The Nihil Rule

'Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”' - The Revelation of Jesus Christ, 14:6-7 ... I would commend to you Rev. Travis Berg's Reformation Day sermon (2023) for your edification.

The font is effeminate and the cross looks like it's denoting an exception or clarification,  but we work with what we're given! ... If your church is following the WELS Foundation Series , which takes the three-year lectionary and transforms it into a set of sermon series, then you might find the following in the front of your bulletin  (and if your pastor is a true 'company man' he will be preaching on Daniel, per the recommendation) :   LIVE LIKE YOU’LL LIVE FOREVER: LIVE A LIFE OF COURAGEOUS WITNESS Jesus repeatedly told his followers that living as his disciples would bring hardship. Living life according to God’s Law is going to make one appear odd in the eyes of the world, perhaps even evil. Sharing a message of mankind’s sin and God’s gracious salvation can cause offense. So why not just stay silent if that makes life easier? Why not keep our faith private? Answer: because we are going to live forever. In gratitude for Christ saving us and giving us eternal life...

C.F.W. Walther: Restoration of the Divine Image Through Christ (archive.org) "Consequently, we dare not think that God's Son became a man only to fulfill the Law for us by His holy life. He did not suffer for our sins and die on the cross only to win for us the forgiveness of our sins, to deliver us from the punishment we deserve, to reconcile us with God, and despite our sins unlock heaven and salvation to us. This is how many see Christ. They, therefore, seek nothing in Christ but comfort for their restless conscience. That they should actually again become holy is of no concern to them at all. However, they are caught in a great most dangerous error ." "And he who does not thus yearn and strive to be completely freed from his sins certainly does not stand in Christ's grace. For to whom Christ gives grace, to him He also gives power. To whom He grants forgiveness of sins, to him He also gives hatred of sin and zeal to fight against it. Whom Christ graciously r...

  Bertrand de Jouvenel Bertrand de Jouvenel is an 'eccentric amateur' French thinker who developed the "high-low-middle mechanism" model, as described ably and concisely by Neema Parvini: "The idea at its most basic is that the high - the central power - makes an appeal of liberation and a guarantee of security to the low who are being 'oppressed' by the middle. By patronizing the low, the high thus starts to drain away the power of the middle, thus accruing more power to itself." - Neema Parvini, The Populist Delusion, pg 77. We see this model play out in the Honest Conversations "bible study" ( scarequotes , because it invokes very little Bible). Bill and Ben are presenting on behalf of the Synod, the "high" central power. They are making a patronizing appeal to the "low" LGBTQ+ by means of revisiting how the "middle" thinks of and interacts with the LGBTQ+ community. These oppressors in the middle are gener...

  Rev. David Thompson (ELS), the Director of the Center for Apologetics and Worldviews , was On the Line with Rev. Bryan Stecker (LCMS). Let me note that On the Line is quickly becoming a favorite podcast for me, I enjoy the long-form content, and the guests have been on the whole quite interesting. A few months back we talked about Pastor Mike Novotny's (WELS) pronoun equivocation. I spilled a bit of ink focusing on the Biblical aspects of truth and love. WELS Southerner chimed in with his southern charm. Rev. Tyrel Bramwell (LCMS) spent an entire episode of Truth at All Costs , eviscerating Novotny's argument bringing broad swaths of Scripture to bear. Rev. Thompson quickly and simply  cuts to the heart of the matter: "I think we ask ourselves two questions. Number one, is it true that he is a she? The answer is no it's not true, you know God has made that very clear - biology, chemistry, history has made it quite clear. The second question is this: when are we al...

  A little late and a little off-topic. Today SpaceX did something pretty incredible - catching the first stage of their rocket on a tower using their "chopsticks". Watch the video and hear the enthusiasm of their engineers. This is a pretty remarkable feat, both because it saves the weight of landing gear (grid fins are necessary to their control scheme and provide a suitable load path) and reusability - catch it, stack it, fuel it, launch it all from the same cradle. Revolutionary, indeed, leaving NASA, ULA and Blue Origin in the dust.  Elon's comment “science fiction without the fiction part” pretty much nails it. As a child I read everything I could about space flight. I was smart enough to know my eyesight and inherited heart conditions prevented me from being a NASA astronaut, but I imagined what kind of work might allow me to live on one an  O'Neill Cylinder  (my small library did have a copy of The High Frontier ). Growing older, married, kids, and spirituall...

When our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belong to such as these," He took the little children in His arms with their mothers.  He did not say "Let the little children exit the sanctuary with the education director, and do not hinder them, because an age-appropriate experience is needed for such as these" Why is it then that so many of our churches are establishing a "Childrens Church" or Sunday School during the divine service where the kids are removed from worship?   Many such cases: Saint Paul's Muskego offers child care during their services Saint Paul's Onalaska offers child care during their contemporary service Carbon Valley in Firestone Colorado  dismisses kids 5 years and younger for "age appropriate learning" . Divine Savior in Doral, Florida offers "age-appropriate lessons and activities during the Divine Service . I'm sure you co...

On the heels of seminary accreditation : our own book publisher, Northwestern Publishing House, is a member of the ECPA. Earlier this year,  Not the Bee  highlighted the ECPA's DEI courses and certifications. Along with that you can peruse their website and see their promotion of diversity in Christian publishing. ...it's good to see the diversity training hasn't had its effect...