since the wardrobe malfunction, easy. These people have one talent: being annoying. The lady singing the national anthem was terrible too. Who picks these things? I’m assuming they’ve already been fired.
Tagged: Signs o' the times, Super Bowl
My dear colleague Fr. McClean gave me a photocopy of this brilliant little piece by C.S. Lewis. I didn’t remember it when he handed it to me, but once starting in I recalled my friend Joel Kurz sharing it with me while in seminary. One can only imagine how Lewis would treat the Exmas rush and racket here in modern Acirema. I found the electronic text here. “Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus,” by C.S. Lewis And beyond this there lies in the ocean, turned towards the west and north, the island of Niatirb which Hecataeus indeed declares to be the same size and shape as Sicily, but it is larger, though in calling it triangular a man would not miss the…
Tagged: C.S. Lewis, Christmas, Signs o' the times
The only thing sadder than Oak Leaf Church (really? Oak Leaf?) using soft porn images to get guys into church is the fact that they are so late to the game. Really, if you’re going to do the trendy thing, try to get in early. This train left the station awhile back. Click here to read A Little Leaven’s take on “Storybook Sex.”
The two largest Lutheran church bodies in the United States are the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) with 4.8 million members and The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) with 2.4 million members. On Friday, Aug. 21, the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America voted to open the ministry of the ELCA to gay and lesbian pastors and other professional workers living in “committed relationships.” In an earlier action, the assembly approved a resolution that commits the ELCA “to finding ways to allow congregations that choose to do so to recognize, support, and hold publicly accountable life-long, monogamous, same-gender relationships.” The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has repeatedly affirmed as its own position the historical understanding of the Christian church that the Bible condemns homosexual…
“Columnist Mark Lowry of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reviews what is billed as the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall and complains, ‘A recreation of the biblical Christmas story, complete with live animals, wise men, and shepherds drags on for a good twenty minutes…. To lure spectators of all faiths (and non-faiths) with the promise of an entertaining holiday revue, and then to ambush them with Christian theology, is dated and borderline offensive, especially at a time when understanding of other cultures and beliefs is more important than ever.’ Christmas at a Christmas show. Actually celebrating Christian culture and beliefs. What won’t they impose upon us next?” -Richard John Neuhaus in First Things, February 2003
Tagged: Christmas, Richard John Neuhaus, Signs o' the times
Chuck Finney has done it again, ruining another morning. The devilish proponent of the New Measures is praising the “modern sound” at CrossPoint Lutheran Community Church, with their blend of Amazing Grace and the Rolling Stones. Isn’t it great how the “modern sound” is something from 1969? The radio stations that play this stuff are now starting to call themselves “oldies” stations. Welcome to “contemporary” worship in the Missouri Synod! I’m sure this really goes over well with the boomers, so I hate to start thinking theologically while everyone is having so much fun. Nevertheless, I must ask what the lyrics mean in a Lutheran Community Church worship context. “You can’t always get what you want.” What do I want? Is that good? Or…
Frantically grading some Latin tests before my 1:40 class this afternoon, I heard a strange rumbling sound, and felt the floor of my office vibrate ominously. I’ve worked in this office seven years and never heard or felt anything remotely like it. It turns out it was an EARTHQUAKE. In Virginia. Well, the Washington Post is calling it a “micro-quake,” but I’m in a mood to sensationalize. Hmmm – the Epistle read in traditional churches this past Sunday said, “The end of all things is at hand” – now why couldn’t this have happened right when I was starting my sermon?
Tagged: Signs o' the times, Virginia
I am not at all convinced that physicians always know when death is near, or when a condition is “irreversible.” This story reminded me of the Terry Schiavo murder a few years ago. Here’s the summary: Last winter, just as the state’s highest court was about to rule that a girl in an “irreversible vegetative state” should be removed from life support, 14-year-old Haleigh Poutre started to breathe on her own.
Tagged: Signs o' the times
The best thing happening in the Missouri Synod is the radio program “Issues, Etc.” Or make that, “was.” I just received disturbing news that the program has been canceled, and Rev. Todd Wilken has been fired. (I called Synod’s switchboard to confirm – you might also wish to call: 1-888-843-5267.) I listened to the show daily on my iPod, and our congregation has been supporting them financially. Surely this is one of the best ways to both strengthen the faithful and proclaim the gospel outside our own circles via the new media. How is it that a Synod “Ablaze!” cannot manage to support what was its best true mission effort? Madness and folly – and a terrible thing to do in Holy Week. I…
Tagged: iPod, Issues Etc., Missouri Synod, Signs o' the times
Along with everybody else, I snickered at the news of the so-called Relevant Church‘s “Sex Challenge.” I was particularly jarred by the notion that the unmarried were being asked to abstain from sex for only thirty days. Given tomorrow’s Epistle in the traditional calendar (Eph. 5.1-9), I thought I’d start off my homily blasting that. (Hey, I know that sex sells, too.) Fortunately, I had the good sense to go look at their website before actually doing it, because I think they make a pretty good point in recognizing that a lot of single people have the default practice of sexual activity before marriage, and that they in fact do advocate total abstinence. But, then I looked deeper, and found something far more disturbing…
Tagged: Marriage, schwarmerei, Sexuality, Signs o' the times, Trinity