The Nihil Rule

 

Critical Theories - Sunday, August 13, 2023. - YouTube An excellent presentation by Rev. Andy Mueller at Beautiful Savior, Las Vegas (WELS). You should really watch the whole thing, but I'll pick off some of the high points. Rev. Mueller starts by correctly identifying Critical Theory as being spiritual and not simply political.  "Critical Theory is an ideology: that is, it is a belief system. It is a false religion which views everyone and everything through the lens of oppressor and oppressed. It is a false theology hidden in plain sight, conspicuous within domestic, academic, civic, economic, biologic and anatomic (in other words, health care) and sadly even sacred arenas." In further defending his view, Rev. Mueller articulates clearly that overlapping with politics does not make something purely political (and thus - to some Lutherans - do be dismissed as solely dealing with the left-hand kingdom). He also points out how several of their luminaries, including Antonio...

  MN District Lutheran Teachers' Conference Agenda More Social and Emotional Learning in the WELS: Three speakers at the MN District Lutheran Teachers' Conference have SEL in their bio's and agendas. First up is keynote speaker Kayte Gut. Ms. Gut's work was previously referenced  regarding implementing SEL into WELS Early Childhood Ministries (ECMs). Her bio shares that "In 2020, she received her master's degree from MLC in educational administration with a focus on early childhood programs. She wrote her thesis on social and emotional education in WELS early childhood programs, highlighting the importance and impact social and emotional education has on the children in our WELS ECMs." Next we have Paul Bernabei, co-owner of  Top 20 Training . Their tagline? "A Social and Emotional Learning Company"  Finally we have Dr. Rhoda Wolle who is advertising her Christ-centered SEL curriculum , "Thrive Time." Rhoda is a product of the WELS and ...

"Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians. They received the word very eagerly and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these things were so." -Acts 17:11

Rev. Burnell Eckardt had a fantastic article entitled " The Leaven of 1517 " in the Reformation 2023 print edition of Gottesdienst: The Journal of Lutheran Liturgy (Vol. 31, No 3). They found it fit not to keep it behind the print paywall and the link above is the article as it stands in the print edition. I highly recommend reading the article to understand the issues found in the 1517 organization. I wanted to note that the WELS has its own connections to 1517.  First, the WELS Lutheran Leadership Conference has 1517 as a Bronze sponsor for its most recent conference.: Second, the podcast " Let The Bird Fly " is hosted by 1517 Podcasts, and the 1517 logo is incorporated into their webpage logo: Their podcast description includes (I imagine, not under their control) advertising for 1517, suggesting you check out the other 1517 podcasts Which would include (ELCA and noted antinomian) Steven Paulson's "Outlaw God" .... And this doesn't include the m...

First, Rev. Ramirez: "The theology of the cross is not a theology of loserdom!" Next, Rev. Hess:"...sometimes we use the theology of the cross as a cover for the fact that we buried our talent in the dirt..." Both episodes are well worth your time, and both Rev. Ramirez and Rev. Hess are worth a follow on the social network formerly known as Twitter.

Scriptural Considerations for Just War Doctrine - Rev. Travis Berg - YouTube "America's authority ends at the boundaries of its nation..." Fascinating point by the gentleman in the blue shirt: "Not to get in the way of God and the justice He might be executing on a nation that deserves the tyrannical rule. When we go in there and try to rectify everything, we are meddling in God's own justice. But not only are we meddling in His justice against a nation, we also end up meddling in God's providential mercy towards certain minorities within a nation, and we see that when we see the injustice of Saddam Hussein, for instance, when we punish him, what happens to those who, although the live in a nation being punished by God, they had a niche in the status quo. But when we went in there and destroyed him, then those Christians began to be persecuted. As we violated God's justice against that nation, we also undermined God's special protection of His own....

Honored Sir, This morning I received your worthy letter, written on the 19th of the month. In your letter you ask for my opinion on whether it is advisable to introduce the singing of Getty songs in a Lutheran Divine Service. May what follows serve as a helpful reply to your questions: No, this is not advisable, rather very incorrect and pernicious. 1. Our church is so rich in hymns that you could justifiably state that if one were to introduce Getty songs in a Lutheran Divine Service this would be like carrying coals to Newcastle. The singing of such songs would make the rich Lutheran Church into a beggar which is forced to beg from a miserable sect. Two hundred years ago a Lutheran preacher might well have been forgiven this. For at that time the Lutheran Church in our country was as poor as a beggar when it comes to song books for Lutheran children. A preacher scarcely knew where he might obtain such little hymn books. Now, however, since our church itself has everything it needs, i...

Rev. Michael Holmen translated John Schaller's article " The Fight for the Christian School as a Fight for the Christian Worldview " which was originally published in the Theologische Quartalschrift,  Vol. 7, 1910, pg. 204-221. This is a fantastic article that provides a glimpse into the mind of theologians of the prior century and shows the zeal we seem to be lacking today for Christ and His Church.  Schaller starts by defining the only two worldviews that exist: the Christian worldview and it's inverse the anthropocentric worldview. As Christ said in Matthew 12:30 "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad," so Schaller contrasts the two worldviews in the context of education: It is therefore important in our circles to be crystal clear: the public school, as it is among us, is not grounded in the godly worldview, does not advocate for it, and therefore can only produce its opposite.  Schaller goes on to explai...