting it here, so send your entries to lutherancarnival AT gmail DOT com. The correct format is appreciated.

Your results:
You are Spock

Spock 62% Beverly Crusher 60% James T. Kirk (Captain) 55% Chekov 55% Uhura 55% Mr. Scott 50% Data 50% Will Riker 50% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 50% Geordi LaForge 45% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 40% Worf 40% Jean-Luc Picard 35% Deanna Troi 30% Mr. Sulu 10%

You are skilled in knowledge and logic. You believe that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...


How come I am not all that surprised by this. I always liked Spock and the Vulcans as a race in general.

HT: Chaz

Four days. Rather than the normal two day event that epitomizes most viewings/funerals, I went through each ceremony except the committal twice. Two viewings and two funerals. Double the pleasure, double the fun. I actually think this extended cycle helped, however. There were a lot of people who went to the first viewing, while not so many came to the second. It gave me time to be alone and pray in front of his body. It gave me time to vent, cry, and release a lot of the sadness I felt. I still feel sad, and I believe I will mourn him for quite a while. He was not only my uncle, but my Godfather and a man who helped me out more times than I can count and I will never be able to repay the kindness he has shown to me over all this time.

One of the things that gets said as comfort to us is that he is with his Lord now, and he rests in peace. That is true in one sense, but the fact our souls should have never been ripped away from our bodies in the first place tells us this is an uneasy peace. It is peace, but an incomplete peace that will only be soothed by the Lord returning again and restoring what should have never been torn. Let us never forget the fact that Christ is the resurrection and that, not heaven, will be our ultimate joy.

I almost lost it a couple times yesterday. The Nunc Dimittus got to me, as did the Proper Preface (the "all the company of heaven" part really got to me). It was a tough first service.

This has been a tough week. I am glad I am slowly but surely crawling out of the funk. I thank God for the wonderful family I have.

Luteran Carnival XVI is up at the Terrible Swede.

There was a death in my family this morning, so my blogging is going to be even more erratic than it has been as of late. Anyway, I would appreciate it if you all submit posts to the carnival at lutherancarnival AT gmail DOT com. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tu adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.

RIP Uncle Glen

PERSECUTION MAKES YOU STRONGER

One of the many topics I could speak of but haven't is what happened to me in the three and a half years I lived in Spanish Fork, Utah. I have a unique perspective on the topic of persecution, and I know all my friends at my church went though all the same crap I went through. This isn't some, "Woe is me!" type of post, even though this thing could very easily descend into it. It's a post about how what looks nice and spotless on the outside is really more akin to hell on earth.

I have been through persecution. All of us might be able to say something like this. We maybe got yelled at by secular bigots or someone hurt our feelings because of our faith. Try to imagine, if you would, going to school and only knowing two or three people at school that even remotely believe the same thing as you. Imagine a constant pressure exerted on you by your friends to become like them. Imagine the mental games these kids of 10, 11, 12 years old play with you to try to bring you to their way of believing. Imagine being 10 and wanting to go to Church because it was one of the only places where you found relief. Imagine being in a religious version of 1984. This is what I went through for three and a half years.

I admit, there wasn't the beatings, the physical anguish, and murder that is what we normally associate with persecution. I was bullied, but that never amounted to much. The mental aspect was bad enough. It probably did do psychological damage to me. I have my ideas, but it is probably something better for him to evaluate rather than doing a self-diagnosis.

Throughout this, I had an excellent pastor to shepherd me through all of this. Pastor Stube is an excellent pastor, and if anyone is reading me in FT. Wayne, make sure to tell him I say hello. He gave me a gift more precious than the gold I panned the first time I was in Alaska: the liturgy. It is amazing how much comfort the liturgy can give to a child in pain. God's Word is powerful, and when the rubber really hits the road, you will find yourself falling back on that you remember. The liturgy is a powerful gift, and don't let any pastor tell you different.

Persecution does make you weaker and stronger at the same time. It makes you weak because of how little strength you realize you have, but you become strong because the faith in you clings all the more to Christ and his promises. It is a strange thing to look back on and see how strong my faith was and how dependent on God I actually was. One of the gifts of persecution is to give you the faith of a child.

I think this is all I wish to say about this topic for now. I may say more later. I may not. I think it is important to talk about these things. I'm just not sure how much I really wish to talk.

Crossposted at Here We Stand

A new list of hosts is now up at Lutheran Carnival. If you remember volunteering to host but can't remember when, this should remind you.

I've been bad, but it is time to send in your entries for the Lutheran Carnival. This time, it is being hosted by the Terrible Swede. As usual, send your submissions to lutherancarnival AT gmail DOT com in the proper format. The Swede is a busy guy, so please write your descriptions in third person. Edit: I forgot to add the posts are due by 7pm CST on January 27th.

In case you wonder, Dave Barry is obsessed with 24, and here is him liveblogging 24. If you want to, read it, and then read the comments. It's extremely funny. If I wasn't so infatuated with the show, I might find it funnier.

***SPOILER ALERT***

If you're not watching 24 right now, why aren't you? I don't want to spoil anything for you, but the first 10 minutes was awesome.

Lutheran Carnival XV is now up at Drowning Myself Whenever I can. As you can see, Chaz wasn't kidding when he said he had to get this done before Symposia.

You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451. Chalcedon compliant 100% Nestorianism 33% Monophysitism 33% Docetism 0% Arianism 0% Apollanarian 0% Adoptionist 0% Donatism 0% Gnosticism 0% Pelagianism 0% Monarchianism 0% Albigensianism 0% Modalism 0% Socinianism 0% Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com

You know, it is kind of scary taking a quiz like this because you never quite know what a given persons definition of orthodoxy might be. Some of the questions seemed to be a little vague, so I am happy with the outcome. Maybe I should write a "What Type of Lutheran Are You?" quiz just to show how much of an ass I can be.

I've been back in Wichita since Tuesday afternoon, and I am so happy I got to visit Elle. She knows me so well, she even took me to a performance of Bach cantatas in an LCMS church while I was there. Too bad the church in question practiced open communion and had an ELCA hymnal supplement (HS 91) in their pews. They might have been able to get me up and actually attend there if those two things hadn't been painfully obvious. After seeing the extremely sad state of the LCMS churches in the area, I'll continue to attend WELS churches while up there and, if I end up moving, will join a WELS church there. After attending that cantata performance and seeing what is going on, I realized pietism might be easier to fight off than the do innovations that were taking place in that congregation. Of course, the District President of the Northwest District won't lift a finger because he seemingly likes what is going on and continues to nurture it, to the detriment of Lutheranism as a whole. Anyway, if you have read Lutheran Jargon for a while now, you will see I'm just confirming in Anchorage some of what he has seen happen in Fairbanks.

Ode to the Coprolite.

I rarely discuss geology, but when I do, it tends to be interesting to most of you. The best gift Elle gave me this Christmas is a Coprolite. If you go to the links, you will see that coprolites are fosilized dung. Now what would we use fosilized dung for? It gives us a general picture of the eating habits of the various animals that are around during the time of deposition of the given rocks. Some coprolites you wouldn't know what they were, but some look like this:



This looks bad, doesn't it? Let's take a closer look.



As far as I can tell, there are seed pods or some other bean-like structure in the coprolite, indicating a herbivore of some kind deposited this. However, being that details do not often show up in rocks unless they are wet, let me find the nearest water source so we can have a more detailed look.



OK, so that whole setup was just an excuse to put a picture of me licking fosilized poo up on my blog. However, those who live near me will need to see the coprolite, touch the coprolite, but licking it is purely optional.

Even with all the fun and games, this trace fossil is fascinating and definitely deserves to be displayed under the rear end of a fossil of a smaller herbivorous dinosaur.