Archive for ‘November, 2011’

24 results.
Nov30

Some Real Sweet Action

Posted In: vlog, WE Got Answers
This afternoon this amazing note came across my inbox. With the author’s permission I share it with you, as it is pretty dang cool.
Dear Pastor Fisk,

I am so thankful for the fact that you have been diligent and consistent in the posting of your videos.

I am from an AG church in San Jose, CA. I was saved at the church and have been attending for about 5 years. I used my passion for competition to climb the ladder at the church. I currently lead the youth worship ministry and conduct the orchestra on Sunday mornings. I have become an integral part of the church, but all because of my good works!

Never have I realized all of the issues with the church that I attend. I took them to be biblical, but there had kinda always been a small sore spot on my conscience. The talk of the Holy Spirit being a warm feeling, they could sense and knew that God was speaking to them. Taking the intense emotionalism and passion of a moment to supposedly call youth group members to become missionaries. Singing endless praise and worship songs that are really about PEOPLE and not about GOD.

The whole thing, and pretty much the whole thing was at the root of old roman Catholicism. Getting closer to God and becoming better and more righteous by one’s work.

Boy I am so glad that God has used you to speak His Word to me.

I am about to propose and soon marry my girlfriend. We are solid in our faith and have disagreed with alot that went on at the church. Though we knew the church wasn’t completely right, we didn’t really have anywhere else to go. We both have an earnest and strong to desire to stay purely scriptural in all that we do and believe.

I thank God because as I enter into this new time of life, I know that Christ is straightening out everything that I believe for the headship of my future family, and that He is working in Dana and I to bring us to the true love and grace of our Lord.

What a yoke I have been under for so long, I am so thankful for YOU. you are doing a GREAT job. you are always right on and always bring a good word, the word of the Lord. Please keep on doing what you are doing. It is so important in these times. I really can’t thank you enough for letting God use you to speak to me, my girlfriend and setting the course right for our life together.

I found you when a student of friend of mine of Concordia Seminary posted your Why Cant Oranges be Apples video.

thanks again
- J

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Nov30

Means Means Means

Posted In: WE Got Answers
I read a review of Herman Sasse that said he was a Lutheran who believed the Sacraments were “means of salvation” as opposed to “means of grace”. In catechism we always learned “means of grace”. Is there a difference or is this just playing with words?

S

Blessings to you in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Sasse was quite correct in his assessment of the Sacraments. With the promises God makes to us in His means of Grace, they are nothing other than the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation itself. It is only by grace that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8) and that grace is from God alone.
Consider how this is addressed in the Small Catechism and you will see where Sasse is coming from:

Part VI: The Sacrament of the Altar

What is the benefit of such eating and drinking [of the Lord's Supper]?

Answer: That is shown us in these words, “Given for you” and “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” This means that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

I hope this helps.

In His service and in yours,

–Rev. Brandt Hoffman
Anchorage, AK

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Nov30

“What I Want You to Understand Is….”

Posted In: WE Got Answers
Dear WE,

Thanks for your vid on women pastors. It helped me sort through the issue. But it brought up 2 questions:

1. What about women serving as Deacons? Are not Deacons also supposed to be a “man of one woman?” The LCMS allows them, but I”m not sure.
2. If a church allows women’s ordination, is that a core doctrine or peripheral? Can believers commune together while disagreeing on this?

Thanks so much,
M

M,

Great questions! With Deacons, it is probably important to actually define what a Deacon is. The Lutheran Church actually has a long struggle with this because we have used the term to mean two different things: first, Lutherans have historically used the term “Deacon” to mean one who is called and ordained into the Preaching Office who has an assisting role to the pastor in the public worship of the Church and may even at times preach; second, Lutherans have used this term to denote a layman that has some sort of auxiliary/supplementary office to the pastor. Furthermore we see from Scripture that initially deacons were set to the task of taking on the mercy work of the Church so that the Apostles (pastors) could attend to the study of Scripture, to prayer, and to preaching and teaching. Later these deacons are shown to publicly preach. Scripture is silent on the matter of whether they were specifically placed into the preaching office, but it would seem likely that these deacons quickly became pastors. Finally, in 1 Tim. 3:12, they are to be a husband of one wife.

The big question we ought to ask is how are we defining the term deacon? Secondly, we should also distinguish that deacons are NOT deaconesses and that a female deacon is about nonsensical as a woman pastor or a male mother. However, if we understand deaconesses to be a distinct office created by the Church (as the Church is free to create all sorts of offices that are not essential to what it means to be the Church) where a woman uses her unique gifts to serve the congregation and community in connection with a particular congregation or the Church at large, this is a great thing. In some congregations there is a “board of deacons” which does things like follow up with visitors and visit those who are shut in. In such cases, it would seem that the big problem is really the name given to the board and to those who are on the board and not to the tasks they do. In others a “board of deacons” is a board of elders where there is a form of headship of the congregation, in such cases it would be appropriate that only men serve on this board. As you can see, in the LCMS there’s a wide variety of the usage of the term “deacon,” some which is appropriate, some which isn’t probably the most clear use of the term, and some where there is a clear and deliberate blurring of gender roles in the Church.

As to the issue of women “pastors,” apart from what theologians call a “felicitous inconsistency,” the theology behind women “pastors” is really a false Christology. As such, those who would say that Christ’s own gender is of no consequence have a different theology of the incarnation. I would no sooner commune from or with a Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness than with one who defends women “pastors” as we have two different Christs.

Matthew Lorfeld, Pastor
Messiah Lutheran Church
La Crescent, MN
http://www.messiahlacrescent.org

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Nov29

A Baptism into Ninjitsu

Posted In: vlog

If this video is not playable yet, it should be shortly. Ah…the joys of tech….

Worldview Everlasting returns with your long awaited Greek Tuesday shoyuken roundhouse attack on Mark chapter 1 vs 1-8.
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Nov29

Why?

Posted In: WE Got Answers
In a earlier video, Rev. Fisk mentioned an intra-LCMS issue in which an LCMS pastor made the claim that women’s ordination was ok and attacked proper Christology in the process. What is the definition of being a Lutheran? Is it that one belongs to a member church of a Lutheran demonination or is it believing that the Lutheran confessions are the accurate confession of Scripture? Also, why hasn’t the District President come out and defrocked the pastor who believes in women’s ordination?

-J

Dear J,

I’ll try to answer your questions in order:

What is the definition of being a Lutheran?
Perhaps the best way to answer this question is to look at what is given in our confirmation rite. According to that, a Lutheran at heart is one who believes in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and what is taught about them in the three ecumenical creeds, holds all the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures to be the inspired Word of God (and the sole rule and norm for our beliefs), confesses the doctrines of the Evangelical Lutheran Church found in the Book of Concord to be faithful and true teachings of God’s Word, and intends to live according to the Word of God, being true to the Triune God, and continuing steadfast in this confession and Church and to suffer all even death rather than fall away from it. So, just “belonging” to a Lutheran denomination doesn’t necessarily make one “Lutheran.” Though, the hope and the assumption is that one really means it when they stand before a congregation and say “Yes” (or “Yes with the help of God”) to all of the above. (I believe this also answers your second question which relates to the first).

Why hasn’t the District President come out and defrocked the pastor who believes in women’s ordination?
That is a difficult question to answer without speaking to the district president directly to learn his reasons for acting as he has in a particular case. My only possible answer would be mere speculation, which would run the risk of violating the 8th commandment and therefore I hesitate to give an answer.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Jeffrey E. Ries
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tacoma, WA

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