VIDEO: The Barking Dog Approach
Now that the video versions of each presentation are available, I want to look at each lecture one-at-a-time and simply note some of the key highlights for you as they convicted me when I first listened to them.
Pastor Clint Poppe: "The Barking Dog Approach"
KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
*- "Where we begin is important. We begin with the Word of God. Not the word of man."
*- He took some time to talk about the founding and the history of the ACELC
*- Interesting that ACELC's "Fraternal Admonition" letter was delayed and released during the 2010 Synodical Convention
*- "The 'Material Principle' is 'The Thing That Matters Most' and for Lutherans that is Justification."
*- The importance of two sides with divergent views getting together, sitting down, and letting God's Word have its way with us
*- Only 25 congregations as "Members" of the ACELC
*- "Worship is God serving us, not us serving God."
*- "We're not gonna walk away from our vocation as pastors and congregations."
*- C.F. Walther's quote is so appropriate for today and it demonstrates that false teachers/false teaching is always present
*- Christ has commanded all Pastors to discipline false teachers
*- "A watchdog that does not bark is not a watchdog! ... The vocation of a watchdog is to bark."
*- "Your vocation is to confess."
*- "We have a lot of politicians today. We have a lot of people who are getting their paycheck from the institution."
*- "Whatever your vocation...confess, confess, confess! Or, if you prefer...bark, bark, bark!"
*- "To confess the truth is hard work. To confess the truth means there is risk!"
*- "My friends, the goal of the ACELC is to go out of existence."
You may have recognized Pastor Poppe from the ACELC video from a few months back. Either way, the guy has a way of preaching a jovial, no-nonsense kind of sermon, doesn't he?
If Pastor Wolfmueller's presentation prepared me for that impromptu dinner with my co-workers and "Pastor Ted" and how to act during the meal, then Pastor Poppe's has just prepared me to follow-up with everyone who was at that dinner by providing them with a pure confession of the truth.
In a Lutheran layman's terms, last time we learned about kicking the biting dog while comforting the child, and today we learned how it's better to be a barking dog instead.
NOTE: I'm not a called and ordained minister of God's Word and Sacraments. I'm a layman or a Christian, Candy-Making, Husband, Father, Friend who lives in the "City of Good Neighbors" here on the East Coast. To be more specific, and relevant to the point I want to make with this note, I'm also a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism a little over a year ago. 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 inconsistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and point us back to) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray (James 3:1). Finally, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog back in 2013 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 Christian "Book of Concord" even existed (Small/Large Catechism? What's that!?!). In addition, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by those old beliefs of mine. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because we now have this disclaimer, and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Most importantly, please know that any time I engage in commenting on and/or interpreting a specific portion of the holy Scriptures, it will always closely follow the verse-by-verse notes from my Lutheran Study Bible and/or include references to the Book of Concord unless otherwise noted. Typically, I defer to what other Lutheran Pastors have already preached and taught about such passages since they are the called and ordained shepherds of our souls here on earth. Finally, I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the length of most entries. I'm well aware that blogs should be short, sweet, and to the point, but I've never been one to follow the rules when it comes to writing. Besides, this website is more like a dude's diary in the sense that everything I write about and share publicly isn't always what's "popular" or "#trending" at the time, but is instead all the things that I'm studying myself at the moment. For better or for worse, these posts tend to be much longer than most blog entries you'll find elsewhere only because I try to pack as much info as possible into a single piece so that I can refer to it again and again over time if I need to (and so that it can be a valuable resource for others -- if possible, a "One-Stop-Shop" of sorts). Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Grace and peace to you and yours!
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Thank you for visiting A Lutheran Layman! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question since we do not exercise censorship. We've seen a similar policy with other blogs and it's worth repeating: Please act as if you're a guest in my home, and we'll get along just fine. I think anyone would agree that the kind of back-and-forth that is characteristic of blogs/chat forums and social media is becoming tiresome for all of us. Still, we should confess, edify, and love (and contend and defend when needed). Bottom line? Search the Scriptures! Apply Acts 17:11 to anything and everything you find here and, if you do happen to disagree with something you find here (which is certainly ok), or think I'm "irresponsible" and "wrong" for writing it, then please refute my position by supporting yours with Scripture and/or the Confessions. I don't think that's an unreasonable request, especially for those who identify themselves as "Christians" here, right? Besides, Proverbs 27:17 tells us "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another" and 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." If you have an opinion that's great, I welcome it, but try to support it using God's Word. I mean, if the goal here is to help us all arrive at the truth of God's Word (myself included), then it should be easy to follow through on this one simple request (I'm talking to all you "Anonymous" visitors out there). Grace and peace to you and yours!