Potpourri

I considered using Hodge-Podge or Miscellany in the title, but my word choice had a more refined air about it.  Anyway, I offer the following bits for your pleasure.

The Pastoral Touch of Jonathan Edwards: Three Examples by Jeff Lacine – I was touched by Edwards' pastoral heart. Honestly, it took me by surprised.  That shows how unaware I am of his life.

Discount Books – If you happen to be in the vicinity of Notre Dame University, there are good discounts being offered for some titles. Check it out.

Pastoral Formation in Theological Education: Retrospect and Prospect by John Kleining – The author itemizes concerns for the Lutheran church in Australia, many of which relate to denominations and local churches in the U.S.

• The disappearance of the family altar and of sound Lutheran spirituality from members
• Pastors who have been taught to offer inept psychological counselling rather than spiritual care to their members and people in need
• The prevailing Pentecostal-Protestant theology that teaches the real absence of Christ and separates the Spirit from the word
• The spirituality of neo-Gnosticism with its contempt for the created order and the body, a spirituality that sanctions abortion, euthanasia, divorce, and homosexual intercourse
• The managerial approach to church leadership and organization with its reliance on psychological and sociological data as a modern kind of divination
• The view that success in the ministry of the gospel can be assessed by a pastor’s performance rather than by his faithfulness in receiving and delivering divine gifts
• Theology and practice that is “Unitarian” rather than truly Trinitarian with a proper understanding of the order of relations in the Trinity and the cooperation of all three persons of the Trinity in dealing with us
• The growing disillusionment of the Lutheran churches in Africa and Asia with the Lutheran World Federation and their need for theological help in countering the challenges of Pentecostalism, secularism, and Islam
• The resurgence of Islam and its spread in the so-called Christian West with its promise of law and order and its charge of sacrilegious immorality against the church

He goes on to note several points to turn the tide at the seminary level.  I especially enjoyed number four:

4. We should teach our students how to use God’s efficacious word in the divine service and in pastoral care.

Practice and promote the sufficiency of scripture.  What a thought!