Professor Berger Walks Tall

A man in a great position, seminary professor and LCMS Board for Communication Services member Rev. David O. Berger has published a critical analysis of the Ablaze! movement. It is well worth the read!

H/T: Rev. Tom Chryst

PS - You might want to save a copy of David Berger's paper just in case someone decides to take it down from the website as if it never existed. Don't laugh. Seems like things are disappearing left and right these days.

Hairless Ford, Environmental Hippie

I never would have seen this if Rush hadn't mentioned it today:



I thought of a great parody on this, but nobody wants to see me without my shirt on so you'll just have to guess what issue I would spoof instead of deforestation.

By the way, what is Harrison Ford's carbon footprint given his affinity for flying?

Net Loss

Ok, most aggravating moment in my life in 2008, so far.

I'm selling some of my books, just because I have too many books and a lot of books that I own I never read. Might as well liquidate part of my collection.

So I drove a couple blocks to the local used bookstore. Parked right outside at a metered space. The only coins I had in my car were pennies and quarters. Pennies aren't accepted and a quarter is like 20 or 30 minutes. So instead of wasting a quarter when I'm not going to use even 1/6th of the time I'm paying for, I just didn't put anything in.

Sold like six books for ten dollars (which is way less than they are worth), and I walked out to my car and saw a parking ticket for what amount? You guessed it, $10.00. Obviously I should have put my stupid quarter in the meter, but this is ridiculous.

So I was cheap for not putting a quarter in the meter, cheap for accepting such a low amount for my books, and did nothing but waste time AND MONEY in the process. BRILLIANT!

Humid, Not Humid

Humid, Not Humid - That would be Saint Louis and my apartment, respectively. The current humidity in Saint Louis is 69%. My apartment with open windows is at 30%. Why is the air twice as dry in my apartment as it is outside??? This makes no sense to me whatsoever.

UPDATE: Steve has three theories: 1) apartment is hotter than it is outside 2) weather is different here than it is at the airport and 3) my humidity gauge is broken. Let's take them one at a time.

1 - This one is accurate. My apartment is always hotter than it is outside, except in the winter when the opposite is true. So if it's too hot in my apartment, it will also be too dry.

2 - Saint Louis reminds me to some degree of growing up in Wisconsin. It doesn't matter where you are, it's humid.

3 - The humidity gauges are digital and mobile, and less than a year old. Plus I've been exhibiting physical signs of low humidity such as chapped lips. So even if it was off a tad, it's accurate.

So I think we've accurately diagnosed the problem. Unfortunately, the only solution at the moment is to run the humidifier in the bedroom at night. This apartment is so aggravating. Last summer, it would be 90 degrees in the apartment AT NIGHT when it was at least ten degrees lower outside and there really was nothing to do about it (fans are a band aid and running the AC isn't plausible because the unit is built into the wall in the bedroom and doesn't cool the rest of the apartment). And we're also probably getting heat from the vacant apartment directly below us.

We are so moving out of here when the lease is up.

Blood!

This video cracks me up!

Is The Reporter Objective?

I don't know why people expect that the Reporter would be an objective news source. I should preface this post by saying that this is not anti-Reporter, it's just that people don't seem to understand the nature of the publication.

The Reporter is a publication owned and operated by the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. It's not independent, and it isn't really a newspaper as much as it is a newsletter. Newsletters are written by an organization to tell its members what it wants them to know. And as such, it's not going to report anything that would reflect poorly on the Synod. I wouldn't say it's propaganda, but it's not an objective and impartial news source. Nobody should expect it to be. It's not a newspaper.

The following are not comparisons, just rhetorical questions:

Did Pravda ever write anything anti-communist?
Is The Watchtower going to publish anything against the Jehovah's Witnesses?

Hulshof's First TV Ad

There's Nothing Like

There's nothing like being told to shut up. Thanks, President Kieschnick.

A New LCMS Map

Just whipped this up after it was pointed out to me that both outrageous firings occurred on the Concordia Seminary campus. You can click on this map for a larger, more readable version.

Mollie has another update to the entry about Dr. Noland. Notice how in both instances (Issues, Etc and Concordia Historical Institute), the men who were fired had shared concerns about the need to fund raise which went unheeded by the entities that fired them. See the formula: these boards knew they needed money, they failed to do anything about it, and they fired people as if nothing could have been done to prevent it. You either have to be completely inept or politically motivated to follow this formula.

If I had more time and was more thorough, I would draft something with the title "On The Kirkwoodian Captivity of the Synod." But for now it's just a thought.

[Note - It's pointed out to me that missionary Pastor James May's firing is also outrageous. So Jeff, Todd, and Dr. Noland are the domestic outrageous firings, and Pr. May is a foreign outrageous firing.]

It's Pentecost - You're Fired.

Yesterday, the Church celebrated Pentecost, which was the event where the Holy Spirit came to the disciples as evidenced by tongues of fire on their heads. So what's a synod to do? Fire someone, of course! We fired Jeff and Todd during Holy Week, so why not fire Dr. Martin Noland from the Concordia Historical Institute the day after Pentecost?

Instead of focusing on what God has done for us throughout the history of the Church, we can hold our breaths anytime a church festival comes up to see who they will fire next. What kind of a message does this send to present and future seminarians? 1) You don't have any job security, 2) don't work for any institutions other than a parish so the synod can't fire you , and 3) don't do any studies beyond your M.Div. because that will make you a threat to the establishment.

I sense a pattern here.

Please turn with me to pages 17-28 of your Lutheran Annual 2008 and look at the Synod-Wide Entities and Boards. Keep an eye on the boards who haven't fired anyone yet who have confessional Lutherans in their employ. Now turn with me to pages x-xiii in your Lutheran Service Book Pew Edition (03-1178) to cross-reference the above information with The Church Year. From this data, one should be able to predict with a measure of reliability when the next firings will happen and who will receive the pink slips.

Care to make any predictions?

UPDATE - There's more coming out on this. Now we're hearing that Dr. Noland resigned. Waiting for details. Stand by.

Miss Jubilee And The Humdingers

Here's Miss Jubilee and The Humdingers. They've got a show coming up May, 26 2008 at Off Broadway, 3511 Lemp Avenue, St. Louis, MO, 63118. Check it out!

Fire The Women!

For equality's sake! Men have lost more jobs than women from November 2007 - April 2008. This is a disparity that must be corrected! Fore more details, check out the article in BusinessWeek.

Synodical Existential Crisis

I've been wondering for a while, because I can't seem to come up with anything - What purpose does the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod serve? I'm not talking about the 6000+ congregations that belong to it, I mean the Synodical government. (Think of the Synod as the Federal Government. Would cities and states still exist if there was no Federal government? Of course.)

What is the Synod doing that can't be done more efficiently and cost-effectively by individuals or congregations of their own accord? Mind you, I'm painting with a very broad brush, but what does the Synod do that is neither redundant nor counterproductive?

Update: Good morning, Purple Palace!

Domain Name		(Unknown)
IP Address		216.88.183.# (The Lutheran Church of Missouri Synod)
ISP		SAVVIS Communications Corporation
Location		Continent : North America Country : United States (Facts) State : Missouri City : Saint Louis Lat/Long : 38.6385, -90.3026 (Map) Distance : 4 miles (local visitor)
Language		English (U.S.) en-us
Operating System		Microsoft WinXP
Browser		Internet Explorer 6.0 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; InfoPath.1)
Javascript		version 1.3
Monitor		Resolution : 1024 x 768 Color Depth : 32 bits
Time of Visit		May 12 2008 10:23:47 am
Last Page View		May 12 2008 10:23:47 am
Visit Length		0 seconds
Page Views		1
Referring URL
Visit Entry Page		http://joshschroeder...stential-crisis.html
Visit Exit Page		http://joshschroeder...stential-crisis.html
Out Click
Time Zone		UTC-6:00
Visitor's Time		May 12 2008 10:23:47 am
Visit Number		23,583

Alright!

Two car updates:

1) It was time to take my Fred Thompson bumper stickers off of my car. The event that inspired this to happen was that we cleaned out the entire car, and removing the stickers was just part of that process. I didn't remove the stickers earlier, not because of disillusion or anything like that, but because I just didn't have the fire in the belly to remove them.

2) The car magnets arrived today! Maybe when it stops raining, I'll try them out.

Operation Chaos After Indiana

Happened to have The View on this morning (don't ask me why - I have no good answer), and Joy Behar said that the objective of Operation Chaos is to nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton because we think she's easier to beat. WRONG! (More proof that the media either does not understand or intentionally misrepresents the facts.)

As Rush stated on his show yesterday, Operation Chaos started when the McCain campaign made it known that they would not go after Barack Obama. Based on the premise that Barack Obama would be the nominee and that McCain would not bloody him up politically, somebody has to do it, and that man is Hillary Clinton. So Operation Chaos is about keeping Hillary in the race to beat up on Obama (politically) for as long as possible.

Behar pointed out that while Obama won North Carolina, Hillary squeaked by in Indiana 51-49. She speculated that the two point spread could be comprised entirely of Operation Chaos volunteers (if not more). Hehehe.

1 Samuel 8 And The LCMS

Sometime, when you're bored and have nothing better to do, read 1st Samuel Chapter Eight (Israel demands a king). But when you read "Israel," think "Synodical Leadership," and when you read "king" think "Church Growth." It's a real hoot.

This Congress Is Killing Me!

Just got a heads up on life issues legislation working its way through Congress...

S.1173 - The "Freedom of Choice Act" was introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA). Note that this radical bill is cosponsored by presidential candidates Senator Hillary "Rare, Safe, and Legal" Rodham Clinton and Senator Barack Obama. Columnist Duane R. Patterson has more information in this Townhall article.

This bill's House counterpart, H.R.1964, is co-sponsored by such distinguished congressmen as Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) whose district I used to live in, and Russ Carnahan (D-MO) who currently does a poor job representing me in the House of Representatives.

If you are pro-life. please place a phone call to your House and Senate representatives in Congress and tell them that you strongly oppose this culture of death legislation.

Oh, Yeah!

Do you like Kool-Aid? The LCMS website has nine pages of it regarding the Issues, Etc. controversy.

If I were new to this situation, I would think they were being forthright. However, remember the last time synod officials went out of their way to provide information regarding the Issues, Etc. scandal? It came out a day before Mollie Ziegler Hemingway's article in the Wall Street Journal. We know that certain synodical bureaucrats have a playbook and that they, like most people, are creatures of habit. My gut is that this is another PR move to preempt something.

Yeah, I know that the document starts with the following:

This document is provided by the Executive Director of the LCMS Board for Communication Services upon request of his board, which met in St. Louis April 17-18.

The purpose of the document is to respond to the many questions posed regarding the cancellation of the KFUO-AM radio program, “Issues, Etc.,” and the resultant termination of its host and producer. It is hoped that this document will be a step toward reconciliation and peace.

But we have to also consider the source, the Executive Director of the Board for Communication Services, who we know as David Strand. Since the time he fired Pastor Wilken and Mr. Schwarz, his story has changed multiple times and he's been a wizard when it comes to numbers. So the question is, what's on the horizon that Mr. Strand decided to release another preemptive strike at this time?

Keep your eyes peeled, folks. I've got a hunch that something big is about to happen.

PS - If you want to make your own LCMS Kool-Aid Man, just add the following ingredients: 138r 0g 75b

Looks Like

Someone just put a flag behind her! Crisis averted.

It was pointed out to me today that this Annie Leibovitz photograph in Vanity Fair makes Miley Cyrus kinda look like the girl from Les Miserables. Especially the hair, bare shoulder, and draping fabric.

I'm just hoping Hannah Montana doesn't move one state to the west.

Blog Bullying Bull

There's a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregation called Jefferson Hills Church. Notice they don't call themselves "Lutheran" as this word does not appear in the name of their congregation.

There's also a blog run by two pastors from this church, and here's a quote from a recent post:

"The blog is also not about upholding a particular denomination or church affiliation. Or about who is right and who is wrong."

Then why have any affiliation at all? If you're going to hide almost all traces of your Lutheran identity,and emulate and imitate the so-called non-denominational congregations, why not just be one?

And one gets the impression that this mindset does not just govern their blog, but the ministry as a whole.

Mollie has more insight over at Augsburg 1530.

This is what happens when you compartmentalize theology. Lutheranism is not Bible plus Martin Luther. Just like Lutheran education is not public school plus a religion class, a congregation is not generic Christianity plus Lutheran Theology. Luther, in his preaching and in his writing, did not point to himself, he pointed to Christ. To be a Lutheran is to be Christian (though not all Christians are Lutheran). But a Lutheran who tries to hide his Lutheranism will give a misleading and distorted picture in the minds of others about what he believes, teaches, and confesses. Someone who says they are non-denominational, you can pretty safely assume they deny the sacraments as Vehicles of Grace, they're into decision theology, and have some elements of works-righteousness in their church.

I can't speak for everyone, but Jefferson Hills is being criticized, not because angry bullies want to tear them down, but because the path they're walking has consequences they may or may not intend. We don't want our sister congregation to falter and stray from Jesus.

By the way, I have the top credentials to criticize the Ideation Blog because I happen to be a confessional Lutheran whose number one strength according to StrengthsFinder 2.0 is Ideation.