Lutherandom Musings Along Memory Lane (1/25/2014)

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 more than others 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 too.

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! Ok, so it's really not all that "cool" or "original" or "fun" to be sure, but it will be our new tradition here, and I'll try to make it worthwhile too. So who's with me then?

Please keep in mind, it won't be 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): You might want to familiarize yourself with "Sensa Scriptura" since it's becoming much too common these days.


8:30AM DOSE OF VITAMIN B (BEST OF THE BLOGS): Let's pray for Rev. Michael Brockman and his family and that the Lord would raise up more men who will be bold and courageous witnesses for Him in this day and age.


9:00AM DOSE OF VITAMIN C (CONFESSIONAL): Well, this will stir up some debate I'm sure. May a Layman administer the Lord’s Supper to his own family? Martin Luther said...


9:30AM DOSE OF VITAMIN D (DOCTRINE):Martin Luther on 2 Peter 2:1 and False Prophets said the following: "This is what St. Peter would say: All prophecy must proceed from the Holy Spirit, even to the end of the world, just as it has gone forth from the beginning of the world, so that nothing shall be preached but that which is God’s Word. Yet it has ever so happened that close upon the heels of the true prophets and Word of God there have been false teachers, and so also it shall continue. Who will secretly introduce damnable heresies: sects, or states and orders. He calls them damnable, because whoever is persuaded into them is already lost. These shall they secretly bring in, he says, not that they shall preach that the Gospel and the Holy Scriptures are false, but these names, God, Christ, faith, church, baptism, sacrament, they shall still hold and permit to continue. But under these names they will bring forward and set up something of another sort. Therefore, St. Peter says, there shall come reputable schools, doctors, priests, and monks and all classes of men, who shall bring in ruinous sects and orders, and shall lead the world astray by false doctrines. Even denying the Master who bought them. See how clearly St. Peter expresses it. They deny the Master, he says, who has bought them. Bringing upon themselves swift destruction. That is, their condemnation shall quickly overtake them; although it is plain that God forbears long, yet He will come soon enough. The longer they thus continue, the more terrible is death to them; for death can never be subdued, till sin and an evil conscience have been taken away. So will their condemnation come upon them hastily, so that they must abide in eternal death." Via Five Minutes With Luther


10:00AM DOSE OF VITAMIN E (EVERYTHING ELSE): "The Lutheran Confessions are made up of two basic statements: 'We believe, teach, and confess,' and 'We reject and condemn.' While many today would suggest that anyone who 'rejects' or 'condemns' someone for their belief is not only mean-spirited and intolerant, but is breaking the 8th commandment, we simply cannot believe truth without rejecting that which contradicts truth. Paul says in Titus 1:9, speaking of an overseer, 'He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.' Those who have no concern for rejecting the false teachings that oppose the pure doctrine of the Gospel, also have no concern for the pure doctrine of the Gospel. For there is no reason to attack false doctrine, or even simply say that what someone is doing is wrong, except for the fact that false teaching in Christianity threatens to usurp the very heart of the Gospel, the justification of sinners by grace through faith according to the life, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We only reject and condemn that which endangers salvation, and leads people away from Christ and into apostasy." Rev. Anthony R. Voltattorni

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

In a Lutheran Layman's terms, you've been fed and, hopefully, you're wide awake by now.

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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