Lutherandom Musings Along Memory Lane (Saturday 10/26/2013)

Remember when Saturday mornings used to be so much fun when you were a kid?

For me, I'd usually stay up as late as I could the night before (after what I thought was such a "hard" and "long" week at school), and then sleep in as late as I wanted to on Saturday morning.

The best part? Whether Dad would make us breakfast or not (his French Toast!), the even better part of my Saturday mornings growing up was plopping myself down in front of our TV to watch cartoon after cartoon! You know, the kind that were only on once-a-week and not available in an instant through YouTube and/or Netflix?

I thought about that recently and decided it might be cool to come up with a new weekly tradition of sorts for us adults to enjoy each and every Saturday morning now that we're all grown up (ok, at least some of us anyway). I mean, isn't it time for us to look forward to Saturday mornings again?

Besides, it will be good for us to recall that childlike faith in fun and laughter if only for a few moments each week. You'll remember that laughter was for Luther a sign of divine grace and also an antidote against the devil.

From the very beginning, humor had been a theological topic for Martin Luther, embracing the dramatic scope of his whole world view. He himself explained: "When I was unable to chase away the devil with serious words of with the Scripture, I often expelled him with pranks." And so this unique concept is born! Who's with me?

No, it's not flashy, and it will hardly grab and hold your attention like a classic episode of the Care Bears, G.I. Joe, Thundercats, or Voltron would, but these "Lutherandom Musings Along Memory Lane" should satisfy the Confessional Lutheran's appetite for a balanced breakfast that includes your VDMA Vitamins like Vitamin A (Amusement), Vitamin B (Best of the Blogs), Vitamin C (Confessional), Vitamin D (Doctrine), and Vitamin E (Everything Else).

Each Saturday morning, God willing, I'll do my best to share some of the things I remember coming across in my unpredictable journey through Cyberspace during the week (hence, the "Along Memory Lane" part). Of course, this is also where the things you send me via email (if any) will show up too.

Ok, enough with all the commercials! Let's get the show started already, shall we?

8:00AM DOSE OF VITAMIN A (AMUSEMENT): I just discovered The Lutheran Satire YouTube channel. It's definitely not for "Evangellyfish" types or those who are easily offended who think the 11th Commandment should've been "Thou Shall Not Offend" and who believe it's actually an offense to contend for and defend "the faith that was once for all delivered to the states" (Jude 1:3). There's "Halloween: How Do We Celebrate?" and "Halloween: How Do We Celebrate (Part 2)" for you to watch. Now, I have to admit that I'm still not crazy about the holiday myself, but I'm not as hostile to it as I used to be. Would love to get your thoughts though.


8:30AM DOSE OF VITAMIN B (BEST OF THE BLOGS): I'm a few weeks late to this party so-to-speak, but this is so good (and so relevant to what we're going through at my church right now) that I had to share it from the Gottesdienst Online and it's a posted titled "The Faith And Life of the Body vs. Missional 'Lutheran' Gnosticism" with this powerful statement: "But the Catechism, and all doctrine, is to be prayed and practiced, not simply memorized and repeated. The practice won't look quite the same in every place, but the practice actually matters, and it can be externally measured and evaluated because it is practiced in and with the body. ... What I long for is reverence and awe in the presence of the Word who has become flesh, and a confession of His Gospel with both mind and spirit, with hearts and souls and voices, and with bodies of flesh and blood."


9:00AM DOSE OF VITAMIN C (CONFESSIONAL): Would "Trunk-Or-Treat" be an example of one of the "less or more outward ceremonies" mentioned here? "We believe, teach, and confess also that no church should condemn another because one has less or more outward ceremonies than the other, for those are not commanded by God. This is true as long as they have unity with one another in the doctrine and all its articles and in the right use of the holy Sacraments. This practice follows the well-known saying 'Disagreement in fasting does not destroy agreement in faith.'" *- Formula, Epitome / Article X. Church Practices Which Are Called Adiaphora or Matters of Indifference / Affirmative Statements, 5


9:30AM DOSE OF VITAMIN D (DOCTRINE): Pure Law and Gospel! "Did the Law ever love me? Did the Law ever sacrifice itself for me? Did the Law ever die for me? On the contrary, it accuses me, it frightens me, it drives me crazy. Somebody else saved me from the Law, from sin and death unto eternal life. That Somebody is the Son of God (Who loved me and gave Himself for me). Hence, Christ is no Moses, no tyrant, no lawgiver, but the Giver of grace, the Savior, full of mercy...Visualize Christ in these His true colors. I do not say that it is easy. Even in the present diffusion of the Gospel light, I have much trouble to see Christ as Paul portrays Him. So deeply has the diseased opinion that Christ is a lawgiver sunk into my bones. You younger men are a good deal better off than we who are old. You have never become infected with the nefarious errors on which I suckled all my youth, until at the mention of the name of Christ I shivered with fear. You, I say, who are young may learn to know Christ in all His sweetness. For Christ is Joy and Sweetness to a broken heart. Christ is a Lover of poor sinners and such a Lover that He gave Himself for us. Now if this is true, and it is true, then are we never justified by our own righteousness." *- Martin Luther, Galatians Commentary [Via]


10:00AM DOSE OF VITAMIN E (EVERYTHING ELSE): Slaughter of the Sheep published a piece titled "Poor Little Rich Pastor" about an expose in Charlotte, NC featuring celebrity preacher Steven Furtick. I thought I'd throw it in this category this week so that you can get a dose of truth to help with your discernment when it comes to this wolf in sheep's clothing whose star is certainly rising in American Evangelicalism.

Sorry, but that's all I have for you this week.

In a Lutheran Layman's terms, now that your belly's full and you're wide awake, go outside and play!

Grace and peace to you and yours!

[NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with Lutheran doctrine -- in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word -- so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray. Thank you in advance for your time and help. Grace and peace to you and yours!]

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