tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778905687600416321.post4433604606396417014..comments2023-11-05T02:55:10.230-06:00Comments on Gottesdienst Online: A fresh new approach to churchPr. H. R.http://www.blogger.com/profile/16756503062523543708noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778905687600416321.post-77523642968600676992014-10-26T07:58:02.642-05:002014-10-26T07:58:02.642-05:00Burnell H.C. Petersen
What is this...a Gottesdien...Burnell H.C. Petersen<br /><br />What is this...a Gottesdienst trinity?Timothy C. Schenkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11770741345144496175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778905687600416321.post-83933588727543252532014-10-25T14:28:15.050-05:002014-10-25T14:28:15.050-05:00"Somehow, it seems at least, that we’ve becom...<i>"Somehow, it seems at least, that we’ve become a “nasty” church in the last decades if I compare what I see and read now to what I did as a child. Thousands and thousands of pages of polemics online, directed from LCMS members at other LCMS members, evidence this. The world outside of the LCMS sees this. Perhaps it’s part of the reason our churches have fewer and fewer people in them every Sunday, if we are honest with ourselves. Just my two cents.</i>"<br /><br />It's an interesting hypothesis; but the concern, if legitimate, did not stop the Lutherans of the 16th century from composing the Formula of Concord, which was an effort of Lutherans largely directed against the practices and teachings of <i>other</i> Lutherans who otherwise claimed to hold solidly to the truths of the Augsburg Confession. I suspect the world was very much aware of the dirty linen, exposed on the clothesline. Given the firepower of the adversary ... the Thirty Years War misery was only a few decades distant from the Book of Concord's 1580, remember ... it would have been very tempting to clam up, and make like the Lutherans were singing together in "perfect harmony," like a Coke commercial called upon the world to do (while sipping but one, specific brand of syrupy carbonated fizz, of course. Hint: It wasn't to be Pepsi.).<br /><br />I cannot deduce how old you are, Andy, and I don't know if you, as a child, were avidly following the writings of a certain faculty of a certain seminary in the 1970's. <br /><br />However, if an educated laity had not been rancorous, daring to upset world peace and its perceptions of what should be, the LCMS ... battle-fatigued, as the world may see it ... would be singing quite a different tune these days. Just my 0.0001 pseudo-copper mish-mash, adjusting for inflation.<br /><br />Believe me, the outside psycho-neurotic world has nothing on the Church, when it comes to conflict. The world may figure-point at Lutherans all it wants, but yes, the Church Militant is made up of fallen human beings who are sanctified solely because of Christ's merits, death and Resurrection ... not because they use a better deodorant, or because corporate Missouri is heaven on earth. Besides, we can direct the world to <i>sola Scriptura</i>, to assure it that the life in the Church is not an easy place to dwell, necessarily, given that Christ Himself says there are tares lurking about inside His visible Church, present to threaten and choke the wheat.<br /><br />But it's okay, sometimes even necessary, to call a spade a spade. St. Peter called out people as being murderers, on Pentecost ... and the Holy Spirit added 3000 to the nascent Church. Peter identified Ananias and Sapphira, members of the Church, as out-and-out liars, and subsequently ... in light of certain lethal events ... "a great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things (Acts 5:11; AV)." Yet we read that "multitudes" (v.14) were added to the Lord, following the Petrine admonition and the Holy Ghost's will and force.<br /><br />We should take care avoid offending the little ones; that is a Scriptural mandate to which merits obedience. But we should also attempt recognize, call out and defend against the "hirelings," who seek to plunder the little ones as well. The Holy Ghost will gather His elect together, however botched our actions might appear to the unwashed unregenerated.<br /><br />Your (unworthy) servant,<br />Herr Doktor Michael L. Anderson, M.D., Ph.Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13158953802996685938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778905687600416321.post-60242092396230515252014-10-25T13:13:50.419-05:002014-10-25T13:13:50.419-05:00"If we do not base our contentions with other...<i>"If we do not base our contentions with other denominations on solid scriptural teaching, we are left with weak arguments, whether we admit that to ourselves or not."</i> -- Andy<br /><br />This is simply <i>not</i> the case, as an apologetical reading of Irenaeus "Against Heresies" and Eusebius" Ecclesiastical Histories" will demonstrate. The Gnostics and the Enthusiasts were quite capable of a mellifluous-sounding quote of Scripture in the "competition" with our ancient brethren, even as Satan has a facility with such behavior. The bulk of the Baptists are <i>sola Scriptura</i> types, and they'll gladly fling their interpretations of John 6 at Andy et al., in addition to the absence of any clear-cut example of a baby's baptism, in Holy Writ. One big and deciding difference between the catholic faithful and the heretical sects, according to Irenaeus, was not the number of proof passages pronounced, but orthodox hermeneutics (centered on the Eucharist, and the reality of Christ's Presence in such celebration), and orthodox practices. The bishops of the orthodox could be shown to be orthodox, through rigorous examination and a traceable ordination lineage ... of which tradition the truly confessing Lutheran Church shares ... whether we admit it to ourselves or not, to borrow a phrase. Solid practices of the faith are grounded in the past as well as the embattled present, as the Lutheran community recognized without hesitation or shame in the sixteenth century.<br /><br />In Article XV.1 of the AC's Apology, the point is made that ecclesiastical rites are to be KEPT, where the ceremonies do not invite sin, and are beneficial for both the church's peace and GOOD ORDER. The rites are not to be perceived as being meritorious in themselves, of course; this would be a sin. But the traditional ordos DO serve a role. The Lutheran fathers contend, that ceremonies are purposed in part to educate the laity as to the tenets and mysteries of the Christian faith. They do so indeed, in their structure as well as their content. The traditional forms are soaked in, and extensively quote God's Word, especially the verses of the Psalter. In their composition, the traditional forms and liturgies unswervingly relate our Lord's earthly life, from the manger to the cross; and even includes a "lifted up," cross and Ascension drenched Benediction, to meaningfully send us off ministering to the dying world. <br /><br />An attention-grabbing, centrally placed "praise band" or "big-screen" hiding the Altar of God's Presence teaches the laity as well, as do all trappings of ritual, however transcendent or baleful. The most obviously apparent teaching, of such progressively clumsy contraptions, is that we fallen humans can happily choose to re-veil the Holy of Holies yet again, if our narcissistic ("Take care of and entertain me, for I deserve it") emotions so demand it. That is offensive to the Peace of God (i.e., Christ), which passes our understanding (amply proved by the action, I say) and to Godly good order.<br /><br />The contemporizing trends are NOT Lutheran in spirit, derived as they are from enthusiastic spirits, and certainly not as Lutheran is defined in our Symbols ... where the ancient Church is explicitly taken as model.<br /><br />To summarize, an assertion once famously used against the papists viz., <b>"We can claim that the public liturgy in the church is more dignified among us than among our opponents. If anyone would look at it in the right way, we keep the ancient canons [i.e., prescribed rituals] better than the opponents.</b> (AC Ap XV.39, Kolb-Wengert, p. 229); now may be equally ... if not better ... applied to the antics of some so-called "Lutherans," in this our troubled age.<br /><br />The arguments of the Lutheran Confessions are not "weak." Ignored? Undoubtedly.<br /><br />Your (unworthy) servant,<br />Herr Doktor Michael L. Anderson, M.D., Ph.Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13158953802996685938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778905687600416321.post-87954746630569909432014-10-24T13:12:05.929-05:002014-10-24T13:12:05.929-05:00Andy,
These links might be helpful to you.
http:...Andy,<br /><br />These links might be helpful to you.<br /><br />http://sothl.com/2014/03/22/understanding-new-covenant-worship-as-the-fulfillment-of-the-old/<br />u<br />http://sothl.com/2014/10/24/the-promise-of-entering-gods-rest-vs-the-fear-of-god/<br /><br />Pr. Rich FutrellRichsheri1https://www.blogger.com/profile/14169481100438455716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778905687600416321.post-3584513285680356332014-10-24T10:25:31.663-05:002014-10-24T10:25:31.663-05:00Do you believe that through partaking the Sacramen...Do you believe that through partaking the Sacrament of Holy Communion (i.e.with use of the common cup) death's disease can be transmitted? If so, please explain how the true blood of our Lord Jesus Christ becomes taunted with death when it is received in the "cup of life". My faith and theology cannot accept this. Science may scoff at the early church practice as archaic and foolish, but the Sacrament, when received by the humble saint who believes in its promise for healing, can only produces life. Chaps DiContihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06248977612437739515noreply@blogger.com