The Nihil Rule

     [  Leaders' Guide  |  Video 1  |  Video 2  |  Video 3  |  Video 4  |  Video 5  ] And on to Video Four , where we are going to focus on one of the panelists. For the first three videos I tried to avoid this for a few reasons: first, I remember being in my late teens and having some pretty bad takes, secondly, we should really be holding Ben and Bill responsible for the content since they are moderating and producing this thing. In video 5 you can hear Bill off-camera guiding a discussion point - which changed my mind since this isn't just eavesdropping on some teens having a discussion, they are being actively guided to hit certain points, and in video 2 there were definite overtones of the youth 'getting it' in contrast with the older generations. So let us examine the wisdom of the youth. We're going to focus on the woman in yellow, who I would guess based on her comments is studying to be an education maj...

  [  Leaders' Guide  |  Video 1  |  Video 2  |  Video 3  |  Video 4  |  Video 5  ] And on to Video Three , which comes hot out of the gate with the assertion "They need to know Jesus first then you can get to the hard stuff" - an inversion of law and gospel. It's the law that convicts us, and after it has done its work on our heart of stone, we are opened up to the sweet proclamation of the Gospel. Why do you need a Savior if you don't recognize your sin? We move on to the question "What are some mistakes Christians have made in their attempt to share God's Word?" Bill's answer: "Be cautious about forcing a point of view" ... "it's about first having a listening ear" ... "we need to be careful that our whole goal isn't to moralize, change behavior, stand on politics, associating that completely with our faith, but instead, you know, winning the trust of someone" Is it possible to have a faith divorced of mora...

Codex Washingtonianus - Wikipedia You are probably aware that there is a longer ending to Mark. Many Bibles will either bracket Mark 16:9-20 or have a footnote. For instance my NKJV does not bracket, but has the following footnote: "Verses 9-20 are bracketed in the NU [critical text, aka Nestle-Aland] as not in the original text. They are lacking in the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus, although nearly all other manuscripts of Mark contain them." (I'm of the opinion that Lutherans should affirm the longer ending since our Lutheran Confessions cite them, and we hold our Lutheran confessions to be without error.) But did you know there is a longest ending of Mark? I didn't either until I heard this sermon by the Rev. Travis Berg . The longest Mark has an insertion after verse 14, highlighted in Bold below and inserted into the NKJV text: Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons...

[  Leaders' Guide  |  Video 1  |  Video 2  |  Video 3  |  Video 4  |  Video 5  ] Videos Two  has been posted for "An Honest Conversation about Sexuality."   After a brief introduction from Ben and Bill, we return to our panelists, who make the assertion "[LGBTQ] is just another sin, right?" And, out of the mouths of babes... the second panelist makes the assertion that the church follows culture, and so when culture changes the church is left holding the bag. My sweet summer child ... I certainly understand the confusion as our synod is chasing the culture. This should not be, and that's why we're talking about it. We get to our first pause for questions at the six minute mark. I'll list the questions and the answers that Bill and Ben give later in the episode. Question One: What are some of the challenges that get in the way of having a conversation? After the break, Bill suggests our use of language is a barrier, as...

Both the WELS and the LCMS held worship conferences in the past few weeks. The difference? Psalms vs. Copyright. The LCMS sang through all 150 psalms . The WELS featured contemporary hymns , many written and composed by heathens and even heretics. Can't find the heretic? maybe we can ask REM for help: Thanks, REM! (Leonard Bernstein, while married, engaged in homosexual trysts and did not know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior) Of course Leonard Bernstein is not the only heathen who contributed to WELS conferences and hymnals, as we've previously discussed Harry Fosdick , the liberal theologian who denied the Trinity, and thus the true Christian faith, and Sylvia Dunstan , the lesbian larping as a pastrix.

  [  Leaders' Guide  |  Video 1  |  Video 2  |  Video 3  |  Video 4  |  Video 5  ] An Honest Conversation About Sexuality – Video 1 Well, what do you know. Pastor Bill Monday - affiliated with 922 ministries (aka The Core, Mike Novotny , etc.). I've gotten a few anonymous tips about his ministry to homosexuals, but I hadn't followed up on those to date - mea culpa - I'll do that in the near future.  His co-presenter, Ben Dose, is "not a congregation member" but a "lifelong Lutheran" who struggles with same-sex attraction and is a self-proclaimed "representative of the LGBTQ community" who is here to "put a human face on it" and "bring a level of empathy". First - one can struggle with same-sex attraction much as a young straight man might struggle with chastity or porn - but the Christian will deny himself and repent of his weakness and look to God for strength. They won't identify with their sin as Ben does in ident...

  An open letter to all LCMS pastors whose congregations are still using disposable plastic communion cups. — Gottesdienst ... and we love to see it! And spare me your receptionist nonsense too. By some weird calculus some rationalize that only what is actually consumed is Jesus’ blood, because that’s all he intended it to be for. But notwithstanding his intentions about it, that’s not what he actually said about what it is. He took the cup, blessed it, and said of it—the contents in the cup at the moment he said this—that it’s his blood. And you’re going to tell me that what he really meant to consecrate were only those molecules in that cup that actually ended up getting consumed? So his words don’t really apply to anything left over, or even to anything in the cup that he knew would be left over? That’s a worse kind of linguistic contortion than any Calvinist ever dreamt of. Honestly. So you’ve been putting up with disposable, plastic shot glasses for how many years? And letting...

 Whenever I think I'll eventually run out of content for this blog, the Lord drops another doozy in my lap. The Lord giveth. The Nihil Rule reporteth away. May the name of the Lord be blessed! [  Leaders' Guide  |  Video 1  |  Video 2  |  Video 3  |  Video 4  |  Video 5  ] Note: it appears the leaders' guide was updated since this was published. The original leaders' guide has been cached here . A post regarding stealth updates will appear on Wednesday 9/4. So a new Bible study just dropped on the WELS Congregational Services website entitled  An Honest Conversation About Sexuality  focusing on Faith & LGBTQ topics. Currently there is only the facilitator's guide and Episode 1. Let's do a deep dive into the facilitator's guide to see what the ground rules and assumptions are for this class. We start with a motivation statement: "With an estimated 30-40 percent of Generation Z identifying in some way as LGBTQ...