On the 40th Day

South Korea and the Taliban have agreed to a deal that releases the 19 hostages being held in Afghanistan. South Korea agreed to remove their 200 troops in Afghanistan by year's end (which was already being planned), to stop sending missionaries to the country, and from what I've read from other news sources, they have agreed to pay some sort of ransom.

This is an odd move on the part of South Korea. South Koreans can be very aggressive when pursuing what they want. South Koreans also have a tendency to ignore you when you tell them they can't do something and go ahead and do it anyway. Plus they have that honor code and don't like to lose face. Seems to me they were passive, responsive, and shamed -- all uncharacteristic of South Koreans. Maybe they realized they were not the big fish in the Afghanistan pond. At least they got all but two of their citizens home alive.

Luke 13.22-30 and Jesus Only

This week's Gospel Reading reminded me of Henric Schartau, an 18th century Swedish Lutheran pietist pastor. (Pietism was founded by Spener, a 17th century German Lutheran.) His sermons influenced other Swedish Lutheran pastors and ignited a revival in southern Sweden. Schartau's sermon "Jesus Only" is featured in part in Giertz's The Hammer of God (which, by the way, is an incredible novel about the gospel that spans about a hundred years in a particular Swedish town). Lars Walkers' four books are fine Norwegian Lutheran counterparts to Giertz, with Walker using Norse Vikings as the launchpad for the gospel.

The only extant English translation of Schartau's sermons that I have seen is his "Jesus Only" sermon and can be found at http://www.geocities.com/resourcesforlutherans/schartau.htm

(If anyone knows where to find other English translations of Schartau's sermons, PLEASE let me know!)

Jesus is the narrow door that opens into heaven's eternal life. Jesus only, as Schartau would say. What a sweet gospel that the Holy Spirit gives to His Church through the Word, holy Baptism, and the Lord's Supper.

An Alternate History of America

I've read a number of books and novels by Harry Turtledove. He is the one of the best science-fiction authors who has carved out a niche in writing alternate history stories. Earlier this week I finished reading his epic 11 volume set about America.

His premise in the first book (How Few Remain) begins with looking at what might have happened if the Confederacy managed to keep its independence. The rest of the novels follow an 80 year history of the North and the South co-existing in North America. He draws in Canada, Mexico, and the Mormons as recurring people and places of interest. In the earlier volumes Germany is mentioned, and takes a back seat until the final two volumes when important developments in Germany reverberate in North America.

His saga is divided into four groups of volumes.

Volume 1: 1880 (How Few Remain)
Volumes 2-4: The Great War
Volumes 5-7: American Empire
Volumes 8-11: Settling Accounts (World War II)

If you'd like to ponder what things might have been like if the Confederacy remained independent, Abe Lincoln was never assassinated, George Custer didn't die at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, an independent Mormon State in Utah, an alliance with Germany in World War I, and many other twists and turns that span the years from 1860-1946, then check out this saga.

LSB Funeral Service

I had the opportunity to use the funeral service from Lutheran Service Book on Saturday. It is different from what I was used to in the Lutheran Worship Agenda, and I found LSB to be a better service. The "Remembrance of Baptism" is much better than the version from LW. I also liked bracketing the Nunc Dimittis with "I am the resurrection and the life ..." (Luke 11.25-26). Having the service in the hymnal is a big improvement! Well done, hymnal committee, well done!

More Lutheran Hymnals

I thought I was finished with my American hymnal compilation. Wrong. I decided to add to the compilation two other hymnals: the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal (1904, 1908) and the American Lutheran Hymnal (1930). Both hymnals were used by my paternal grandparents. The church they grew up in seems to have been affiliated with the Joint Synod of Ohio and Adjacent States (estab. 1818). Mergers over the years lead the church from the Ohio Synod to the ALC, and finally the ELCA. I am not sure when my grandparents' church was formed (at least one hundred years ago). It's an old German-American Lutheran church. I don't know if it utilized German or not. The church exercised the best form of "church growth" by establishing daughter congregations throughout Baltimore. I know of at least two ELCA churches in Baltimore that have direct ties to St. Paul Lutheran Church. My grandparents were actively involved in both of these daughter churches. Sadly, St. Paul Lutheran has fallen on difficult times (like so many other Lutheran churches), and she is located in a really run-down part of Baltimore. But the faithful continue onward grounded on the Word and Sacraments.

When the ELCA's Reclaim publishes an alternative hymnal to ELW, I will most likely add those hymns to my compilation list.

LCMS Response to the ELCA

I received yesterday via email President Kieschnick's LCMS response to the ELCA re. their final day of voting at the assembly. Kieschnick, by the way, spoke earlier that day, bringing official greetings from the LCMS to the ELCA. I didn't hear every representative that week who brought greetings to the assembly, but Kieschnick's was the most Christ-centered of all I heard, and definitely the best and most relevant greeting that week. He urged the assembly to prayerfully and Biblically consider their votes because they will effect their relationship with the LCMS.

Kieschnick's email highlighted a resolution from our 2001 convention acknowledging our brothers and sisters in the ELCA who remain faithful to the Gospel. There was another Resolved that he didn't quote. I'll provide the first two, pertinent resolves of Resolution 3-21A (2001):

Resolved, That the 2001 synodical convention affrim the late President Alvin L. Barry's judgment that "we cannot consider them [the ELCA] to be an orthodox Lutheran church body"; and therefore be it further

Resolved, That we of the LCMS recognize that many of our brothers and sisters of the ELCA remain faithful to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and we resolve to reach out to them in love and support.

I also noted that in our 2001 and 2004 conventions we had resolutions that dealt with many of the issues the ELCA has sent off to a task force. In 2009 that task force reports back to the assembly and there can be no more stalling. Decisions will have to be made.

It's evident what path the ELCA is treading. Since her formation in 1988, the presiding bishops (Chilstrom, Anderson, and Hanson) have taken them down this path. Let's make no mistake here: Chilstrom, Anderson, and Hanson want the ELCA to vote a certain way in 2009, and if they get that vote the ELCA will be at that position because the leadership of the that church lead the churches that way. After the 2005 Assembly, Dr. James Nestigen (Professor Emeritus of Church History at the ELCA's Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN) said that the ELCA has court theologians who ask the leadership what position they want to take and they will then write theological papers supporting that position. Sounds like their task force on sexuality might be made up of court theologians.

Thankfully, President Kieschnick is right: there are pastors, laity, and churches faithful to Scripture and the Confessions. Many seem to have focused their energies in WordAlone and Lutheran Core, the two recognizable leaders of Lutheran Reformation in the ELCA. May they call the ELCA to account, repent, and a return to faithful Lutheranism.

Two Hostages Released

Just read this on michellemalkin.com: two female Christian Korean hostages were released this morning. Let's not forget that two have been murdered, and 19 are still captive. It's been 25 days, folks! Keep praying.