The Truth Project Session 4 Follow-up 4.1 Video

As I mentioned, The Lutheran Church -- Missouri Synod has gone through its own struggles with the question of the authority of the Word of God. While the mainline denominations were ignoring their rising troubles, some in the LCMS were watchfully resisting the creeping liberalism that would rapidly corrode all doctrine and practice in the churches.

While mainline denominations like the ELCA, PCUSA, United Methodists and Episcopalians have continued to drift away from Biblical Christianity, the stand that Missouri took has kept her afloat. The process was ugly, as you can tell from the video, but the battle saved the synod.

Hymns and readings for 28 June 2009, Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Series B, Proper 8

 

Jesus Lives!  The Victory’s Won TLH 201

From God Shall Naught Divide Me TLH 393

My Faith Looks Up to Thee TLH 394

I Know that My Redeemer Lives TLH 200

God Bless our Native Land TLH 577

 

Lamentations 3:22–33

²²                      The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

                          his mercies never come to an end;

²³                      they are new every morning;

                          great is your faithfulness.

²⁴                      “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

                          “therefore I will hope in him.”

 

²⁵                      The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

                          to the soul who seeks him.

²⁶                      It is good that one should wait quietly

                          for the salvation of the Lord.

²⁷                      It is good for a man that he bear

                          the yoke in his youth.

 

²⁸                      Let him sit alone in silence

                          when it is laid on him;

²⁹                      let him put his mouth in the dust—

                          there may yet be hope;

³⁰                      let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,

                          and let him be filled with insults.

 

³¹                      For the Lord will not

                          cast off forever,

³²                      but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion

                          according to the abundance of his steadfast love;

³³                      for he does not willingly afflict

                          or grieve the children of men.

 

2 Corinthians 8:1–9, 13–15

            ¹We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, ²for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will, ⁴begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— ⁵and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. ⁶Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. ⁷But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.

            ⁸I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich…

            ¹³I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness ¹⁴your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. ¹⁵As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

 

Mark 5:21–43

            ²¹When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. ²²Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet ²³and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴And he went with him.

            And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. ²⁵And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ²⁹And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said,  “Who touched my garments?”³¹And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say,  ‘Who touched me?’” ³²And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴And he said to her,  “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

            ³⁵While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” ³⁶But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue,  “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. ³⁸They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹And when he had entered, he said to them,  “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” ⁴⁰And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ⁴¹Taking her by the hand he said to her,  “Talitha cumi,” which means,  “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” ⁴²And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. ⁴³And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

 

The Truth Project session 3 followup 3.3 Audio/Podcast

Pastor Todd Wilken interviews Dr. John Warwick Montgomery of Patrick Henry College on answering the Problem of Evil:

The Problem of Evil in the second segment of this episode of Fighting for the Faith:

The Truth Project Session 3 followup 3.2 reading suggestions

No meeting this Thursday.
We will meet again in one week.

There are about three explanations for the problem of evil. G. K. Chesterton says one is denying the cat.

Extreme Theology has a discussion of whether man's nature is good, evil, or some of each. Play the game below, then click through the link to read the answers and the article that follows:

Name that Creed
What is man? All theologies answer this question. Some say man is good; others that man is bad, but most say that there is a mix of good and bad. So we'll play a theological game (you're favorite kind, I know). Below are four statements on the teaching of man and the depth of sin, your job is to guess who said it.

1. Man is responsible for sin because he is endowed with free will; yet he is by nature frail, and the tendency of the mind is to evil: "For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Gen. viii. 21)

2. “By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race. Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin. Therefore, as soon as they are capable of moral action, they become transgressors and are under condemnation. Only the grace of God can bring man into His holy fellowship and enable man to fulfill the creative purpose of God.”

3. “[Original sin] is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it; subject to ignorance, suffering, and the dominion of death; and inclined to sin-an inclination to evil that is called 'concupiscence.'”

4. "Nor do I absolve my own self of blame: the human soul is certainly prone to evil, unless my Lord do bestow His Mercy: but surely my Lord is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."

Before we get to the answers, let's point out the difficulty of the game: all the answers are the same! The key word in each answer is 'inclination'. In the first answer: “the tendency of the mind is to evil.” In the second and third: “a nature and an environment inclined toward sin” and “inclined to sin.” And in the last answer: “The human soul is certainly prone to evil.” There is a common theme in all of these teachings, and that is that man is not good, and yet not necessarily evil, but inclined and prone to do evil.

Now for the source of each statement:

The Truth Project session 3 followup 3.1 Art

Anyone with any eye for art or soul that loves Christ will find richness in this painting of Christ and Cranach's explanation of its detail.

Today we commemorate Lucas Cranach and Albrecht Dürer, artists. In honor of this day and their memory, here is a presentation, and explanation of, what I regard to be the finest example of the uniquely Lutheran art that resulted from the great Gospel rediscovery in the Sixteenth Century, and appropriately, what a magnificent painting to meditate on and ponder as we move into Holy Week. Enjoy, and God bless!

Lucas Cranach the Younger finished the painting in 1555, and even after 450 years, there is a powerful luminous warmth to it that draws you in, causing you to ponder and meditate on the image it presents. The painting still stands where it was originally placed, over the altar of the St. Peter and Paul Church in Weimar, Germany. The placement of this painting over the altar is purposeful, for the Lutheran Reformation, far from casting aside the Lord’s Supper as central to the worship of the Church, restored it to its proper place as the gift from Christ that it is. Communicants coming forward to receive the Supper, would have this painting before them, so large there was no chance of missing its every detail, details which proclaim and declare the peace, comfort, joy and power of the good news of Jesus Christ, and the love of God in Christ for all humanity.

Be sure to click through for the beauty of the Gospel shown in this painting's vivid detail.

Hymns and Readings for 21 June 2009, Third Sunday after Pentacost

NOTE: Worship will take place at Summer Hill Assisted Living, this Sunday because of the renovation of our sanctuary.  Click here for a map and details.

 

Series B, Proper 7

 

Jesus, Savior Pilot Me LBW 334

Eternal Father, Strong to Save LBW 467 (Hymn of praise in place of “This is the Feast”)

Evening and Morning LBW 465 (Sermon)

Be Still My Soul, the Lord TLH 651 (Distribution)

I Am Trusting Thee, Lord Jesus LBW 460

Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me LBW 333

Jesus Still Lead On LBW 341

 

Job 38:1–11

            ¹Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

 

²                       “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

³                       Dress for action like a man;

                          I will question you, and you make it known to me.

 

⁴                       “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

                          Tell me, if you have understanding.

⁵                       Who determined its measurements—surely you know!

                          Or who stretched the line upon it?

⁶                       On what were its bases sunk,

                          or who laid its cornerstone,

⁷                       when the morning stars sang together

                          and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

 

⁸                       “Or who shut in the sea with doors

                          when it burst out from the womb,

⁹                       when I made clouds its garment

                          and thick darkness its swaddling band,

¹⁰                      and prescribed limits for it

                          and set bars and doors,

¹¹                      and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,

                          and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

 

2 Corinthians 6:1–13

            ¹ Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. ²For he says,

 

                        “In a favorable time I listened to you,

                          and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

 

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. ³We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, ⁴but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, ⁵beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; ⁶by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; ⁷by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; ⁸through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; ⁹as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; ¹⁰as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

            ¹¹We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. ¹²You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. ¹³In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.

 

Mark 4:35–41

            ³⁵On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to them,  “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea,  “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰He said to them,  “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”

 

Mainline Denominations Cannot Advertize Their Way out of Decline

Another observation from Church Marketing Sucks:

U.S. News & World Report covers the shrinking mainline denominations and their desperate attempts to re-brand. It's pretty much the same story we've heard for a while now, but a few interesting items:

• "The under-35 generation thinks church is a judgmental, hypocritical, insular place." (Jamie Dunham, chief planning officer for Bohan Advertising & Marketing, the firm behind the United Methodist campaign) If that's the case, I'm not sure an advertising campaign is the answer.
• The article mentions a new campaign from the Episcopal Church, I Am Episcopalian. Great, they can join the Southern Baptists and the Foursquare Church. Anyone else want to use the same campaign?
• This quote hurts: "Study after study has shown that religions that grow are the ones that are hard-core in some way. They have something that differs sharply from the culture in which they operate," says Boston University's [Stephen] Prothero. "That's the problem with mainline Protestantism: It's not different enough from mainstream America." (emphasis mine)
• Another money quote: "The brand and character of the Episcopal Church is being driven by a lot of things that came out of 17th-century England," says Robert Putnam, a Harvard University professor who has studied church growth. "You can't change that with an ad campaign."

What does this mean to the LCMS? We should not worry so much about selling our image or brand, but we should return to the strengths of our identity. At least the Ablaze! program is an evnagelism program at its heart rather than an advertizing campaign. We could improve, however, by focusing on what is most Missouri.
The Missouri synod is know for these things:

• the clear proclaimation of Christ and Him crucified for the forgiveness our our sins.
• properly dividing the word of truth;
• excellent schools, universities and seminaries;
• extraordinary Biblical scholars and theologians;
• well-trained, committed, loving and competent pastors and teachers;
• congregations that sing hymns and liturgy in four part harmony;
• Worship that is dignified and meaningful;
• A genuine sense of our history and purpose;
• real foreign missions with trained and sent missionaries who focus on the proclamation of the Word as the core and essence of mission work;
• and the guts to stand up for what is right, true and Biblical, especially kicking out the historical critical cancerous growth that threatened to take us down the same path that now leaves the ECUSA, the UMC and others desparately scrambling to ad agencies to rescue thier brand.

Some have proposed renaming the Missouri Synod to "the Lutheran Church, USA." They do so, thinking that the majority of Americans have no association, positive or negative, with the name "Missouri Synod." Such thinking is hasty and misguided. Maybe the majority do not know much about Missouri, but those who do respect us.

We at Concordia, Oak Harbor are striving to be more Missouri. May all our synod do the same!

Hymns and Readings for7 June 2009, the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6)

Oh, Worship the King LBW 548

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling LBW 315

Almighty God, Your Word Is Cast LBW 234

Father Most Holy LBW 169

Children of the Heavenly Father LBW 474

 

Ezekiel 17:22–24

        ²²Thus says the Lord God: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. ²³On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest. ²⁴And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

 

2 Corinthians 5:1–10 (11–17)

        ¹We know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ²For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, ³if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. ⁴For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

        ⁶So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, ⁷for we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

        [¹¹Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. ¹²We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. ¹³For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

        ¹⁶From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.]

 

Mark 4:26–34

        ²⁶[Jesus] said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. ²⁷ He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. ²⁸ The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. ²⁹ But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

        ³⁰And he said,  “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? ³¹ It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, ³² yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

        ³³With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. ³⁴He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

 

Important Update about the murder of Abortionist George Tiller

As pointed out by Chris Rosebrough on Fighting for the Faith:

Dr. Tiller was formerly a member of an LCMS congregation, which excommunicated him as an unrepentant sinner, as reported by Uwe Siemon-Netto back in October:

Down in Wichita, Kansas, there is a physician by the name of George Tiller. On his website he boasts that he has already performed 60,000 abortions, mostly late-term, and week after week he is killing 100 more unborn babies.

Dr. Tiller does not think of these fetuses as clusters of cancerous cells. He knows they are human because he baptizes some of them before he incinerates them in his own crematorium. You don’t baptize non-humans. Dr. Tiller knows that. He is a practicing Lutheran. His former congregation, Holy Cross of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, excommunicated him as an unrepentant sinner. But the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, which belongs to the ELCA, communes him. Did I mention that he kills 100 human beings every week and has already done away with 60.000? Sixty thousand! In Nuremberg they hanged some fiends for murdering less than 60 -- zero point one percent of Tiller’s toll.

Please pray for the pastor who excommunicated Dr. Tiller. Excommunicating or even disciplining a member ages and weighs heavily on the pastor. His unrepentant death seals that excommunication.

They get it (sometimes)

Church Marketing Sucks is a blog that explores the good and bad of church marketing (sic) with an effort to help churches do better.

This entry, "get's it." I've been saying this for years.

You can't be the urban church and the rural church.
You can't be the men-friendly church and the women-friendly church.
You can't be the advocate and the antagonist.
You can't be the funny preacher and the serious preacher.
You can't be the one-site church and the many-locations church.
You can't be the Lutheran church and the Baptist church.
You can't be the hipster church and the church for people who need hips.

Well, you could attempt to be all these things at once, but it won't work.

Pick one.

And be the best in your community at it.

You can do other things too, but they must support your primary cause, not compete with it.

Pick one.

The Truth Project session 2 followup 2.5 Audio podcast Virtue vs. Ethics

There is a difference. Charles Lehman interviewed on Issues, etc. on why one chooses to behave makes a big difference.

as promised, listen here.

The Truth Project session 2 followup 2.4 video Philisophical Materialism is Self-refuting

The speaker refers to Philosphical Materialism -- the belief that the natural world is all that there is -- as Scientific Naturalism. The second video considers the term Scientific Naturalism to refer to simply a process for discovering knowledge. Together, despite the inconsistency in labels, show a Biblical worldview to be completely consistent with real understanding of the natural world around us.

The Truth Project session 2 followup 2.3 Materialism, anti-materialism, and Christian Realism

Gene Veith excerpts from A. N. Wilson, a writer who left Christianity to become an Atheist, only to return to the faith later. In his Why I believe again he reflects on the emptiness of a materialist worldview.

When I think about atheist friends, including my father, they seem to me like people who have no ear for music, or who have never been in love. It is not that (as they believe) they have rumbled the tremendous fraud of religion – prophets do that in every generation. Rather, these unbelievers are simply missing out on something that is not difficult to grasp. Perhaps it is too obvious to understand; obvious, as lovers feel it was obvious that they should have come together, or obvious as the final resolution of a fugue.

read more...

and another covert to Christianity reflects how the anti-materialism of Buddhism is equally empty:

But what troubles me most about Buddhism is its implication that detachment from ordinary life is the surest route to salvation. Buddha’s first step toward enlightenment was his abandonment of his wife and child, and Buddhism (like Catholicism) still exalts male monasticism as the epitome of spirituality. It seems legitimate to ask whether a path that turns away from aspects of life as essential as sexuality and parenthood is truly spiritual. From this perspective, the very concept of enlightenment begins to look anti-spiritual: It suggests that life is a problem that can be solved, a cul-de-sac that can be, and should be, escaped.

read more...

Finally, G. K. Chesterton reflects on how only Christianity has a sane view of the world:

• The general fact is simple. Poetry is sane because it floats easily in an infinite sea; reason seeks to cross the infinite sea and so make it finite. The result is mental exhaustion... To accept everything is an exercise, to understand everything a strain... The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits...
  
  
• As an explanation of the world, materialism has a sort of insane simplicity. It has just the quality of the madman's argument; we have at once the sense of it covering everything and the sense of it leaving everything out... His cosmos may be complete in every rivet and cogwheel, but still his cosmos is smaller than our world. Somehow his scheme, like the lucid scheme of the madman, seem unconscious of the alien energies and the large indifference of the Earth...

• Pragmatism is a matter of human needs, and one of the first of human needs is to be something more than a pragmatist. Extreme pragmatism is just as inhuman as the determinism it so powerfully attacks. The determinist (who, to do him justice, does not pretend to be a human being) makes nonsense of the human sense of actual choice. The pragmatist, who professes to be specially human, makes nonsense of the human sense of actual fact.
  
  
• To sum up our contention so far, we may say that the most characteristic currrent philosophies have not only a touch of mania, but a touch of suicidal mania. The mere questioner has knocked his head against the limits of human thought; and cracked it. This is what makes so futile warnings of the orthodox and the boasts of the advanced about the dangerous boyhood of free thought. What we are looking at is not the boyhood of free thought; it is the old age and ultimate dissolution of free thought.
  
  
• It is vain for bishops and pious bigwigs to discuss what dreadful things will happen if wild skepticism runs its course. It has run its course.
  
  
• It is vain for eloquent atheists to talk of the great truths that will be revealed if once we see free thought begin. We have seen it end. It has no more questions to ask; it has questioned itself.
  
  
• You cannot call up any wilder vision than a city in which men ask themselves if they have any selves.
  
  
• You cannot fancy a more skeptical world than that in which men doubt if there is a world.

read more, or buy the whole book here.

The Truth Project session 2 followup 2.2 audio/podcast Abortionist Tiller's murder and ethics

The murder of infamous abortionist George Tiller has produced a series of interesting conversations about morality and ethics.
First, a short, poignant soundbite: Dr. John Warwick Montgomery on "George Tiller's Murderer"

The longer discussions follow here:




And the disturbing question from Fighting for the Faith: What Kind of Church Would Make an Unrepentant Murderer (abortion doctor) Feel Comfortable With His Sin? (for the discussion of Tiller's church, fast forward to 43:00)

The Truth Project session 2 followup 2.1 audio/podcast Scientific Materialism vs. a Christian worldview

Scientific materialism proposes that all of reality can be explained solely by material causes and effects. Is materialism the best approach to science and knowledge, or does the Christian mind provide a framework for discovery and knowledge of the world around us that is superior and more satisfying?
These questions are addressed in this interview of Dr. Angus Menuge, professor of philosophy at our own Concordia University, Wisconsin:


On the debate between a materialist worldview and a worldview that includes non-material existence, scientists debate whether the mind exists independently from the brain. Here is a podcast from ID the Future interviewing Dr. Jeffery Schwartz:

Mind over Matter: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and the I...

Intelligent Design The Future

The implications of the debate are extended in this interview:

Materialism and Human Dignity

Intelligent Design The Future

The Truth Project session 2 prep video

Is a materialistic philosophy reconcilable with Christianity?



Also, participants can view the teaser for tour 2 here.

Partially completed! Remodel of Concordia Lutheran Church, Oak Harbor WA, Whidbey Island

UPDATE: We are amost complete with our sanctuary remodel: come and see!

Concordia's remodel of the sanctuary and fellowship hall, began Wednesday 10 June 2009.

This Sunday, we will again worship, as normal, at 9:00 a.m. in the sanctuary. The Fellowship hall is still in process.
Thanks to Summer Hill Assisted living for hosting our worship services during the sanctuary remodel. Your volunteer efforts to help with removing old flooring, installing sub-floor, painting and other work, are well appreciated.

A cutting spoof against chasing cool.

This video created by Eagle Brook Church in Minnesota is a spoof on churches who abandon their core message to chase the cool and the relevant.

For your entertainment pleasure:

A Visit to Stale Lake from Mike Hadley on Vimeo.

The Rise in Homeschooling's popularity and prominence

Albert Mohler points out:

Homeschooling was the choice of families for 2.9 percent of all school-age children in the United States in 2007, involving 1.5 million students. By comparison, in 1999 only 850,000 children were homeschooled. By 2003, that number was up to 1.1 million. This report indicates significant jumps in homeschooling as compared to other educational options. In fact, the report reveals that the actual number of American children whose parents choose homeschooling for at least part of their education exceeds 3 million. According to the report, 1.5 million children are exclusively homeschooled while another 1.5 million are homeschooled for at least part of the school week.

(The rest of the article is worth reading as well.)

This certainly is driven by places like Oak Harbor, where traditional homeschooling and the public school homeschooling fusion program called Home Connections have been growing rapidly. Oak Harbor has excellent support for homeschoolers, with several support groups, homeschool 4-H groups and the best public library system we have ever used.

Hymns and readings for 7 June 2009, Trinity Sunday

Series B

God Himself Is Present TLH 4

Holy is the Lord (Choir)

I Bind Unto Myself Today LBW 188

Glory Be to God the Father TLH 244

Come Thou Almighty King TLH 239

God Loved the World So that He Gave TLH245

Isaiah 6:1–8

¹In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ²Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

⁴And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

⁸And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Acts 2:14a, 22–36

¹⁴Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, . . . ²²“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— ²³this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. ²⁴God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. ²⁵For David says concerning him,

“‘I saw the Lord always before me,

for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;

²⁶therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;

my flesh also will dwell in hope.

²⁷For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,

or let your Holy One see corruption.

²⁸You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

²⁹“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, ³¹he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. ³²This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. ³³Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. ³⁴For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,

Sit at my right hand,

³⁵until I make your enemies your footstool.’

³⁶Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

John 3:1–17

¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ²This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” ³Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. ¹²If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

The Truth Project session 1 followup 1.4 Audio/podcast

First the MUST LISTEN TO soundbite from Issues Etc. on the flawed logic of moral relativism (Approximately 1 minute), by Scott Klusendorf of Life Training Institute. Listen to the whole segment here (approximately 23 minutes).

An overview of worldviews on Issues, etc. interviewing Dr. Ken Samples of Reasons to Believe:


Finally, Apologist Chris Rosebrough of Fighting for the Faith, captain of Pirate Christian Radio, and curator of the Museum of Idolatry, comments about a Barna survey revealing that only 9% of Americans, only %19 of 'born again Christians' have a Biblical Worldview. He follows this with comments from Chuck Colson stressing the importance of the church teaching doctrine once again. If you want to listen to just this segment, skip ahead to about the 33 minute mark in the show.

The Truth Project session 1 followup 1.3 Video

To provoke thought:
How can Truth make inroads in a culture of relativism and lies? (Click through for larger versions of the videos than the embedded ones.)

Truth and Lie - Relativism


Geert Wilders on Islam in comparison to Christianity:
What does he assert? Is he right in his willingness to 'agree' that the violence in the Old Testament is equivalent to that advocated in the Koran and the biographies of Allah? Is he right when he says that the New Testament is more 'moderate'?



Finally, The Intellectual Insanity of Relativism:

The Truth Project session 1 followup 1.2

I found this interesting discussion on Del Tackett's assertion that we would use this class to "gaze on the face of God." Is it possible for sinful man? Read the challenging question below, but pay close attention to the comment that follows. Even Isaiah did not see the face of God, but God is so huge that only the hem of his robe fit in the temple.

In session one of the DVD series, Dr. Tackett introduces a concept that he will be emphasizing repeatedly in the course. He spoke of "gazing upon the face of God." Of course, the Scripture is clear that sinful man cannot see God's face. So the question which naturally arises is, How can we gaze upon God's face? What does Dr. Tackett mean when he makes this claim?

If an unbeliever asked you to explain this, how would you go about it? (This is not rhetorical; I'd like to read your thoughts.)

and in the comments:

I haven't been through the course yet but my answer to the question - "How can we gaze upon God's face?" - would be as follows:

In the person of Jesus Christ!

The term "face" implies person.

Jesus said "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).

The scripture says that Jesus is the visable image of the Invisable God (Col 1:15), the express or exact image of the person of God (Heb 1:1-3), the light (revelation) of the knowledge of the glory of God (2 Cor 4:3-6).

Jesus is our picture of God and His perfect will for man (John 6:38, 14:10, Acts 10:3.

Once we have received the work of Christ's redemption (Eph 1:7) we are a "new creation" that has been made "righteous" (2 Cor 5:17, 21, Rom 5:17). Therefore, on the basis of Christ's blood we can boldly live in God's presence without a sense of guilt, condemnation, or fear (Heb 10:19-22, 4:14-16, 1 John 4:17-19)
and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into "all truth" (John 16:13, 1 Cor 1:9-12, Eph 1:15-19). Particularly the truth of who God is and what he is like, which is the most important truth.

Put your confidence in what Jesus accomplished at the cross not in what Satan accomplished in the garden.

"Where sin abounded, Grace abounded much more" (Rom 5:20-21).

Peace, Jay
John 8:12

Truth Project Session 1 followup 1.1

If you enjoyed the excerpt from R. C. Sproul from Lifeviews, many more excerpts are available here.

In this excerpt, he brings up the challenging question of how a Christian is to relate to the secular world.

When Harvey Cox wrote The Secular City, it was clear that one of his grand passions was that the church be "where the action is." On this point he was echoing the plea of Martin Luther that the church be "profane." What Luther meant by a profane church was not that the church should indulge in uttering obscenities or use gutter language. Rather, Luther was playing with the Latin roots for the word profane. Profane originally meant simply "outside of the temple." In Luther's terms a profane church is one that moves out of the temple and into the world.

There is a tendency for Christians to seek shelter in the temple. The disciples wanted to stay on the mount of transfiguration. At the death of Jesus they huddled in the upper room with the doors shut because they feared the Jews. Jesus sent them down from the mountain of transfiguration. He virtually broke down the door of the upper room to send them to the uttermost corners of the earth. Our Lord had no time for isolationism. He had an agenda for the world.

Luther also argued that a mature Christian must be secular in the sense that he must embrace the world. He detected a normal pattern in a growing Christian. The pattern begins with conversion, often followed by a sense of withdrawal from and rejection of this world. This period of retreat is marked by preoccupation with spiritual matters. But at the point of maturity there must be a kind of re-entry into the world. This is not a return to worldliness. It is not a fall into secularism. It is a new appreciation of the world as the theater of redemption. It is recognizing that this is our Father's world and not a place to be despised or ignored.

The Christian must distinguish between the secular and the sacred, but never separate them. To separate them is to deny the agenda of Christ. The voices of the theologians who go too far in embracing secularism serve as a warning to us. They don't separate the secular and the sacred; they confuse them. They stress the now and neglect the eternal. We must guard against stressing the eternal so much that we neglect the now. A Christian world view must be concerned with the temporal and the eternal. There must be no false dichotomy between the two.

How do we bear truth into a world of lies and yet remain authentic to the truth from which we are born?