Unhappy with yesterday's HCR vote? Read this.

Encouraging words from Pastor Paul McCain at Cyberbrethren today, quoting Dr. Russell Moore:

“Now these three abide: anger, outrage, and fear—and the greatest of these is fear.”

That’s not in the Bible.

But sometimes I wonder if I think it is.

The United States House of Representatives just passed a health care reform bill that I and lots of other Christians opposed. Such legislation should concern us. There are some bad consequences for the weakest and most vulnerable among us, principally unborn children. But should it also concern us that so many of us are talking today about how afraid we are?

Is it a problem that some of us who are tranquil as still water about biblical doctrine and ecclesial mission are red-faced about Nancy Pelosi and the talking heads on MSNBC? Is it a problem that some who haven’t shared the gospel with their neighbors in months or years are motivated to vent to strangers on the street about how scary national health care will be?

It’s not that I think Christians should be disengaged from issues of justice (God forbid!). It’s just that I wonder if we wouldn’t represent Christ and his kingdom better if we did it with a certain tranquility of Spirit, a tranquility that signals we’re not afraid of the rise and fall of temporal kingdoms and their policies.

Here's a link to the original post...

Don’t Be Afraid: Wise Words in the Aftermath of the National Health Care Vote

On Seeking Lost Sheep One at a Time

Thanks, Pastor Schlueter. We all need to hear this, not just pastors, but all congregations and members who are envious of what's happening at their neighboring churches. The following was posted at Straight Schlueter.

I suppose its true in any other profession, but it seems that pastors are good at professional one-up-manship. Pastors like to tell tales about the stuff they have going at their parish; building programs, stewardship, average worship attendance, etc. etc. etc. It is easy (for me anyway) to come away thinking that I need to get moving and make my congregation more like theirs.

It is way too easy to get sucked in.

I was recently reading on a friend's blog a posting by Matt Harrison (find it here) and discovered a quote that I found both inspiring and at the same time helpful.

Our vocation is not to save the ninety-nine, but to seek the one. One at a time. One here and one there. One child cared for. One person nursed to health. One life saved. One hurting soul comforted with the name of Jesus. One man loved. Our vocation is not to change Haiti, or to change the whole world, or to change the economic realities with which Haitians wrestle. Our vocation is to act and make a life-changing difference one at a time. And acting one at a time, we find that over some hours, over a few days, and over a couple of weeks, the flock of those helped in the name of Jesus has grown to be surprisingly large.

Pastor Harrison is talking about the parable of the Lost Sheep from John 15 and applying it to the needs of the people in Haiti following their devastating earth quake. He points out that Jesus went after the one. One at a time. One by one. This has been for me a profound insight.

There is always that pressure to be the church that has the budget surplus, that has the great attendance, that has the busting-at-the-seems programs. (I suppose I might confess it is easy to covet...) So churches always try to become this by implementing policies and adopting programs. "If they haven't attended in 3 years, drop them from the roles." "Let's write a series of form letters." "Let's hire a consultant to tell us how we can fix ourselves." These things don't work, or if they do work they have worked the wrong thing. Faithful pastoring doesn't mean you have budget surpluses and rear ends in the pews. It means that you preach God's Word; law and gospel. Week in and week out. And, when necessary, one at a time.

Instead of cleaning up the roles, instead of lopping off the dead wood, I have resolved to seek one. Reach out to one with God's Word. Rightly divide it. Mercifully apply it. And who knows, maybe after a time the flock will have grown quite large.

Newsletter Article for September 2009

Commitment to Christian Education

September is here. School is beginning. Families have been buying new clothes for school, new backpacks, new notebooks, new pencils and pens. Students are excited to move up a grade, perhaps begin attending a new school. And they're a little anxious, too. What will my new teacher be like? Will I meet new friends? Will they like me?

With the new school year comes a new season of Sunday School. If only we put the same amount of effort preparing for Sunday School as we do preparing for Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday-Friday School. Sadly, Sunday School is often an afterthought. An extra hour at church on Sunday morning seems to be just too much for some families. Now certainly, many families do indeed teach their children Bible stories at home … and the home is, of course, the primary place where Christian education ought to take place. But I'm not always sure that is the case. This is evident to me in Confirmation instruction when so many of the students don't even know basic Bible stories.

But the phenomenon of the decline in Sunday School attendance is not unique to our congregation. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal dealt with this topic. The author first explains the origins of Sunday School as an effort to reach out to the poor children in England in the 1780's during the Industrial Revolution. She goes on to describe her own childhood, when not attending Sunday School was unthinkable. Then she writes,

The decline in Sunday schools appears to be gradual but steady. A study by the Barna Group indicated that in 2004 churches were 6% less likely to provide Sunday school for children ages 2 to 5 as in 1997. For middle-school kids, the decline was to 86% providing Sunday school in 2004 from 93% in 1997. Similarly, there was a six-percentage-point drop in Sunday schools offered for high school kids – to 80% from 86%. All in all, about 20,000 fewer churches were maintaining Sunday-school classes …

A number of reasons can be given for the decline, including an increasingly secular society and the other demands on the time of the average child …

Ultimately, if Sunday school is to thrive, parental involvement is necessary – somebody has to say, “Go.” But who? The Rev. Neil MacQueen, a Presbyterian minister who develops software programs for Sunday schools, cites a crucial factor in the decline of Sunday-school attendance: divorce. On any given Sunday, many children of divorced parents are out of town, visiting "the other" parent.

Despite all of these factors, Sunday school may not be bound for extinction any time soon. As Keith Drury, an associate professor at Indiana Wesleyan University, notes, Sunday school “has been ignored, starved of attention,” and ministers and laity have started all kinds of other programs that compete with it. But it just keeps going and going.

Sometimes it seems that middle-class kids today are as spiritually untutored as the industrial poor of Robert Raikes's England. So maybe there is still a niche to fill.

I don't think Sunday School is “bound for extinction.” And I'm not so sure the answer is to introduce flashier programs and technology. I think a huge influence is parents coming to the Adult Bible Class and setting the example for their children, as the children themselves head off to their Sunday School classes. And as I have been encouraging over the last few weeks in church, I would love to see some adults volunteer to teach who do not have small children. The mothers of our small children need a break on Sunday so that they can attend Bible study. And remember, you don't need to volunteer for the whole year. Perhaps you can volunteer just for a quarter. If we had a whole cadre of volunteer Sunday School teachers to draw from, then our teachers would not tire as easily. It can be taxing keeping the attention of a crowd of little ones and the interest of a group of middle- and high-schoolers.

Our volunteers are also provided with wonderful resources to help teach. We use the curriculum from our synodical publisher, Concordia Publishing House. Their material is thorough, flexible, helps the teacher distinguish Law and Gospel in the lessons, and above all is Christ-centered and always points the children to Jesus and the forgiveness and salvation he earned for us at the cross. And the lesson preparation material which is provided is a Bible study in itself. You, as a volunteer, will always learn more than the children do, as you read the lesson commentary included in the teachers' guide.

Above all, consider the great privilege and opportunity we have to teach God's Word to the young ones among us, those whom our parents entrust to the care of our Sunday School. Shouldn't we give this the utmost care and concern and commitment? Let's not see this as a burden, but rather as a joyful task, teaching our children the story of salvation through the stories in the Bible, and showing them how God has included them in that plan of salvation through their Baptism and the faith which he has given them and which he sustains as they hear the Good News about Jesus.

If you are interested in teaching Sunday School, please speak with our Sunday School Superintendent, Jackie Nolte, or you can also let me know, and I will pass your name along to her.


In Christ's service and yours,

Pastor Onken

I do more than just repent all week

That's what a young man in my congregation once thought pastors did once Sunday services were over ... until he found out I was just a normal guy. I even like to watch baseball games.

But what DO pastors do all week? Click here to read some reflections on this by my friend Pastor Greg Alms at his blog Incarnatus Est.

December Book-of-the-Month

From the Amazon.com website:

Culture expert Gene Veith unpacks the biblical, Reformation teaching about the doctrine of vocation, emphasizing not what we should specifically do with our time or what careers we are called to, but what God does in and through our callings--even within the home. In each task He has given us--in our workplaces and families, our churches and society--God Himself is at work. Veith guides you to discover God's purpose and calling in those seemingly ordinary areas by providing you with a spiritual framework for thinking about such issues and for acting upon them with a changed perspective.

To order at church, call the office to reserve your copy or order online by clicking here.