What does a lone Lutheran Soldier (who has no Lutheran chaplain in his new home!) do when...
...the local Roman Catholics overhear him singing the liturgy of the hours in the garrison chapel
...and become convinced that he is just too catholic to not be a Roman Catholic
...and that he is too well read on the writings of the church fathers to not bow down and worship them and plead for their intersession
...and that his belief that Christ is bodily present in the Holy Supper is a step in the right direction to becoming a student of their most holy St. Aristotle
...and they are so busy looking at the similarity of his "pious" outward works that they do not consider the immense chasm of difference that he has with them on matters of faith
...and they mistake his polite courtesy and honesty for theological openess and idealogical weakness
...and so they begin to talk to him as if he is being pushed by the Holy Spirit to complete his "journey home" to be a favored son of the Roman Pontiff?
So again I ask: What does the poor evangelical, heretic catechumen do in such a situation?
...he runs to a phone, calls back to the States, and orders the eight volume set of Chemnitz's Works and has CPH mail it directly to his address in the combat zone.
When you're outnumbered, call in the heavy artillery for some close fire support. Nothing like a little Chemnitz to keep the papal errors at bay.
Please pray for me in this situation. I require patience, discernment, and tact. These are three things that I do not feel I am very proficient in. Pray that I will ardantly defend the truth that has been revealed to me by the Holy Spirit in God's Word. Pray that Almighty God will help me in spite of my spiritual loneliness, my inability to access the Sacraments, my constant exposure to unionism (The Latter Day Saints are classified as a "Protestant" service here), and the strain of having to constantly explain the basics of Lutheran doctrine to all kinds of other Christians.
Oh ...and if you work for CPH's shipping department, please put my box on the next truck out. It's the one with the APO address. Thanks!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Bring in the Heavy Artillary!
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2 comments:
Mike, peace be with you. If your RC friends are truly friends, then perhaps you could purchase the Pocket Concordia for them. Then you can show them that truly confessional Lutherans maintain the old ceremonies for the sake of the Gospel.
Thanks for making the good confession, and for serving your country.
And peace be with you, Rev. Mayes.
I assure you that I will mount the best presentation of the confessional position that I can while I am here. You are absolutely right, of course, the Lutherans out tradition the traditionists. By way of example, the Roman Catholic position on the Mass and Real Presence was the Lutheran position until they changed it.
It is not you who should be thanking me, but I who should thank you, Pastor Mayes. For those who don't know, Pastor Mayes provided me with my first catechesis. I credit him with my early headstart on sound Lutheran doctrine and my decision to join the LCMS in the first place.
I continue to be in your debt.
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