Pastor,
I know how you feel about plagiarism. This is why I am asking you first. I am a Lutheran and I write a prisoner through a church program. May I use some of your sermon from Sunday Oct 24th? I know Eph 6 and your commentary will help him greatly.
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GJ - Many people use or adapt my material. The idea is to cite the original words of other people and to show when something is adapted from another person.
I have done that with all the books on Lulu and a lot of my educational materials. In this regard (only) I follow the Grateful Dead, whose cacophony has never appealed to me. They provided all their music free, without threat of legal action, confident that their fans would still keep them afloat.
I am pleased that I can broadcast Means of Grace materials in so many ways. I already know that they have their effect. Some effects are negative, hostile, abusive, and threatening. But I also see the positive effects already.
I am sure that many are encouraged that someone would take time to share the Word of God with a prisoner. When Dave H. had me involved in his jail, I saw how genuinely moved the prisoners were by the Law and Gospel. In fact, during one quiet session, all the prisoners began crying and confessing their sin. One young man gave up drugs, left prison, and spoke to his former drug pals about their sinfulness.
One never knows the extent of the influence of the Word of God, but it is mortally dangerous to go against it. Luther said it best:
Preaching of the Gospel – Stone in a Pond
"The preaching of this message may be likened to a stone thrown into the water, producing ripples which circle outward from it, the waves rolling always on and on, one driving the other, till they come to the shore. Although the center becomes quiet, the waves do not rest, but move forward. So it is with the preaching of the Word. It was begun by the apostles, and it constantly goes forward, is pushed on farther and farther by the preachers, driven hither and thither into the world, yet always being made known to those who never heard it before, although it be arrested in the midst of its course and is condemned as heresy."
Sermons of Martin Luther, 8 vols., ed., John Nicholas Lenker, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1983, III, p. 202. Ascension Day Mark 16:14-20.
