Lutherandom Musings Along Memory Lane (2/1/2014)

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): Poor pooches! I didn't hear one Dog Owner offer up any Grace in this video whatsoever. All I heard was Law, Law, Law and all I saw was dog after dog being burdened by a heavy dose of the Law! Made me think of Proverbs 26:11 "Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly" too.


8:30AM DOSE OF VITAMIN B (BEST OF THE BLOGS): If you've never visited Apprising Ministries to read Pastor Ken Silva's work, then please check it out for just a few minutes right now. Talk about contending for and defending the faith!


9:00AM DOSE OF VITAMIN C (CONFESSIONAL): "The Christian doctrine of this Confession has for the most part remained unchallenged, except for what has been challenged by the papists. Yet it cannot be denied that some theologians have departed from some great and important articles of this Confession. Either they have not understood the true meaning of the other articles, or they have not committed steadfastly in them. Occasionally some even tried to attach a foreign meaning to this Confession. At the same time they wanted to be regarded as followers of the Augsburg Confession (and to help themselves and make their boast about it). Serious and harmful divisions have arisen in the pure evangelical churches from this. The same thing happened during the lives of the holy apostles among those who wanted to be called Christians and boasted of Christ's doctrine -- horrible errors likewise arose. Some sought to be justified and saved by the works of the Law (Acts 15:1-29). Others denied the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:12). Still others did not believe that Christ was true and eternal God. The holy apostles had to attack these teachings forcefully in their sermons and writings (Galatians 1:8). They did this although such fundamental errors and severe controversies could not happen at that time without offense to both unbelievers and to those weak in the faith. In a similar way our opponents today, the papists, rejoice over the divisions that have arisen among us. They rejoice in the unchristian and vain hope that that these disagreements might finally cause the downfall of the pure doctrine. Meanwhile, those who are weak in the faith are offended . Some of them doubt whether, amid such disagreements, the pure doctrine is with us. Still others do not know with whom to side regarding the articles in controversy. For the controversies that have happened are not (as some would regard them) mere misunderstandings or disputes about words , with one side failing to grasp the meaning of the other well enough and the difficulty lying in a few words that are not of great importance. The controversial subjects are important and great. They are of such a nature that the opinion of the party in error cannot be tolerated in God's Church, much less be excused or defended." The Formula of Concord, Introduction, Paragraphs 6-9


9:30AM DOSE OF VITAMIN D (DOCTRINE): We spend a lot of time talking about the importance of taking Jude 1:3 to heart. Believers are actually expected to judge others, but to judge righteously. How in the world are we supposed to do that? How do we know when we're being "loving" or "unloving" for that matter? Thankfully, God's Word has much to say on this subject. Just remember, the devil can quote Matthew 18 too...


10:00AM DOSE OF VITAMIN E (EVERYTHING ELSE): What's the problem with false evangelism? "The trouble with all false evangelism is that it does not start with doctrine, it does not start by realising man’s condition ... If you and I realised that every man who is yet a sinner is absolutely dominated by the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, if we only understood that he is really a child of wrath and dead in trespasses and sins, we would realise that only one power can deal with such an individual, and that is the power of God, the power of the Holy Ghost. And so we would put our confidence, not in man-made organisations, but in the power of God, in the prayer that holds on to God and asks for revival and a descent of the Spirit. We would realise that nothing else can do it. We can change men superficially, we can win men to our side and to our party, we can persuade them to join a church, but we can never raise the spiritually dead; God alone can do that." Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Ephesians – God’s Way Of Reconciliation)

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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