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| Happy Anniversary, Gary and Alicia. |
One member wrote something like this, "We journey through life alone."
I agreed - in the sense of faith being individual. No one can make another one believe.
But I soon thought about the second greatest invention after the printing press - the Internet. Clayton M. Christensen became the advocate of disruptive economics, where a new player comes in and changes all the rules. That is why heritage industries often fail when facing a start-up with new rules.
As Ben Stein wrote long ago in the American Spectator, the Internet unites people with common interests. His father Herb Stein, famous economist under Nixon, enjoyed discussing his favorite books over the Net, with special interest groups.
Therefore, traditional Lutherans are not alone, thanks to the Internet. In fact, how else would I communicate with one person from Indiana, others in Iowa, a group of relatives in Washington, our Philippine missionary pastor, the East Coast, Michiganders, and many more?
Relatively few clergy respond individually, but quite a few read the blog. One person wrote me, laughing, that all the screens were on Ichabod during the WELS convention.
The daily connections really matter, and one person can make a crucial difference. One person suggested the House Postils and another person got them into print, with only a little help from me. the House Postils advocate kept suggesting the Election issue, which was Walther's attempt to back up CFW's Calvinistic Objective Justification. That will be a book this year, d.v.
Once we started on the printing of Pilgrim's Progress, another person said, "Why not have a class on it?" That is leading to another book.
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| HAL is colder than a Friendship Sunday in WELS. |
Conversations (often - but not always - by email) accomplish a lot in dealing with doctrinal questions and addressing frustrations with the Age of HAL - the publisher's robot.
Thanks to streaming video, we can provide the Means of Grace for anyone with broadband and a computer. All we have is "spare room in a rented house," but our Founder started with far less.
