Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Polluted WELS Blog



http://pollutedwels.blogspot.com/

TUESDAY, JULY 1, 2014


Two Impertinent Questions

Question 1: Does this look like a worship service or a rock concert? Be honest.
















Question 2: Since when is Koine writing original songs? I thought they were "kosher" because "they only sing songs right out of the hymnal".





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MONDAY, JUNE 30, 2014


Youth Rally Tally, Day 3

First, click here to read the official summary of the third day of the recent WELS International Youth Rally.
Now, let's tally the results. How many times do each of the following words appear?
  • I: 5
  • we: 2
  • Jesus: 0
  • Christ: 1
  • grace: 1 (the name of a congregation)
  • Word: 1
  • Sacraments: 0
No fear? I’m very afraid.
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Youth Rally Tally, Day 2

First, click here to read the official summary of the second day of the recent WELS International Youth Rally.
Now, let's tally the results. How many times do each of the following words appear?
  • I: 4
  • us: 2
  • Jesus: 0
  • Christ: 1 (the name of a congregation)
  • grace: 0
  • Word: 1
  • Sacraments: 0
No fear? I’m very afraid.
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Youth Rally Tally, Day 1

First, click here to read the official summary of the first day of the recent WELS International Youth Rally.
Now, let's tally the results. How many times do each of the following words appear?
  • we: 5
  • Koine: 3
  • Jesus: 0
  • Christ: 0
  • grace: 0
  • Word: 0
  • Sacraments: 0
No fear? I’m very afraid.
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 2014

Insecurity

One last (I promise) post about the International Youth Rally. 

Whenever teenagers gather together, insecurity fills the air. At the youth rally, though, it wasn't the teens who were insecure, it was the leaders.

Yes, that's right. Those who planned and led the youth rally are insecure about Lutheranism. They think that Lutheranism is boring and they dread the teens thinking that they're boring. Just like insecure teenagers, they want nothing more than to seem cool and "relevant".

They're wrong, though. True Lutheranism isn't boring. True Lutheranism is always relevant. Nothing in the world is more vital and invigorating than the power of the living Christ in word and water and bread and wine. 

The problem is that they've robbed Lutheranism of its power by emptying Word and Sacrament of their meaning. And thus, they're insecure about being Lutheran without understanding what being Lutheran is actually about. 



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TUESDAY, JULY 1, 2014

Training Camp

Am I being too harsh in criticizing the recent International Youth Rally? Absolutely not. I'm convinced that these youth rallies are destructive to our congregations and, more seriously, destructive to the faith of our young people.

The International Youth Rally is nothing more than training camp for future non-denominational mega-church members. These kids spend a few days "rocking out for Jesus" and listening to speakers telling them they can totally "overcome all of life's adversities", but then what?

They go back to their home congregations. The hymns aren't "rocking" and the pastor talks about stuff like sin--what a bummer! So what do they do? 

Hey, that non-denominational mega-church down the road looks and sounds exactly like what we experienced at the youth rally! Let's start going there instead!

Just that easily, these kids have left the truth of Confessional Lutheranism to chase after that emotional high they felt at the youth rally.
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Posted by Ichabod the Glory Has Departed at 9:07 PM
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