Radio Silence

The Wall Street Journal ^ | March 28, 2008 | Mollie Ziegler Hemingway

[The Shrew]

Usually radio hosts have to offend sacred moral sensibilities to be thrown off the air. Opie and Anthony were fired after they encouraged a couple to have sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral. Don Imus lost his job after using racist and sexist epithets against the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

But when the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod canceled its popular, nationally syndicated radio program "Issues, Etc.," listeners were baffled. Billed as "talk radio for the thinking Christian," the show was known for its lively discussions analyzing cultural influences on the American church. It seemed like precisely the thing that the Missouri Synod, a 2.4-million-member denomination whose system of belief is firmly grounded in Scripture and an intellectually rigorous theology, would enthusiastically support.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

Lincoln has that very conservative bishop. I don’t recall his name. His conservatism is so unique among Catholics that he gets publicity because of it. I admire him very much.

[Philo-Junius]

Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz shepherds the Diocese of Lincoln.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

Thank you. He’s a very good man.

[Terriergal]

ah I must be thinking of a different presby.

[Terriergal]

I must be thinking of a different presbyterian... can’t remember now! :-\

[Terriergal]

While I haven’t seen it, I have been annoyed at what is LEFT OUT of certain hymns and words that are changed.

And taking out ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ often ruins the entire sense of poetry in the hymns. Not that that is of extreme importance but if they’re worried so much about musicality and the ‘mood’ and ‘feel’ music provides (which seems to be the way the seeker sensitive philosophy points) then they should leave the hymns as they are and incorporate more modern songs to give people a ‘break’ from the old style poetry.

But frankly, what they try to do is find emotional songs that often say nothing and use those because of the emotional response they get.

I do know in our previous church (not LCMS either) there is a lot of social gospel injected into the hymns. Irritating.

And in our current church there are little ‘writings’ from various streams of Christian thought... including stuff from ‘free will’ advocates and also from reformed theology. It makes no coherent sense but appeals to a wider demographic. And that’s what it’s all about these days.

When the ELCA/LCA got new hymnals in the late 70’s early 80’s I must say I still like the liturgy and can still sing it by heart. BUT the ELCA is a wasteland.

[Terriergal]

I agree. It used to be that denominations tried to make sure their pastors actually believe what the denomination teaches... and were willing to teach it ALL. But now they aren’t so strict and once you are ordained very often no one (especially the laity) is checking up on you. If they do they chalk it up to ‘minor differences’ not worthy of correction.

[Terriergal]

Maybe it was PCUSA I was thinking of...

[Terriergal]

Nah, it’s not ‘to each his own’ — what you are seeing is evidence of error in teaching (either by avoiding difficult subjects or by plain old teaching what is WRONG) — and you are right to avoid it.

Kieschnick of the LCMS seems to be looking at what looks like ‘success’ in the other purpose driven churches and experiencing a prolonged case of church-envy. The love of money is the root of all evil...

[Terriergal]

good for you!

Beware though, Jim Johnson (for one) of the AFLC is pushing Purpose Driven and the AFLC isn’t doing a thing about it.

I wrote a post here
http://www.purposedrivel.com/2008/03/sermon-on-kings-stilts.html
http://www.purposedrivel.com/2008/03/will-aflc-be-next.html

I wrote both to Bob Lee (in 06 I think - he was my faculty advisor when I was there, as well as my husband’s) and now to Fran Monseth and they just said they can’t say anything about it. Congregationalism you know... they just count on their good teaching in the seminary and bible school (I WENT to that Bible School, so did my husband, and we still got duped by purpose driven/seeker sensitive for a while!) to protect the churches.

I said that wouldn’t help the laypeople in the churches. And what about Jim Johnson? No answer.

Of course Monseth tried to tell his doctrine II class that drinking alcohol was a sin and he could prove it from Scripture. He then went on to cite anecdotal and personal experience as evidence. (not that he ever drank I don’t think - but he knows people who have that problem) — my husband (then fiance) pointed out that none of that was Scriptural support, and he didn’t really like that.

There is a moralistic bent in the AFLC that is also to be avoided, and those people are the ones who don’t see much danger in the works-centered moralistic approach of purpose-driven and other church growth philosophies. They either embrace it or minimize the danger.

[Terriergal]

http://bringbackissues.blogspot.com/2008/03/hemingway-interview-on-wsj-article.html

Michael Horton of The White Horse Inn interviews the author of the article. Good interview.

[The Shrew]

Thank you! That was an outstanding interview. Mollie knows her stuff. She needs to write a book on the subject.

Regards,

TS

[Pining_4_TX]

The PCA is conservative, at least for now, but there are elements within the PCA that are trying to liberalize it. The OPC (Orthodox Presbyterian Church) is still very conservative. The Christian Reformed Church went the way of the liberals.

Right now, my husand and I stay home on Sundays and listen to sermons online, because there are no conservative Reformed churches in our area. We had considered going to a LCMS church, even though we’re plain Presbyterians and don’t go for all their high church falderal, because there was one LCMS church in our area that still had a traditional service and pretty good, serious biblical preaching (even though not Reformed), but they are starting to get a little loosey-goosey now, too.

We live in a suburb of a medium-sized city, and we can’t find one good, conservative church that preaches from the Bible and has a traditional service that is within reasonable driving distance (I’m talking less than an hour) from where we live. We are quite discouraged.

[Pining_4_TX]

Greetings, Fellow Reformed Freeper :-)

The PCA is starting to have some issues. Apparently, the notion of having women deacons is being seriously considered, although they wouldn’t be ordained, so “technically” they could get away with it. This is how the liberalization process begins, of course - the camel’s nose in the tent. When will people realize that every denomination that ordains women, eventually embraces ordaining homosexuals. God does indeed mean what He says.

BTW, we left the PCA church in our area due to the increasingly liberal sermons. We thought we were back in the PCUSA, which we had left decades earlier due to its liberalism.

[Terriergal]

I hear ya.... this is becoming a very common story. :-(

ever listen to Bob Dewaay?? he has some great stuff online

Http://www.twincityfellowship.com

and

http://www.cicministry.org

[Terriergal]

I think if by ‘deacons’ they don’t mean ‘elders’ then women are OK but... too often the words are used interchangeably.

[Lee N. Field]

Right now, my husand and I stay home on Sundays and listen to sermons online, because there are no conservative Reformed churches in our area.

That doesn't sound healthy.

Could I point you to this post, most specifically this excerpt:

In the early 19th century the Dutch Reformed Church had come under state control. In the cabinet a 'Minister for Religious Matters' had been appointed and there were few queries in the Christian denomination about such a development; none from its hierarchy. Generations of its ministers had been drinking from the springs of the Enlightenment. It was said that a Muslim would have been welcomed into many pulpits. Yet there was the remnant keeping the faith who were aided by old writers like Brakel.

Then in the 1830s an awakening took place in several countries in Europe, especially in Switzerland, a return to orthodoxy under Monod and the Haldane brothers, César Malan and Merle d'Aubigné. During that period Chalmers was pressing for reform in Scotland and there was a work of God going on there. In Holland God raised up half a dozen young ministers who first worked independently and then were drawn together to challenge the prevailing orthodoxy of the church. They reprinted the Church Order of Dordrecht; they encouraged their congregations to sing metrical psalms. They baptized babies brought to them by parents from neighbouring parishes where the ministers were modernists. The reaction was swift: ministers were deposed and sessions were forbidden to hold worship services.

The people so bereft of their preachers appealed to the king of Holland to whom they had given unqualified allegiance, but no help came from him. In November of 1834 the first congregation seceded from the state church. Their official Act of Secession was entitled the 'Act of Return' that is, what they desired was a return to confessional Christianity.

It gives me hope. The Church has been troubled before, by large scale apostacy. God has been faithful.

Could I also point you to Rev. Kim Riddelbarger's pointers on what it takes to plant a United Reformed Church congregation. (The URC started with a bunch of churches that bolted when the CRC started ordaining women. Scattered and few, but they appear solid. I think there might be, like, all of two in my state.)

We live in a suburb of a medium-sized city, and we can’t find one good, conservative church that preaches from the Bible and has a traditional service that is within reasonable driving distance (I’m talking less than an hour) from where we live. We are quite discouraged.

I feel for you.

[Lee N. Field]

I botched the link in that post. The long excerpt was from The 2007 Evangelical Library Lecture. What I quoted was from Louis Berkhof's "back story".

[AnalogReigns]

Where does this leave a conservative Protestant who seeks a liturgical, confessional, orthodox church?

First off, though there are serious problems--as shown by this issue, from what I know, I don't think the majority of LCMS churches are in danger of going liberal, anytime soon anyway.

But, if the Lord is leading you away from LCMS, try some of the new Anglican denominations--which have broken away from the Episcopal Church, and are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion through strongly conservative orthodox Anglican provinces overseas (mostly Africa and South America). Also, for very liturgical Anglo-Catholic form, you have "continuing Anglican" churches.

You can count on any church in the USA with "Anglican" in its name will be "conservative Protestant...liturgical, confessional, and orthodox."

[Boagenes]

I'll pray for your church too. It is highly upsetting, isn't it? Our LCMS church is in the same state, there is a great division right now between the traditional service members and the "modern" contemporary service members. It's terribly sad, and there are so many bad feelings just under the surface (and you don't have to do more than scratch that surface to find out).

I have become deeply concerned about the direction not just our church is going but the entire LCMS. It pains me greatly, words don't do it justice. I am torn as to whether to stay in the LCMS and find another church, or try and find another denomination altogether.

Kieschnick and Co. are the beginning of the end for the LCMS. There will be the removal of the commitment to Biblical inerrancy, syncretism, women pastors, women deacons, women elders, and same-sex blessing or "union" ceremonies in the next five to ten years, mark my words. I'll bet they even join the National Council of Churches.