Church Discipline
I just read a very nice column/blog entry by Dr. Albert Mohler on the subject of church discipline. Dr. Mohler is a frequent guest on Issues, Etc. as well as being the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. More importantly, Dr. Mohler has proven himself to be a solid Christian man — one who is surprisingly Lutheran for a Southern Baptist! 
In this commentary, Dr. Mohler does a commendable job of outlining just how we’ve fallen away from the practice of church discipline, and just what that fall has cost us. While Dr. Mohler doesn’t discuss Lutherans and/or the LCMS specifically, and though his Southern Baptist/Evangelical historical context does run the risk of being somewhat overly pietistic, his general points are good, and amply borne out by an examination of the LCMS. We in Missouri are currently reaping the harvest of a 30-60 year period of unwillingness to engage in loving church discipline. This unwillingness has cost us more than I can ever adequately describe, not the least of which is the ability to proudly state that our “walking together” is based solely on the clear & comforting Word of God. We’re divided and in turmoil — our tolerance of decidedly non-orthopraxis has belied our “official” doctrinal stances.
Would that the leaders in Missouri learn from what Dr. Mohler has written!
-ghp
UPDATE: The rest of Dr. Mohler’s fine four-part series on Church Discipline, can be found in parts two, three, and four — check them out & you’ll be glad you did!
-ghp
Good stuff a-comin’ from CPH
Thanks to John H. for his great summary of all the good stuff that Concordia Publishing House (CPH) is preparing & getting ready to release in the near future.
I thank God for the blessing that Rev. McCain & his wonderful staff at CPH have been to the LCMS and Lutherans everywhere. Not only has he been fiscally/administratively astute & responsible (getting CPH into the black & even contributing $$$ back into the LCMS), but he has CPH turning out loads of good, useful, & soundly orthodox books & materials.
I’m especially excited about the not-soon-enough-to-be-released Concordia, the “Reader’s Edition of the Book of Concord”, as I would prefer a faithful updating of the Bente/Dau version of the 1580 Book of Concord (used in the Triglotta) to either the Tappert (which has some problematic translation-related issues) or Kolb/Wengert [which is a bit too "critical-text"-y -- i.e., it's a bit too, for lack of a better word, "academic" as it tries to resolve the tensions between the various versions of the BoC, and basically ends up being an "über-text" rather than the 1580 BoC which (for example) LCMS pastors pledge to uphold at their Ordinations.].
Check out John’s posting for the rest of the juicy details!
-ghp
ELCA “chaplainette” - “Too much Jesus…”
Taken from NewsMax.com — “Chaplain Wants Christ out of Air Force Academy”
The chaplain, Capt. Melinda Morton, a “Lutheran minister,” spoke out publicly on Tuesday as an Air Force task force arrived at the academy to investigate charges that officers and staff members pushed their religious beliefs on cadets.
The upshot: It shouldn’t really surprise anyone that this “chaplainette” (aka “priestitute” — a rostered “Reverend” according to the ELCA) is taking an ill-informed position. After all, if she’s willing to usurp the Pastoral Office, contra the clear teachings of Holy Scriptures, then it’s no surprise at all that she’s toeing the relativistic/humanistic/”tolerant” party line.
So very sad…
-ghp
The Amazing Race — Finale
The Amazing Race (TAR) is such a good show. For me, it’s the most enjoyable of the “reality” shows that I watch, primarily because it is devoid of the conniving and/or angst that enters into the others that I watch (Survivor, American Idol, The Apprentice).
Last night’s finale of TAR was quite good. Of the three teams left, the only one that I didn’t want to win was Ron/Kelly (aka the “POW & the Beauty Queen”), both of whom had proven to me that they were not the most pleasant folks (especially Kelly…). Joyce/Uchenna and Rob/Amber (aka “Romber”) were both more than agreeable to me, although I must admit that I wanted Romber to win — I liked them on Survivor, and I thought that they ran the best, most consistent race from start to finish.
That all said, I wasn’t too terribly let-down that Joyce/Uchenna won, beating out Romber. They seem like a very nice couple — honest, sincere, & committed to each other, in spite of the bumps in their relationship caused by their infertility. Their winning the $1 million makes for a very nice & heartwarming story, and I congratulate them on the improvement that they showed over the course of the race, as they didn’t start out all that strong, but they matured & grew into a formidable racing team.
What I didn’t like about the finale was the re-emergence, at the finish line, of the 8 teams that had been previously eliminated. Why? Because it brought out the, IMO, ugly & unjustified hatred that many of the teams had towards Romber. Led by Team Birdcage (the gay couple of Lynn/Alex), several of the teams in this race drank often & deep from a well of Haterade, and displayed a bitter, but sadly humorous, dislike of Romber. This dislike stemmed primarily from Romber’s notoriety from their appearances on Survivor (Outback for Amber, Marquesas for Rob, & All-Stars for both), the fact that they fell in love (and will be broadcasting their recent marriage on an upcoming CBS special) and have experienced some measure of C-list celebrity as a result. To be honest, I really don’t think that Romber derived any undue, much less unfair, advantage during the course of the race as a result of their celebrity. Several teams, however, came into the race with a chip on their collective shoulders about this, and were more than willing to attribute ill-motive to any/every smart racing move that Romber made (and there were many!). Rather than focusing on their own racing strategies & eliminating their own mistakes, these teams childishly blamed their missteps & mistakes on Romber. It was sad to see.
Anyway, it’s too bad that TAR is over now until (I would imagine) the fall. The past few months have been full of good viewing, and we’ve only got about two weeks left — 2 more episodes of Survivor (this Thursday & Sunday), 2 more episodes of The Apprentice (this Thursday & next Thursday), and 2 more weeks of American Idol (2 more performance shows & 3 more results shows). Then we enter a long drought. 
-ghp
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