Lutherandom Musings Along Memory Lane (Saturday 3/1/2014)

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): Haha! Time for some more "Contemporary Worship (CoWo)" satire: "It has the words 'fire,' 'desire,' and 'believe' in it..."


8:30AM DOSE OF VITAMIN B (BEST OF THE BLOGS): Be sure to check out Hearts On Guard and Vanessa's write-up on obedience if you haven't already. I can certainly identify with her desire to learn more about it from a Lutheran perspective: "A few things to keep in mind as you read. I am a new Lutheran, and a newer Christian at that. I am still working through all our confessions, trying to sort it out and wrap my head around it all. I am no expert, and I approach this topic knowing I have much still to learn -- more to read and more to study." Yep, that's me too! I said it on Twitter earlier in the week and I'll say it again here -- Vanessa is like the Biblical version of Rachel Held Evans or the perfect ANTIDOTE to her Emergent, Liberal, Progressive, Post-Modern counterpart.


9:00AM DOSE OF VITAMIN C (CONFESSIONAL): "We should not and cannot pass judgment on the Holy Spirit's presence, operations, and gifts merely on the basis of our feeling, how and when we perceive it in our hearts. On the contrary, because the Holy Spirit's activity often is hidden, and happens under cover of great weakness, we should be certain, because of and on the basis of his promise, that the Word which is heard and preached is an office and work of the Holy Spirit, whereby he assuredly is potent and active in our hearts (2 Corinthians 2:14)." (Solid Declaration, Article II, 56)


9:30AM DOSE OF VITAMIN D (DOCTRINE): If you haven't visited my Facebook page, please feel free to check it out for some additional discussions that never make it to the blog or podcast. Yesterday, I inadvertently caused some trouble with a post on "good works" and our proper view of them. That's why this exposition of Romans 1 caught my eye today. "When Paul gave thanks to God, he did it through Christ. Just as we are to go to God, in Christ’s name for our requests, we are also to do the same with our thanks and praise (John 15:16). Paul gives thanks to God for the faith of church in Rome. This is the highest from of praise. Paul did not talk about what the church did but what they believe. Today, we hear that faith is not enough to please God, we have to do more. This is not true faith since faith never requires anything else. The faith of the Romans was known through the world. Since Paul had never been to Rome, his acknowledgment of their faith shows this to be true. Paul also has given thanks to God for the faith of the churches in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:4), Ephesus (Ephesians 1:16), Colossi (Colossians 1:3-4), and Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 1:3-4 and 2 Thessalonians 1:3). For Paul, faith is more important than what then local churches do in terms of 'good works.' Why is this?" For the answer, please continue reading "Paul’s Mission -- Proclaiming The Gospel: Romans 1:8-17" by Steven Newell.


10:00AM DOES OF VITAMIN E (EVERYTHING ELSE): Look what I found! Here's a write-up from 2010 titled "The Five Illegal Uses of God's Law" by Table Talk Radio's own Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller that I might have to turn into a podcast myself since it's that good in helping us to better understand a proper distinction between Law and Gospel. Enjoy!

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 our Confessions and 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. Finally, you might discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog definitely fall into that category since I was a Lutheran-In-Name-Only at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a "Book of Concord" containing our Confessions even existed. I decided to leave those published posts up only because we now have this disclaimer and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life. Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time and help. Grace and peace to you and yours!]

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