Bella Vista, Arkansas

Blue jays are nesting outside our bedroom window.

Arkansas is known for its abundance of bird species. I showed visitors how bluebirds came to our large lumps of suet from Duncraft. I sent a lump home with them.

They noticed the blue jay nesting outside our bedroom window. The nest is so carefully camouflaged that I can barely find it when looking. The photo above is not mine.

We live only two hours from Branson, the place where retired people take their parents for entertainment. (Local joke) We also have many forms of live theater in this county, thanks to various organizations.

We never realized Bella Vista was organized for active retired people. We simply picked a place to live near our grandchildren. The town is organized around golf, card clubs, fishing, going to dinner, and all kinds of other activities. As someone noted, attending one newcomers meeting will lead to a host of other clubs and new friendships. No one grew up here. We are all Ishmaels.

Today we went to lunch with a couple we met at the dinner gathering. They were going to the Arkansas Wellness Center after, so we went along. We just joined. The AWC boasts two swimming pools, various gyms, billiards, a library, outdoor meeting areas, crafts, a break room, and many other features for a cost of $25 a year. Only people age 50 and up can use it. Mrs. I and the couple watched TV while using bikes, a set on each unit. I walked the circuit and used the Nautilus equipment.

Medical facilities are first-rate because of the Walmart, Tyson, and J. B. Hunt corporate centers. We are getting better care here than in Phoenix, and we were very happy with what was offered there. We found an independent pharmacy where we get great service and costs as low as the mail-in, robotic voice answering, don't give a hoot pharmacies.

We enjoy the everyday activities, such as washing and waxing the Team Jackson van with the grandchildren. We like our geezermobile, the Ichaboat. Bought from the Duggars, the Lincoln Town Car has provided great transportation at a very low cost.

Instead of worrying about the flower chart, I am growing fragrant roses for the altar. All my income is derived from sitting at my computer, teaching online, so I make my own schedule. The hours can be long, but I have a sympathetic and jovial boss - me.

Not Part-Time in Labor

Freddy Finkelstein, one of many friendly readers, described my current work as "departure from WELS and eventually from full-time ministry."

I wondered later, "Was Paul a part-time apostle when he was making tents?" I am responding just to let people know a little more. I am not comparing myself to Paul, except for when people fall asleep. Acts 20:9-12.

Many pastors work part-time but receive pay for a full-time vocation. The Sausage Factory professors are done at noon each day, and few if any preach on Sundays and during Advent and Lent. Their publishing is extremely limited, but that is for the best anyway.

I preach almost every Sunday of the year, plus Advent and Lent. We had 39 households tuning in during Holy Week, which would be a respectable number for any congregation, except ours comes from all over the world. We do not soak up synod subsidies and ladies' aid funds to finance rock and roll equipment. "How Firm a Foundation" is a hymn at our church, not a funding source.

I teach up to five religion classes at a time, plus various other courses, such as critical thinking, MA courses in education, and technology. For those who want to wag their Reformed fingers at me for teaching religion, I can only say, "You had your chance." I looked at one prof's schedule at Mequon. He taught two courses at a time. Others probably teach a little more. It's exhausting lecturing from the yellowed dog notes of J. P. Meyer and the newly published works of Fuller Seminary.

Besides, I get to teach orthodox Lutheran doctrine without a barrage of personal insults and false accusations. I quote Luther and Gerhardt with abandon and teach the efficacy of the Word. I have the liberty of linking all my published work.

The biggest response I receive in my religion classes is from quoting an entire Gerhardt hymn. Some say, "I have never heard of him before." I could respond, "Neither have many synodical conference Lutherans."

I may be wasting my time on this, but it is worth noting. A denominational school exists to promote the sect's reputation and opinions. There is a reason that "parochial" is not considered a compliment. Babtist seminaries produce Babtists, as they should. Unfortunately, Lutheran seminaries are now producing Babtists too, along with future Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox priests. Parochial schools often work at the bottom layer of Bloom's taxonomy - the repeat-after-me layer. That is why we know there are rats in the cornbin when a Lutheran seminary produces everything except a Lutheran pastor.

Academic religion is aimed at providing an education about certain topics. I have atheists, Muslims, Hindus, Protestants, and even some Lutherans in class. They have to show academic ability rather than denominational loyalty.

Because of my experience in synods, I never sought to teach religion. Now I do all the time, and I work a lot of hours. Like Tom Sawyer, I have discovered that non-required work is fun, no matter how much work it is. So blogging and writing about justification is quite enjoyable. Fortunately, I like everything else, too.

Full-time parish jobs I do not miss: meetings, worrying about the flower chart, etc.

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rlschultz has left a new comment on your post "Not Part-Time in Labor":

Last week, I had a discussion with my engineering manager about church attendance. He has been a somewhat traditional Roman Catholic his whole life. He made the observation that a generation ago, those who attended mass only on major church holidays were looked down upon. My theory was that the lack of regular home visitation by clergy contributes to sparse, irregular attendance by the laity. My conclusion being that the absence of member visitation was caused by a combination of clergy laziness and meeting burnout.
Those of us in the real world work full time, have families and property to take care of. If we neglect our jobs and other responsibilities, it comes back to bite us rather quickly.

Because of a Reformed, faulty teaching on vocation, we are told that we are truly not doing the Lord's work unless we are busy in congregational activities.

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GJ - I went to a Fuller Seminary forum. Their idea is to keep people busy to keep them happy. As the leader said, "Do this and you will have happy campers." I heard that term happy campers a lot. WELS Pastor Robert Schumann brought members to this debacle, while another St. Paul member paid my tuition so I could report on it.

Fuller has a ratio of how many activities are needed to keep a given number of members as happy campers. There are no spiritual reasons for making campers happy, any more than there is a Biblical injunction to make disciples.

Mr. Schultz is right that a lack of home visitation has led to lower attendance and general lethargy. Of course, it is much harder to find people at home and to see them at a good time, but churches always seem to do that to raise funds. In the very liberal LCA we were told, "If you visit only for stewardship, you are only going to alienate people."

Another solution is to be devoted to hospital and shut-in visits. Heaven knows there are enough of them to do. Plus funeral follow-ups. Grief is not over the day after the funeral.

A WELS DP says there is very little visitation done by any pastor in his district. Perhaps the Sausage Factory needs to re-tool and hire some Lutheran professors. After all, it's a changin' world out there and some things need changing.

Just note what The CORE does and do the opposite. That is sound doctrine.

Barabooboo: Revoting Situation

Petition Seeks Revote For Fired Baraboo Principal

Hartwig Was Fired In March

Updated: 7:05 pm CDT April 14, 2010

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BARABOO, Wis. -- A petition is being circulated among the congregation of St. John's Lutheran Church in Baraboo for a revote to reinstate former St. John's school Principal John Hartwig.Hartwig was fired by a vote in March at a meeting where women were not allowed to speak.Many said Hartwig's biggest supporters were women. Hartwig was fired mainly because of his beliefs that women should be respected more in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Church, WISC-TV reported.The church offered no comment about the petition or about whether a vote could happen Sunday to bring in a new principal to the Lutheran school.

Previous Stories:

• March 26, 2010: Daughter: Fired Principal Was Unfairly Targeted
• March 24, 2010: Church Meeting Sparks Controversy

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GJ - My advice is - Get a divorced pastor. All the divorced pastors are told by their second wives to institute women's suffrage. And they do! DMLC wives are pretty good in that role - taught by Papa Teddy Hartwig.