Preparing for Death - Part 2 "Fading Legacies and Being Forgotten"

Today is a fitting day to continue this series on preparing for the inevitable approach of death. I had the privilege of presiding as the honor guard commander for the military funeral ceremony of a fellow Lutheran today. I always enjoy attending a good, Christian funeral. In my opinion, the funeral service is where the rubber of faith meets the road of reality. This is where all of our pet topics get stripped down to the real problem of sinful man: death. This is where people flock to hear St. Paul speak about the resurrection. This is where the full weight of the Gospel is most evident. The local Lutheran pastors pull out all of the stops at funerals. I cannot help but thank God for them as they continue to declare the message of Christ crucified and the hope of our rebirth through the power of the His resurrection.

I would be remiss if I failed to point out that the Lutherans of my city do not corner the market on fine funeral services. Death seems to bring out the best in most Christian preachers. The grave seems to strip away much of the pietism, humanism, and rationalism. The uncompromising power of the grave can leave even the most purpose driven Christian helpless at the feet of Almighty God.

We have a local Roman Catholic priest who excels at presiding over funerals. He once gave a fantastic sermon about the daily meditation of your own death. The primary point that he drove home was to keep your eyes fixed on the cross every day of your life and never allow your gaze to waver from it. Christ is all that matters. The foot of the cross is the one place where the shadow of the grave no longer falls. He observed that it is when we look away from the cross that we fall into fear and doubt. Apart from the hope of Christ is where death has the ability to haunt us.

Isn’t that always the case? When we think about death, we quickly look away from Christ and begin to consider other concerns… petty matters. Sinful man looks at what is to come and forsakes it in favor of what is about to pass away. We worry about the finances (our earthly treasure). We worry about how our loved ones will go on without us. We worry about the work that we have left undone. We worry about how the world will remember us. All of this blossoms out of concerns about our legacy. That is when dread begins to creep in and take hold. Death becomes an unwanted interruption. Death cuts a good man short. It is the thief that robs us of our good works and our ongoing pleasure.

This preoccupation with the worldly matters can offer us no comfort. These things are temporary and beyond our control. Our written wills can be contested, legacies tarnished, and great memorials forgotten. In time, the world will see our tombstones crumble, epitaphs erode, and eulogies forgotten. The obligatory grave site visits will cease, the acclaim will fade, and people will move on with their lives. Nothing made with human hands will last. I think that we fear death not only because of its finality but also because we are overpowered by the loneliness of it. Not only are we gone, but our memory is quickly dismissed and ignored.

I am reminded of a fellow Soldier that I honored earlier this year. The man lived well into his eighties and was a veteran of WWII. When members of my unit arrived to conduct the funeral, we were surprised and saddened that no one was going to attend and no clergy had been requested. The funeral staff explained that the man’s family lived far away and that none of them would make the long journey. His brother had requested that the funeral staff take photographs of the military honors and email it to him.

We performed our duty in the empty cemetery. The funeral director received the flag on behalf of the next of kin so that it could be sent to him. No one at the site knew this man apart from what was printed on the impersonal information sheet that we brought with us. He received a government funded funeral, a simple grave marker, and a flag as the meager compensation for his status as a war veteran. The decades of his life and the great sacrifices of his service culminated in an unattended ceremony and a brief mention of his passing in the local paper. What had he done in his life? What were his triumphs? His trials? Aside from being an old Soldier... who was he?

Whenever I am at that particular cemetery, I cannot help but go visit his grave. It is a poignant reminder about how lonely death can be. I highly doubt that anyone who knew him will ever visit the place where he is buried. Today, as I stood at his marker, I realized that his story is not particularly different than most. The loneliness of his grave was not that significant. His body had just become neglected earlier than most. The cemetery is full of forgotten graves and forsaken mausoleums. There are hundreds of people buried there who are at best little more than annotations in someone’s genealogy report. I think about all of the folk that I know whose graves I have never visited and whose names I rarely even remember.

Even the most famous and powerful among us are relegated to a few paragraphs in some fourth grader’s history report. Eventually time makes strangers of us all. None of us really know George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Emperor Meji, or Queen Elizabeth II any better than I know that man whose grave site I frequent. All that is left is dusty and impersonal academic knowledge. There is little mere more than the passing recognition of a familiar name as told to us by someone else who did not know them any better than we do. We know a birth date, a list of accomplishments, perhaps a book, speech, or song that the deceased once authored... and we know the day that they died. What is that hollow recognition really worth?

We are all forgotten in the end. Our legacies fade. The details that make us individuals will get lost in the shuffle. We are remembered for a season and then pushed to the back burner as the pressing concerns of the day take the lead and time creates a chasm of unfamiliarity. Cemeteries are full of attempts to fight this entropic trend. There are huge stone structures with symbols, favorite Bible verses, and quotes to remind us of the lives of those who are no longer able to speak on their own behalf. There are memorials that try their best to remind us of things that we collectively have just… forgotten about.

Grave sites are often accompanied by benches for loved ones to sit with the fallen and remember them. Those chairs are all empty now. Many were meant for people who have become too busy to sit. Many of the visitors are now bed-ridden or they moved far away. Some of these benches had to be moved because the people who once sat in them now lay next to the loved ones that they came to visit.

No wonder we hate to think about death! The world’s way of looking at it is just so depressing. Being truly remembered and preserved is an impossible task.

But there is One who does not forget His children. The saints who were purchased with the blood of Christ Jesus are remembered from eternity. Their names have been inscribed in the book of life since before the foundation of the world. This is not mere academic knowledge. This is not the Trivial Pursuit knowledge of the world. This is more than a fading list of archival data and accomplishments.

We are talking about a vibrant and living intimacy that is created and preserved by faith. Christ knows His sheep. He preserves them. This is an intimate and unbreakable bond that is more powerful than death. The only lasting legacy is the one of victory through faith in Christ Jesus. Though their bodies may lay forgotten to the denizens of this earth, the departed saints have not been abandoned by their loving Savior. They are not alone; no, far from it!

The graves of the saints may lie unmarked and unkept. Their memories may have passed from our recollection. Their accomplishments are taken for granted and their treasures have been divided by generations of heirs and hordes of debt collectors.

But there will come a day when the bodies of the dead in Christ shall be raised up. Jesus remembers each of His sheep and welcomes them to Himself. All of those forgotten names will be recalled on the Last Day. All of those lonely graves will burst forth with new life. Almighty God remembers us when we are forgotten. In Christ we are more than merely preserved, we carry the promise of being vivified and perfected on the Last Day. All of the money in the entire world cannot purchase such a legacy!

We get caught up in the temporary things that fade away in time. We worry about death because we see it from an earthly perspective. We look at death from this side of the grave. We place our hope in things that are sure to fail and fall short. It does not have to be this way for those whose hope rests in the eternal providence of God through the merits of His Son, Jesus Christ.

When we contemplate our mortality we tend to focus on what we leave behind rather than what we finally gain. We are tempted to try to preserve the ephemeral things that we have earned rather than laying hold of the eternal gift that was earned for us by Jesus Christ. Why cling to that which holds no eternal value? It is far better to free ourselves of such concerns and embrace the One who has conquered the grave for us. It is far better to cast our hopes upon Jesus Christ who perfectly remembers us eternally.

That priest was right: Christ is all that matters.

Ephesians 1:3-14 [ESV]: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth."

"In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory."

2 Timothy 1:8-12 [ESV]: "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me."

Preparing for Death - Part 1 "Proper Perspective"

Pastor Hall recently referenced a fascinating post on the topic of preparing for death. As a Soldier who is faced with war, this topic is one that I consider daily (if not hourly on some occasions.) I have spoken about this topic before, but it is time to do a series on a part of Christian life that is often neglected by modern sheep.

When considering all of my weaknesses, failures, and disobedience, it is a miracle of God that this bond servant of Christ has experienced success in any matter of Christian devotion. It is the Holy Spirit--working through the agencies of the Word with the Sacraments and the tutelage of church tradition--who has revealed to me the importance of preparing for a good death: my final moment of earthly faith in Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We long-lived Americans seem intent on putting death out of our minds. We delay it. We surgically erase it from our faces. We push it back, ignore it's approach, and squirm at the mere mention of the inevitable event.

As a fellow Christian, my brother or sister, do you not realize that your religion holds death as its primary theme? Your first parents ushered death into the world by their sin in Eden. Your damnable sin condemns you to eternal death. Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of the Father, became incarnate of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was crucified on your behalf to free you of the curses of sin, death, and the devil. Purchased with nothing less than the divine blood of Christ, the Holy Spirit invites and prompts you to die according to your sinful flesh so that you might follow Christ and experience victory over death and enjoy eternal life in the blessedness of Heaven.

Your thesis is death. You, Christian, are defined by the death of Christ on the cross. After a lifetime of futility and failure, your ultimate triumph will come at the end of this sinful condition. Embrace it. Look forward to its approach. Live the Creed when it says, "I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."

To have a proper view of death is to finally look at this life with clear vision. Having proper perspective and priorities leads one to look to what is to come. Read what St. Paul teaches on this matter (really deep stuff!):

"for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again." [Philippians 1:19-26, ESV]

This is the true purpose driven life. This is the universal calling. The goal is to finish the race and keep the faith to the very end. We wage war against doubt and distractions with the intent of laying hold of the final prize. We let go of this life and commit it to the service of others as we look forward to the eternal life that is to come. There is emotional tension between the life of work in the church militant and the desire to enter the rest of the church triumphant.

In the coming days, I will share some thoughts and resources that have served me greatly in this area. A life spent preparing for death is not a wasted life.

Mission Complete

I am back from training. It was interesting. That is just about all I can still say without violating the "best construction" principle.

Being in the field with a 115°F heat index... Free
Eating all of the MREs that I could stand... Free
Learning everything that I did not want to know about my job... Free
Laying my hand in a fire ant mound during tactical training... Free
Spending an hour searching the grass for the cell phone that my buddy dropped... Free
Setting up a one man ambush that eliminated a whole enemy squad during night ops... Free

Having enough down time each day to pull these ziplocked books out of my ruck sack for Matins, Sext, Vespers, and Compline... Priceless!

Leave of Absence

I will be leaving shortly to train in my profession. I will be back in August. It is unlikely that I will have access to the civilian Internet during July.

Independence Day Gut Check

This Soldier would like to wish you all a happy and safe Independence Day.

Remember that the continued freedom of this great nation depends on two things:

1. The continued vigilance of a strong military who is dedicated to the ideals of liberty and to the mission of providing a common defense against all of America's enemies.

2. The continued vigilance of a well-educated, independent electorate who is dedicated to the ideals of liberty and the mission of providing for America's defense against all who would manipulate this system of government to undermine or pervert her.

As our brothers and sisters serve in despotic parts of the world, the citizens of the United States have a duty to ensure that the fundamental principles of liberty are preserved here at home. Far too many people are not even paying attention. Far too many people are allowing the elite in positions of influence to dictate what they know and how they feel about it.

Everyone has an opinion on Iraq, but most people cannot answer even one of the following questions:

(1) Where is Mosul located on a blank map of Iraq?
(2) What 3 provinces existed before what is now Iraq was unified under British occupation?
(3) What are a few fundamental differences between Sunni Islam and Shia Islam?
(4) What kind of political ideology did the Baathist party embrace? Who founded them?
(5) Why did the British imprison Khairallah Talfah (uncle who raised Saddam) during WWII?

Everyone has an opinion on the economy, but:

(1) Most people fail a 14 question test on the basics of finance.
(2) Most people cannot pass a basic economic test like this one.

So I ask: "Where are these opinions coming from?"

Clearly we are not forming them for ourselves. You cannot make an informed decision if your information is coming from someone who has already decided for you. If you look at the majority of "news" and "reporting" you will find that it is all speculation, polls, entertainment, distraction, and commentary. Come on! We are smarter than this.


"I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics, or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such an addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent."

-Thomas Jefferson
Letter to Francis Hopkinson
March 13, 1789

Converts - Part 4 "When did I become Lutheran?"

This is a loaded question that is full of intellectual meat.

While some bean counter will tell me that I became a Lutheran when I joined the LCMS, I tend to disagree. You see, I am a rarity among converts. I did not even really know anything about Lutheranism until long after I left charismatic anabaptism. Why did I leave charismatic anabaptism? I started to read the Bible. When I read the Bible with discernment, I found Scripture that explicitly contradicted many of their teachings. I left because they were teaching false doctrine and I could no longer stomach it.

A few years later, I worked past my dissillusion and decided to find a church that did not teach false doctrine. A few years of sulking was not a transition from one church to another. It was a conscious decision born out of years of objective research that measured many Christian and several pseudo-Christian faiths against Holy Scripture and church tradition on a level playing field. I resolved to find the truth and join the faith that best agreed with truth.

At the conclusion of this journey, I selected Lutheranism. I then searched for Lutheran churches and Lutheran church bodies to find the one that was the most faithful to what I had been reading and what I had come to believe.

My confession. When I set foot in my current congregation, I had to take several trips back to my car to bring in my stacks of theological books and research notes. I held up my copy of the Book of Concord and told the pastor, "This is what I believe. Do you teach and follow this book?"

So I ask, "When did I become Lutheran?"

If I became Lutheran when I confessed Lutheran doctrine then Lutheranism is objective truth that can be believed and understood--not just corporately--but individually as well. If Lutheranism is true and objective, then it needs no followers to be the correct confession. That is why I selected it. I knew nothing of controversies, synods, and church politics the day that I joyously declared, "I am Lutheran!" for the first time. I did not know how many problems there may be in actual practicing Lutheranism... but I knew truth when I saw it. At that point, I could not be anything that disagreed with the truth. I should have realized that the ideal of Lutheranism is always practiced by people who are very much sinful human beings. No perfection on this planet, no perfection in any Lutheran church either. I get that now.

For me, the truths that are expressed in Lutheranism are objective and imperative. As much as my heart grieves for you, the fact that you attend a whacked-out congregation that is only pretending to be Lutheran has no bearing on the validity of my confession. I confessed Lutheranism long before I joined a corporate body. I confessed it the day that I discovered that I could no longer commune with my family. I confess each day that I learn about a new horrible problem (both real and perceived) within the church body that I am in.

I confess the Book of Concord. My copy of the Book of Concord has my signature inked just below the list of original signatories. That is a very personal and intimate thing for me. I do not confess Lutheranism because I am Lutheran. I am Lutheran because I confess Lutheran teaching. I am Lutheran because I agree with the teachings contained in this book and that is what people call people who agree with this book.

If extremists on either side of my Lutheran denomination tear it apart, and cause it to schism, I will still confess the teachings of the Book of Concord. If a day comes when my Lutheran church requires me to go against the confessions, I will rebuke her and confess Lutheranism. If I should be stranded on a desolate island for the rest of my life, I will still confess Lutheran doctrine and practice. Real Presence is objectively true. Justification by faith alone is objectively true. As far as the validity of truth is concerned, what the rest of you guys do or think is irrelevant.

If a group calling themselves the "Purple Zamboni Church of Lower New Brunswick" takes up the Book of Concord and begins to follow it confessionally as the founders did, then I will encourage the LCMS to follow their example. If my Lutheran church does not listen, I will leave and join the PZCLNB... and start to lobby for the Zamboni-ists to pick a better name.

Do I confess Lutheranism because I was born Lutheran? No.

...because I like everything I see happening in Lutheran church bodies? No. I don't.

...because Lutheranism is the rebound faith that I fled to? No rebound here.

...because my pastor is a good guy? No. (he is, but that is beside the point)

...because I like Lutheran music and liturgy? I hated it at first.

...because I like Germany and Scandinavia? Never been to either locale.

...because I was witnessed to by Lutherans? No, modern Lutherans are horrible at this.

...because I think that Lutherans are better Christians than other Christians? They're not.

...because Lutherans have all the answers? No. Lutheranism thrives on paradox. Lutheranism can only tell you what it has been told by Scripture. Lutherans have the fewest answers of any Christian confession. They don't know squat because they don't make stuff up when things do not make sense.

I confess this confession because no one has been able to show me where it is objectively false. I confess it because I firmly believe that it is the true explanation of God's Word and stands apart as superior against all other human opinions. I confess it because of the human speculation and opinion that it lacks. I confess it because it is the clearest path to my Crucified and Now Risen Savior, Jesus Christ.

Nothing will come between me and this true expression of Christianity... including Lutherans.

Converts - Part 3: "The Church Without Wheels"

Those who leave Lutheranism often level variations of the same charge:

The church of the Book of Concord does not/no longer exist(s). The Lutheran Church, as expressed in its confessional documents does not exist.

I submit that this observation by our critics is proof of the correctness of our confession. Since it is impossible for us as sinful individuals to measure up to the requirements of God's Word for even a few minutes it only makes sense that it is impossible for large collections of sinful individuals to measure up to the only modern church that purely expresses God's Will in her confessions without error.

While other confessions have resorted to creating human doctrines, practices, and methods to make church more rational and easy, Lutherans have embraced the narrow gate of truth which renders a perfectly orthodox church in all places at all times virtually impossible this side of heaven. All other churches adapt to the whims of human invention. As men err, their churches adapt and err with them. Confessional Lutheranism, grounded on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ, will not follow sinful men as they stray. Thus people abandon her and cease to embody the confession.

Take the Roman church as an example. As her people fall into various forms of error, she makes her doctrine conform to those errors. As new false doctrines are introduced over the years, she adopts them and makes them appear legitimate. She then forces her faithful to conform to her imperfect version of the truth. Men have put wheels on that church. Rome is driven by her human occupants. Romans who want to leave the point where pure truth exists simply have to take their church with them. Even when everyone adopts human error, the church, as she is identified by her ever-evolving confession, remains occupied and true to her faith (though inconsistent to her previous traditions and documents). To the casual observer, the Roman church practices what she preaches. This is because she preaches only what she practices for the season that she practices it. In those places where she has not abandoned the truth for error, she finds herself in agreement with her Lutheran opponents.

Bound by Law and Gospel, the catholic, orthodox, and evangelical church does not do this. As her people fall into various forms of error, she remains steadfast in doctrine. She does not compromise with reason, bad exegesis, and novelty. She does not have wheels. Confessional Lutherans who want to leave the point where pure truth exists must leave their immovable church and go to one with wheels. If every Lutheran was to adopt error, the church, as she is identified by her confession, would be abandoned and cease to exist. To the casual observer, the Lutheran church can never perfectly practice what it preaches. This is because, as long as she is still truly Lutheran, she preaches what God has revealed... which no man but Our Lord Jesus Christ can faithfully accomplish, fully comprehend, or steadfastly keep. Since all Christians are hypocrites and failures it makes sense that when Christians gather around pure doctrine and try to practice it, they find themselves speaking hypocritically and failing to realize God's ideal.

This is why this one criticism, of all of the criticisms that Christians level against each other, is uniquely reserved for those who profess what has come to be known as Confessional Lutheranism.

If we confessed the human standard that there is nothing special about the Lord's Supper or Baptism as many protestants do, most of our battles over Sacramental practice would not be an issue. We would be unified like many protestants, but at what cost? Since we confess God's Standard which He revealed in Holy Scripture, we find that sinful man continues to contest and rebel against it.

If we confessed the human standard that men are justified by works as everyone else does in one form or another, most of our battles over preaching and evangelism would not be an issue. We would be unified like many other churches, but at what cost? Since we confess God's Standard regarding salvation, which He told us was foolishness to men, we find that sinful man continues to contest and rebel against it.

And so, God's church, the purified bride of Jesus Christ, exists in those places where the Gospel is preached in its purity and the Sacraments are properly administered. These are the marks of the church. Since they are from God--not men--we humans find them difficult to achieve and even harder to preserve among us. It is easier for us to create our own definition of the church. It is easier to create a standard that we can meet or erect an earthly kingdom in which to house The Church. We strive to make it understandable and tactile. Those things may make people feel better, but they are merely human distinctions that are neither true nor helpful.

We who still remain are the Ecclesia Militans. It is going to be a struggle as long as we are here where sin and error remains. This struggle is that of truth against error. It only makes sense that the struggle will be the most extreme here where the most truth is found.

Thanks be to God that Christ saves us by faith and not by our feeble works. Thanks be to God that Christ preserves the church in spite of us.

Thoughts on Being Consistant

It seems that Confessional Lutherans have developed two different schools of thought:

1. Some have asserted that there are those who are aggressively decrying those who leave Lutheranism while largely ignoring the fact that many Lutherans have left Lutheranism a long time ago, but remain Lutherans.

2. Some have asserted (to include myself) that there are those who are aggressively decrying those who have watered down Lutheranism with protestant error while largely ignoring the fact that it is serious business when someone decides that the sound doctrine of Lutheranism is incorrect and officially passes from a pure confession to an error-filled one.

After a great deal of prayer and reflection I have developed a question: Are both positions right?

Both types of error are serious and must be addressed. Both types of error undermine the integrity of the true confession of the church. Both should be defended against with an equal amount of passion and vigilance. Is it possible that we need to take a step back and self-evaluate instead of telling other people how they should look at things?

At the risk of further irritating my only reader, I am going to engage in more stereotyping in order to speculate as to why people feel the way that they do. This is, of course, purely speculation on my part based on my limited life experience with people and looking at what makes them tick.

Question: If those who are hard on public converts are indeed soft on crypto-converts as some people believe, could it be because we are willing to overlook lesser errors due to the fact that we have all but written off those mistaken brothers as stubborn and largely unfixable? That would explain why we appear relatively cool to protestant error that has been running rampant for quite some time in some areas of the synod. We may be admitting that we feel that we cannot fix the problems internally, but at least we have the ability to defend the confessional ideal.

Question: If those who are hard on crypto-converts are indeed soft on public converts as some people believe, could it be because deep down they empathize with the frustrations expressed by those who have given up on Lutheranism and the LCMS in particular? That would explain why they appear relatively soft on those who have already left what appears to be a damaged if not sinking ship. They may be admitting that they feel that they cannot speak harshly against someone who at least started out with similar frustrations and observations about Lutheranism.

This debate is just another example of how Lutheranism is difficult and uncomfortable. The temptation is to view issues from either totally one side or totally the other when the truth is usually somewhere in between. I find it hard to believe that it is either one side or the other is totally correct here. I suggest that the both/and principle applies. We should be firmly presenting the truth to both mistaken brothers who remain Lutherans in name only and mistaken brothers who leave and adopt a confession that contains error.

Problems in the church militant never create a licence to embrace false teaching. Misgivings about our own failings do not disqualify us from presenting the pure doctrine and practice.

And we could all work on our tact.

Displaying Absurdity by Being Absurd

1. I have decided that the world is not round despite all evidence to the contrary. Sure I have believed that the Earth is round all of my life and I have seen all of the photographic and scientific evidence that proves it, but I have to go with my conscience. It would be dishonorable and dishonest for me to pretend that the world is round when I no longer believe it to be such. Yesterday, I told my young niece that the world is flat. My sister called me a fool and forbade me from teaching her child such stupid nonsense. It is shameful that my sister talked to me like that. I have no idea why she got so upset. She actually told me that I should have my head examined and questioned my sanity. How dare she! It's almost as if she cared more about her "round-earth" opinion and the education of her child than my feelings. *sob*

2. I understand that the Roman Catholic Church was doing alot of bad stuff, but it was just shameful of Martin Luther to air out all of that dirty laundry the way that he did. Nailing things to the church door? Really? Has he ever heard of polite discourse? Sure I disagree with the way the Pope of that time was running things, but what was really shameful was the way that Luther went about trying to fix the problem. He called people names and made everything so public. That was something that should have been handled internally. He ridiculed people for being wrong. And then people who agreed with Luther wrote all of these documents saying the same things instead of correcting Luther for his aggressive tactics. I don't blame the Pope for kicking them all out after he caused so much trouble. What's worse is that Luther is treated as this hero for telling the truth the way that he did. The real honorable guy was Pope Leo who followed his conscience and got the money together to build such a pretty church... but it was kind of wrong to cheat so many poor people to build the pretty church.

3. Sure I wish that the LCMS would do a better job of keeping people in line with the Lutheran Confessions, but what is really bad is how the Lutheran Blogosphere does all of these personal attacks on people who are just trying to do a good job of running the synod. There are much better ways to voice outrage and you have to admire the leadership for having the integrity to stand by their convictions. Take the removal of Issues, Etc as an example. Of course I disagree with the removal of such a good program, but you have to admit that it took alot of guts to take a stand against all those people who wanted it put back on the air. Did you see how some of the staff was vilified? Standing by your decisions in the face of heated opposition... now that takes integrity! What would have been really unfortunate is if the decision makers had kept it on the air after they decided that it should not be on the air. They need to be true to what they think is right. In the end, I hope that everyone gets over their problems and that God Blesses the synod as it moves forward without Issues, Etc on the air.

4. I know that alot of you have problems with ABLAZE!, but you have to admit that the hearts of the organizers are in the right place. Don't you think that we should just let them go about their business and see what we can do to fix our own congregations? After all, if we were doing our jobs in our individual churches, the synod wouldn't have to resort to questionable tactics and doctrine to reach lost people. Who are we to question their methods when we have so many problems?

...I would do more, but moral relativism and political correctness make me want to go barf.

Converts - Part 2: "Not All Converts are Equal"

Johnny and Billy both sat in their desks staring at their answers for the pop quiz. By coincidence, the two boys had become greatly concerned over their answers for the final question.

Johnny, filled with doubt about his answer, read the question again:

On what date was the United States Constitution adopted by a convention of the states?

Johnny had written "July 4, 1776" as his answer, but he was starting to have doubts. That answer had seemed too easy. Suddenly, Johnny remembered that Independence Day had more to do with the Declaration of Independence and that the Constitution was ratified much later...

Billy was equally concerned about his answer. He had written "September 17, 1787" as his answer, but he was starting to have doubts. That date had popped into his head because they had talked about it in class, but he could not remember what that date corresponded to. Suddenly, Billy remember that "July 4, 1776" was the celebration of the nation's Independence from England. Was that it? Billy pondered for a moment and realized that he had been wrong...

Both boys confidently erased their answers and wrote in new ones.

Johnny erased July 4, 1776 and wrote September 17, 1787.
Billy erased September 17, 1787 and wrote July 4, 1776.

Both boys turned in their tests with confidence that they had narrowly averted disaster on that last question. Johnny was right to convert his answer. He had been mistaken. Unfortunately, Billy was wrong to convert his answer because his first answer had been right all along.

Both boys followed their conscience and changed their minds with the best of intentions to get the answer right. I suppose you could commend both boys for following their gut and going with what they believed to be true.

But like so many things in life, there was one objective answer: September 17,1787. Johnny went from wrong to right while Billy went from right to wrong.

When handing back the quiz, the teacher turned to Billy and said, "Good job, Billy. I see that you had the right answer, but I am proud of you for having the integrity to change your answer when you no longer thought you were right. I wish that you had kept the right answer, but at least you weren't hypocritical by turning in an answer that you thought was wrong."

Please! What kind of teacher is that?!? How does that help Billy at all?

Let us never forget that there is objective truth. People who go from the right answer to the wrong answer have made a mistake. They do not need to be commended on their methods or their desire to get the right answer. All of that effort caused them to err. They need to be told what the right answer is so that they are not confirmed in their mistake.

Converts to Lutheranism (the right answer) are to be commended. Converts from Lutheranism (the wrong answer) need to be shown their error in judgement... not complimented on their "integrity".