The Elephant's Child

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace,
may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made
and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

-Francis Scott Key




Graphic created from an orginal photo by teejayhanton, per Creative Commons permissions.

The Anti-Mauve Movement Blogroll.

To become a member of the Anti -Mauve Movement blogroll, write an appropriate post decrying the use of mauve as a signature color for the LCMS, or elaborating on something church-related that's particularly mauve in attitude or execution. (Do please keep your sense of humor, people! All in good fun.) Then copy the image to your own computer and display this lovely badge with a link to either my original article or Lutheran Lucciola's Anti-Mauve post. There's a larger version of the badge at my original post, if you'd prefer that. Fair warning: It's retina-roasting. Drop me a note in the comments to let me know about your Anti-Mauve Movement post. 

Since Lutheran Lucciola and I launched this concept last October, the LCMS has changed the background of the LCMS website to white instead of Mauve.  Coincidence?  Maybe.  The rest of the site design remains the same, though.  Please tell me why it's ok for the Mormons to have a better-looking website than a church that teaches sola scriptura. All that money used by our synod for all sorts of weird stuff (can you say "witness duck?") and no one thought that perhaps just maybe it would be good to spend a few grand to revamp the front door of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod?  How mauve.

Surprise!

Feedback encouraged, but no guarantees I'll listen to you.  Besides, I have a few things I want to tweak yet, so chances are if you don't like something, it's something I was planning on changing anyway. Was that all one sentence? Mercy.

A Round of Applause, Please.

From the preface to the Final Statement of the Global Anglican Future Conference, which concluded this past week in Jerusalem.

[W]e grieve for the spiritual decline in the most economically developed nations where the forces of militant secularism and pluralism are eating away the fabric of society and churches are compromised and enfeebled in their witness. The vacuum left by them is readily filled by other faiths and deceptive cults. To meet these challenges will require Christians to work together to understand and oppose these forces and to liberate those under their sway. It will entail the planting of new churches among unreached peoples and also committed action to restore authentic Christianity to compromised churches.

Now that you're all applauding, go ahead and stand up. This next quote deserves a standing ovation. From The Jerusalem Declaration, No. 13, included in the Final Statement, above:

We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.

Perhaps I can be forgiven for stealing a line from Isaiah?

For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.  (Is 37:32)

Indeed. The Lord bless you and keep you, brothers and sisters in Christ.

An aside: If you'd like to read the response of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, it's really quite funny, in an Iraqi Information Minister sort of way.

It's Finally Here.

It's finally here; the day Issues, Etc goes on the air.  Streaming and podcasts are available at the Issues, Etc. website. Show starts at 3:05 pm Central Time. See the website for all the details.  While you're clicking around, consider making a donation directly for the show, and don't hesitate to join The Brothers in their efforts to finacially support confessional Lutheran media around the world.

And by the way, even if you're not Lutheran (all six or so of you), I'll bet you'll like this radio show.  Monday's show is slated to have John Green of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life on as a guest. Sound tempting? You know it does.  Go listen, and you'll see why over 7,000 people signed a petition to try and get the show back on the air. 

UPDATE: There will be a "pre-game show" starting about an hour before the show with Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller, Mollie Ziegler Hemingway, and Pastor Bill Cwirla, too.

Of Writing, Pipes, and Lutherans.

This afternoon I'm off to to see the wizard Pastor Fred Baue and the rest of the erstwhile staff of The Steadfast Journal for an editors and writers meeting.  Promises to be good time. (Never thought I'd say THAT about a meeting!)  As always, I treasure time at the house of my dear friend Cheryl, and I'm in her debt for all the times she's put me up for the night. 

I've heard that Pastor Baue is a pipe-smoker.  Seems appropriate for an English prof turned pastor with some guitar playing thrown in for good measure, eh?

Sparkle Kitty's got to come along with me, but that's ok.  She has a good friend at that house to torment play with.  Look at this adorable picture of the two of them acquiring those critical socialization skills!

Can Someone Get Me Some Dentures? (Or, Notes on Teaching Doctrine.)

From C.F.W. Walther, the first president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, and winner of the Theologian Most Grateful that TV Evangelism Didn't Exist In His Lifetime Award,

"It is true, brethren, as you well know, that in our day it is common for people to say, “Emphasizing doctrine so much only harms and hinders the kingdom of God, yes, even destroys it.” Many say, “Instead of disputing over doctrine so much, we should much rather be concerned with souls and with leading them to Christ.” But all who speak in this way do not really know what they are saying or what they are doing. As foolish as it would be to scold a farmer for being concerned about sowing good seed and to demand of him simply to be concerned about a good harvest, so foolish it is to scold those who are concerned first and foremost with the doctrine, and to demand of them that they should rather seek to rescue souls. For just as the farmer who wants a good crop must first of all be concerned about good seed, so the church must above all be concerned about right doctrine if it would save souls."

(C. F. W. Walther, “Our Common Task: The Saving of Souls” [1872], Essays for the Church [Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1992], Vol. I)

It's a Go for Launch.

The Brothers of John the Steadfast is officially launched!  Come on over and take a look at what we're doing.  Mostly, we're working hard to provide financial backing for the soon-to-be back-on-the-air Issues, Etc. but there's plenty of fun to be had and good articles from various pastors and Lutheran bloggers, too. 

And guys? Don't get all nervous. This is an organization built by men, for men.  Nobody will make you carry banners and march down the aisles chanting "Steadfast! Steadfast!"  (although if you really want to do that, I suppose you could.  But I'll deny that I know you.)

A Few Sewing Notes.

 

I've been asked to design a small wrapper for a stack of postcard-sized cards to be given away with the purchase of a dress from Miss Ruby, a dress boutique in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward. This is what I came up with. It's a poly satin brocade with a texture-print cotton on the inside. Hopefully, the little bag can be used for jewelry or some-such afterwards.  I'm also making little fabric jewelry envelopes for Jo Bead (who does a great job with custom work, and also donates her proceeds to Wellspring International.)

I also got dangerous at the fabric store last weekend, and picked up some clearance-priced fabric for to sew some clothes for myself.  I've got the first rayon skirt nearly done, a crisp black-and-white palm-leaf and hibiscus print.  It will help round out my "black, red, and khaki" block in my closet.  I only had to rip out the zipper THREE times!  Also purchased was a length of white crepe-textured fabric to make a second dress off the vintage pattern I reworked for Christmas 2006. That's all cut out, and perhaps I can put it together next week.  It will be very welcome for Sundays mornings in our un-air-conditioned church.

Today I finished a wrap-style knit top for myself, but it's a little too big. The first time I used this pattern it was too small, so I bought the pattern again (for $1.50 of course. Never, EVER pay full price for a pattern; it's highway robbery what they charge!), and cut a bigger size.  Now it's a little too big, but at least that's easier to deal with that too small! It's a great style, so it's worth working out the fit.  The only thing I really goofed on was forgetting to fold up the "petite" adjustment on one of the front pieces, so I ended up easing in way more at the bust line than was supposed to be there.  Thankfully, knit fabric is so forgiving, and I was able to just pin the tar out of it and take it in.  OH, what I wouldn't give for a dress form!

AND, last but not least, I bought fabric to make a stack of little girl's sundresses to sell. It's an adorable pattern, reversible with criss-cross straps.  It's about 12-18 months in size, so if you've got a baby girl around, stay tuned!

Carrot-On-A-Stick Evangelism?

Today at Vacation Bible School the children who had brought a friend with them to VBS received Gummy Worms as a reward.

The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me, especially as the children who brought guests were called up to the front and prominently praised and rewarded. 

I don't have a problem with "honest wages for honest work;" after all, that's how the Real World usually works.  I do, however, have a problem with teaching kids that "doing outreach" results in acclaim, praise, and material rewards.  The truth of the matter is that so often the Holy Spirit's work of conversion is messy, invisible, and only very rarely traceable to one single person's efforts.  Even when it seems to us that an unbeliever comes to faith because of the efforts of a single person, shame on us if we give the credit to the person instead of to the Holy Spirit!