The Burr in the Burgh

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I saw this over at Incarnatus Est. It's hilarious.

A guy named Roger is attracted to a woman named Elaine. He asks her out to a movie; she accepts. They have a pretty good time. A few nights later, he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy themselves. They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing anybody else.

And then, one evening when they're driving home, a thought occurs to Elaine and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: "Do you realize that, as of tonight, we've been seeing each other for exactly six months?"

And then there is silence in the car. To Elaine, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: Gosh, I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he's been feeling confined by our relationship. Maybe he thinks I'm trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn't want, or isn't sure of.

And Roger is thinking: Wow, six months.

And Elaine is thinking: But hey, I'm not so sure I want this kind of relationship either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I'd have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily toward.... I mean, where are we going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person?

And Roger is thinking: So that means it was ... let's see ... February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer's, which means ... lemme check the odometer ... Whoa! I am way overdue for an oil change here!

And Elaine is thinking: He's upset. I can see it on his face. Maybe I'm reading this completely wrong. Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment. Maybe he has sensed -- even before I sensed it -- that I was feeling some reservations. Yes, I bet that's it. That's why he's so reluctant to say anything about his own feelings. He's afraid of being rejected.

And Roger is thinking: And I'm gonna have them look at the transmission again. I don't care what those morons say, it's still not shifting right. And they'd better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time. What cold weather? It's 87 degrees out, and this thing is shifting like a crummy garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves $600!

And Elaine is thinking: He's angry. And I don't blame him. I'd be angry, too. Oh, I feel so guilty, putting him through this, but I can't help the way I feel. I'm just not sure.

And Roger is thinking: They'll probably say it's only a 90-day warranty. That's exactly what they're gonna say, the scumballs!

And Elaine is thinking: Maybe I'm just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I'm sitting right next to a perfectly good person, a person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who seems to care about me, a person who is in pain because of my self-centered, schoolgirl, romantic fantasy.

And Roger is thinking: Warranty? They want a warranty? I'll give them a warranty! I'll take their warranty and stick it....

"Roger," Elaine says aloud.

"What?" says Roger, startled.

"Please don't torture yourself like this," she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Maybe I should never have said ... Oh, I feel so...." She breaks down sobbing.

"What?" says Roger.

"I'm such a fool," Elaine sobs. "I mean, I know there's no knight; I really know that. It's silly. There's no knight and there's no horse."

"There's no horse?" says Roger.

"You think I'm a fool, don't you?" Elaine asks.

"No!" says Roger. He's glad he finally knows the correct answer.

"It's just that ... that ... I need some more time," Elaine says.

There is a long pause while Roger, thinking as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe response. Finally, he comes up with one that he thinks might work.

"Yes," he says.

Elaine, deeply moved, touches his hand. "Oh Roger, do you really feel that way?" she asks.

"What way?" asks Roger.

"That way, about time," says Elaine.

"Oh," says Roger. "Yes."

Elaine turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse. At last she speaks.

"Thank you, Roger," she says.

"Thank you," says Roger.

Then he takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn. Roger, in the meantime, gets back to his place, opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the TV, and immediately becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a tennis match between two Czechoslovakians he never heard of. A tiny voice in the far recesses of his mind tells him that something major was going on back there in the car, but he is pretty sure that there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures it's better if he doesn't think about it. (This is also Roger's policy regarding world hunger.)

The next day, Elaine will call her closest friend, or perhaps two of them, and they will talk about this situation for six straight hours. In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and everything he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression, and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification. They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it, either.

Meanwhile, Roger, while playing squash one day with Elaine's brother, will pause just before serving, frown, and say: "Bill, did Elaine ever own a horse?"

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"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." (Psalm 116:15)

A dear teacher and father in the faith, Kurt Marquart, has gone on to the church triumphant. The victory is ours through Christ our Lord.

What I always appreciated about Prof. Marquart was his clarity. He was able to speak about profound matters in ways that the careful listener could comprehend. Being his student was great joy. His unique sense of humor, his dignified manner, and his impressive intellect will be long remembered by Lutheran pastors and laity in America, Australia, Russia, and Haiti (among other places) where he frequently taught.

See here for more.

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Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity. That's the name of the latest book by Lauren Winner who also wrote the memoir entitled: Girl Meets God: A Memoir. Ms. Winner was the first plenary speaker for our conference on love and marriage. I have to admit that I was quite impressed. I have not read any of her works, but I figured she would be very articulate. I was impressed by her analysis of the currents of our culture.

The title of her paper was "Allowing Sex to Be Ordinary." She observed that the sexual revolution has not only impacted our views on non-marital sex but also on marital sex. She challenged us to answer "what is good sex?"

Those who engage in non-marital sexual relations refer to it as exciting. It is a thrill precisely because it is illicit and unpredictable. In other words, the excitement is derived from its inherent instability.

On the other hand, married sex is often decried as dull and ordinary. Ms. Winner states that the difference btwn marital and non-marital sex is . . . excitement. And she argues that we Christians capitulate to the currents of our world when we believe that marital sex is only good when it more closely resembles non-marital sex. So all sorts of advice is given to "spice up" our bedrooms, going from embarrasing to bizarre.

But allowing sex to be ordinary is the more counter-cultural approach. Marital sex is good because it is comforting, familiar, clumsy and a natural part of domestic life.

Anyhoo, I thought she made some provocative points and now intend to read her book.

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I'm currently reading A Man in Full by Tom Wolfe and enjoying it very much. In one spot, the observation is made that some people are planners and others are doers. Life can be compared to a shooting match.

In a shooting match, your motto ought to be: Ready, Aim, Fire.

For many of us, it ends up being either: Ready, Fire, Aim or Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim, Aim...

Are you the type of person who acts without thinking? You shoot before you aim? Or are the type of person who thinks and considers, then re-thinks and re-considers, and then thinks some more before making a move, possibly never even getting around the "fire" stage?

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There is now hard scientific evidence that celebrities are narcissistic. Really?! See here. I think I also read about a new controversial study which has discovered that water is wet and another one that heat is hot.

An interesting sub-point of this study reveals that professional musicians - arguably the most highly skilled category of celebrities - are the least self-absorbed. And women from reality shows - the least talented - are the most self-absorbed.

"I was sort of amazed by this study," said narcissism expert W. Keith Campbell, associate professor of psychology at the University of Georgia.

Really?! I'm not a "narcissism expert" but I found nothing amazing about this at all.

Interestingly, the experts make a distinction between narcissism and egotism. Narcissists, they say, actually hate themselves and they are compensating. Egotists genuinely do believe they're the best since sliced bread.

Martin Luther identified man's problem as being "curved in on himself." One modern theologian said man is radically self-centered. How does that jibe with the report that so many suffer from self-loathing? That's easy to answer. The opposite of pride is not self-hatred. The opposite of egotism is not narcissism. In fact, self-hatred is really just another form of self-worship because it all centers on the self.

Sinful pride is when one loves oneself above all things. And everyone is guilty of that, even if they loathe everything about themselves. Humility, on the other hand, is not self-deprecation. Humility means to not think of oneself at all.

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When I departed from my con-
gregation in Pittsburgh, people said they hoped I'd still have occasion to preach. I will, but for now I am enjoying hearing good preaching for myself.

I have often thought about what are the necessary ingredients for good and effective preaching. Most fundamental, of course, is that the message remain Christ-centered; properly distinguishing law and gospel; highlighting the cross, forgiveness and justification; sacramental; ecclesial; and eschatological.

That having been said, the most orthodox preaching in the world helps no one if it is not heard. And hearing means more than simply that the sound waves vibrate the eardrums. Hearing includes understanding. Or as Jesus would say, you can have ears and still not hear or eyes and still not see.

In the post below, I mention two outstanding sermons that I heard today. What made them outstanding? A number of things. But one thing that stands out is that they were clear. It seems to me that what taints much of the Lutheran preaching I have heard is that it lacks clarity.

To me, this is the most difficult part of sermon preparation. I can write textual and orthodox sermons. That is relatively easy. What is less easy - at least to me - is to compose text for the ear instead of for the eye. Writing for the ear is a different skill than writing for the eye. When you are reading a page, you can go at your own pace. You can pause to think. You can re-read complicated sentences. But when you listen to oral exposition, you do not have those luxuries. We preachers need to keep that in mind. Preachers can have quite varying styles and still remain effective communicators. But however you do it, people need to be able to leave the building and know what they've just heard. It troubles me when a person listens, truly sits and listens to a sermon, but can't tell you much about it one hour later.

Part of the responsibility falls to the person in the pew, of course. Get enough sleep on Saturday night. Don't come to church expecting to be entertained. Pray for the ability to receive and understand God's Word. And be an active listener. Take notes, if it helps. I often do.

But preachers can't content themselves with writing orthodox manuscripts, though that is certainly essential. I'm not advocating that we water down the message. I'm not saying you have to dumb everything down to the lowest common denominator. I am saying that people today have more difficulty following oral presentation than they did a hundred years ago and so we generally perform a dis-service from the pulpit when we write like Victorians. Oh, that's not always the case. Congregations differ widely. And what you may be able to pull off quite well, may flop for me. And vice-versa.

I have heard and read sermons that used humor effectively and others that belittled the gospel with flippancy. No man should enter a pulpit unless he does so with fear and trembling. Sometimes illustrations do help to make a point. Other times, the preacher merely uses the biblical text as a pretext. The tail wags the dog. And the illustration becomes a point of its own. Cliche and trite expressions deaden the mind. Avoid them like the plague (wink).

A sermon that speaks should have meaty content, but should resonate with the average person. Don't be a clown, but watch out for the dreaded "pulpit tone." Be dignified but not hifalutin.

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I heard two outstanding sermons today from two different preachers.

• This morning at Redeemer, Pastor Petersen offered a homily on Luke 10:25ff. Jesus said to love our neighbors as ourselves and the man asked, "who is my neighbor?" Pr. Petersen reminded us that everyone is our neighbor. No loopholes and no exceptions. Everyone is Jesus' neighbor and He loves us as He loves Himself.

• Then later today, President Wenthe preached at the opening service at which I was also installed. In his sermon, he talked about having perspective. Depending on one's perspective, a thing can be either a blessing or a disappointment. Then he emphasized that a Christian gets his perspective from God's house. What is the lens through which to correctly view God, ourselves and the world? Preaching and Sacrament.

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16 year old Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) plays the mother of God in the upcoming film due out in December 06. It's called The Nativity Story. Originally the title was going to just be Nativity. I wonder why the name change.

Readers of this blog know that I am a fan of the Anne Rice novel, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt. Variety is reporting that Ms. Rice has sold the movie rights to her book. See here.

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When I was a pastor in Pittsburgh, lots of people in the community called me "father." Pittsburgh is a heavily Roman Catholic area. I never stopped anyone or "corrected" them for this. Although addressing a Lutheran pastor as "father" is uncommon in the US, there is nothing wrong with it.

If someone asked me how I wish to be referred to, I'd say, "Call me Pastor or Pastor Stiegemeyer. Just don't call me late for supper."

When I introduce myself, I always just give my name and position. "Hi. I'm Scott Stiegemeyer, the pastor at such-and-so" or "I'm Scott Stiegemeyer, the Director of Admissions." I seldom use the word reverend of myself. Though I always refer to other clergy that way.

Sometimes, people would call me "Pastor Scott." Again, I think that's simply because of it being common in Roman Catholicism.

Occasionally people skip the titles altogether and just called me by my first name. I really never had this happen much. It seems to me that a pastor should not insist on respect or the use of honorifics for himself. Jesus never told anyone, "That's Reverend Jesus to you."

I consider myself fairly traditional. I am generally unhappy with the decline of manners in our society. And I certainly believe the pastoral office should be honored. But while I will make a fuss over respecting my fellow clergy, it is unseemly for a pastor to demand respect for himself.

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So here is a case in England of a woman who has been diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state, similar to Terri Schiavo. New tests now show that this british patient has more mental awareness than her doctors had thought. The article states:

Lead researcher Dr Adrian Owen said: "These are startling results. They confirm that, despite the diagnosis of a vegetative state, this patient retained the ability to understand spoken commands and to respond to them through her brain activity."

I can't say how or if these findings relate to the Schiavo case. But it does demonstrate that doctors do not always know what they are talking about. They are constantly learning new things and daily updating and revising their findings. Which is why so many of us who believe that all human life is to be valued wanted to protect Mrs. Schiavo from her husband's desire to starve her to death.

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At a meeting on Tuesday, President Wenthe led a devotion on Psalm 1. The english translates v.2 this way:

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

The word for "law" there, of course, is torah. The point Dr. Wenthe made is that the Hebrew word torah, though usually rendered as "law," can also refer to gospel.

What do I mean by law and gospel? Both are God's word but they do different things to me. The law kills and the gospel gives life. The law accuses and the gospel pardons. It is impossible for my sinful heart to delight in being accused and killed by the law. But the new me in Christ can delight in the law as the necessary prelude to the gospel which justifies me and regenerates me.

But I want to shine the spotlight on the word "delights." The message of Christ is delightful. Being a child of God is delightful. It is a delight to follow Christ. It is a delight to hear his words. It is a delight to reside in his church. And it is a delight to serve others in his name.

Hey, don't get me wrong. I'm all for gloom, despair and agony. They're actually my personal specialty. Left alone, I'd be the sourest, meanest, angriest, most self-pitying, most introverted cuss in the world. But "delight?" That has to come from outside myself.

Organic pathologies aside, it just seems to me that the more we get the idea that we are clean in Christ and in God's good favor, the delight would bust our seams.

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Are you the next Jackson Pollock? Find out by going here. Change colors by clicking your mouse and hit refresh for a clean slate.

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So is Bob Dylan recovering his Jewish identity? Looks like a hasidic hat.

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In the previous blog post, a reader commented that the seminary should not call the qualified but qualify the called. Initially, I think his point was that we should remember that pastors (and pastors-to-be) are sinners too. I'm a pastor, and I am all too dreadfully aware of my own inadequacies and wickedness.

But if I may, I would like to address what I believe to be a common misunderstanding. It has to do with the notion of being called by God. I would disagree with my reader. The seminary recruitment office does not go looking for men who are called whom we will then train. Instead, we look for men who have certain qualities and aptitudes who will then receive a call. My reader is putting the cart before the horse. The tail is wagging the dog.

Who is called by God? If you tell me that you are called by God to be a pastor, my first question is: "How do you know?" How do you know you are called by God and it's not a figment of your own mind or a deception of the devil?

There are only two ways a man could be called by God. Either directly or through means. Either the church has selected, layed hands upon and sent you or you have been selected and sent directly by God without mediation. Those are the only two possibilities. Usually, God calls men through the church. He certainly can and has called men directly. But if you have a direct call from God, you ought to be able to demonstrate this with signs and wonders.

There is no such thing as an inner call to the ministry. The scriptures never speak of such a thing. You might have an inclination to be a pastor. You might be uniquely talented for the ministry. You might have a desire to serve. And this inclination, talent and desire might come from God. But that is not a call.

So no, we do not qualify the called. We call the qualified.

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As the new Director of Admission at CTS-FW, I've been thinking a lot lately about recruiting students to study at the seminary. I've been particularly considering the dual need for both excellent and well-qualified students AND the need to recruit a greater number of students.

It is good for the institution to increase enrollment. Putting it very crassly, larger enrollment translates to more money. No one here is getting rich but more money translates into being able to improve and expand the seminary programs. It means a growing endowment and, hopefully, an ever brighter and solid future.

More than that - and this is the real reason I think of numbers - an increase in enrollment is good for the church. It means more men trained and certified for ordination. It means more preachers to further the divine mission of the church which is to make disciples of all nations.

On the other side, however, the church is very discerning about whom it ordains for pastoral ministry. The biblical requirements are very clear. He must be above reproach, apt to teach, have a stable family life, etc. The requirements for admission to the seminary are, in some ways, more stringent than the most elite Ivy League campus. Can we afford to be so selective? We can't afford not to be.

As I was reading some articles on the Office of the Ministry, I stumbled across this quote from Joseph Stump:

It is the duty of the Church carefully to select and train men for the holy office of the ministry, and she should not set men apart for it without due consideration of their physical, mental and spiritual qualifications. She is to lay hands suddenly on no man (1 Tim. 5:22), but is to see to it that only those are admitted to the office who have the requisite natural gifts, common sense, and Christian faith and piety; and who have received the necessary academic and theological training. Ordinarily this training ought to include a full course in college or university and in a theological seminary. Few exceptions, and those only for the best of reasons, should be made. The demand for quality in the ministry to-day is very great. The Lord not only needs men for the ministry, but He needs gifted and well-trained men. (Joseph Stump)

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One of my favorite movies of the last ten years is Memento starring Guy Pearce. Like a lot of movies that appeal to me, it is kind of depressing. I like movies the same way I like coffee, chocolate, and beer: dark and bitter. But it is very thought-provoking and brilliantly constructed.

The premise of the film is that Guy Pearce has a strange malady where he cannot form any new memories. He knows how to read and drive and so forth, but about every 15 minutes his brain resets. So if he excuses himself during lunch to go to the men's room, he'll completely forget who he was eating with and why by the time he comes back out.

He also happens to be stuck in the middle of a murder mystery. So the only way he can function and pull himself out of his mess is by writing little memos all over his body to remind him who is friend and who is foe. It's really excellent.

Yesterday, I heard President Wenthe make an interesting connection. He mentioned this film and compared it to the situation of many contemporary Christians. He said that people who have no memory, lose their identity.

One of the most important things we can do to resist the Enemy's strategems is to remain knowledgeable of our history as the people of God. It's not just that when we forget the past, we are destined to repeat it, although I think that's true enough. It's that God is unfolding the salvation of His people through space and time. We really do stand on the shoulders of giants. We can see so much farther when we stand firmly on the great fathers and doctors of the faith than when we insist on idolizing the now. Many folks today think that if it's newer, it must be truer. Once upon a time, people looked to the aged for wisdom. Now many think the aged have nothing worthwhile to offer and that the youth have the answers.

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The Da Vinci Code if it were written a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.... See here.

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One of my favorite Shakespeare tragedies is Othello. I thought the movie version a few years ago with Kenneth Branagh and Laurence Fishburne was awesome. But one of the major weaknesses of the play, in my opinion, is the character Iago. He is a classic villain. A delicious role for any actor, I'm sure. But the problem, as I see it, is that he is too evil. It's unrealistic. No one is that bad. He has no redeemable characteristics at all. They say that even Hitler loved children and dogs.

OK, that's a weird preface for me to talk about the newest Oliver Stone picture, World Trade Center. I say this because I am a person who hates Oliver Stone's previous movies. I loathe and despise them for their anti-Americanism and bizarro attempts to revise history. And so, my natural reaction when I found out he was making a movie about 9/11 was "Oh, good grief! This'll be aweful." Another screeching Bush-is-the-source-of-all-evil bit of leftist propaganda. How boring. How unimaginative.

That was how I felt until I started reading the reviews. I still have not yet actually seen the film. This short review by James M. Kushiner at Touchstone is interesting. It's brief so, if this interests you at all, please read the link. What intrigues me most is the suggestive religious themes -even Christian themes- Kushiner refers to.

I'm still unhappy with Stone's other movies but maybe I Iago-ized him in my mind. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

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Hi. Our seminary campus is hosting a campus visit for prospective students in Sept. I just wrote a letter for the website which you can read here.

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Based on the responses I've gotten both on this blog and via e-mail, I do not intend to change the name of my blog even though I no longer live in Pittsburgh. My reasons have to do with branding, recognition, etc. Plus, Rev. McCain made a good point (twice) about indexing on Google. So "The Burr in the Burgh" we shall remain.

However, I was really disappointed not to be able to send that mix CD to anyone. So, for the first person to correctly guess how many fingers I am holding up, I will award a disk with some of my favorite pop tunes.

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Since I am no longer in the "Burgh," a number of people have asked about changing the name of the blog. I have thought I'd just leave it as it is. However, if you have a decent suggestion for a new name, please comment. In fact, I'll take suggestions for the next seven days. If I choose to use one of your suggestions, I will send you - the winner - a personal mix CD of some of my favorite tunes.

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Every day, I read through all the blogs on my blogroll. The reason I put them on my blogroll is because they are blogs I like to read. There are other good blogs out there that I read as time allows, but these definitely get reviewed daily. Well, almost daily. On super busy days, I may actually only view 5 or 6 of them. But if I have access to a computer in a given day, I will most certainly read David Petersen's CyberStones. He will probably think I'm flattering him so, for that reason, I hope he does not see this post. But you really should visit his blog.

Today's post really hit home. He writes about the life of the pastor's wife, in particular. It's more of a personal reflection. But one that I wish to echo. Having just left a wonderful congregation to serve the church in a different fashion at the seminary, thoughts such as Pr. Petersen expresses have been flooding through my brain.

I can't speak for the experience of other pastors and their wives. But my Julie is the perfect "pastor's wife." There are unique challenges being married to a pastor. I'll acknowledge that. But unique blessings as well.

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The Stiegemeyer moving saga continues. I know you will all be relieved to know that we FINALLY located Jacob's Playstation games and equipment. Again, if you don't have an 11 year old boy around, you may not quite understand how grave that problem was.

Yesterday, Julie and I went out and bought a bunch of furniture. In 16 years of marriage, we've never really gotten master bedroom furniture. So we took the dive yesterday.

My office is finally starting to shape up. Still a long way to go, but now I at least feel like I can start working there without having to weave through a sea of boxes.

In spite of the hassles, we've been very happy. The campus is beautiful. We know all our neighbors. Jacob is going to an excellent Lutheran school and is making lots of new friends. It is wonderful to be here associated with the seminary again. We sorely miss our friends and loved ones in Pittsburgh, but if we had to go somewhere, this was the right place.

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Kim Riddlebarger's blog has this interesting post on the growing threat of Islamic Fascism.

Here is a snippet:

The irony is that twenty years ago this threat was not even on the radar. Who would have thought that American evangelicalism would become so doctrinally wimpy as to be helpless against Islamic growth and ideology? Seeker-centered worship and vapid felt-need oriented preaching are quickly exposed for what they are in the face of a threat like Islamic expansion. Islam is growing and expanding in most communities in the United States, probably yours. And what are you doing about it?

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Stuff. It's not like we had enough stuff already. Now we're trying to acquire more stuff to add to the stuff we already possessed.

Today, Julie and I began our venture to acquire furniture for the master bedroom. Isn't there a reality show we could be on where someone does this for us? But we figured it was time to get an actual bed and real dressers, etc.

Jacob is sweating bullets because we have not yet located his Playstation games. Unless you have an 11 year old boy in your house, you do not realize the gravity of this problem.

I know that my netflix subscription registered the address change because today arrived the next episodes of 24. This gives us something to look forward to this evening. Relaxing with a riveting drama of the adventures of Jack Bauer (whom - I believe - could whip Chuck Norris with one hand tied behind him).

For those who are interested, I just started reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. I'm not usually one for westerns but this is so elegantly written, it's a treat whatever the genre.

And finally, what a pleasure it was to be guests at Grant and Pam Knepper's home this evening. Thanks, yinz, for the awesome burgers and those to-kill-for brownies. And hows about that Boston Terrier! Sir Bailey of Irish Cream. You've never been looked at until one of these fellers pokes his peepers at ya.

Tomorrow, I expect to unpack another gobzillion boxes and maybe (please, please, please) start to hang things on our walls. THAT'S when you begin to know you're moved in, when the things on the walls.

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The movers arrived yesterday and unloaded our stuff. Very few casualties to report. A couple of nicks and scratches. They lost the screw-on legs to the loveseat so it's about 3 inches shorter. Also, my big wide wooden desk didn't fit, so that has to be resolved somehow. After 16 years of marriage, Julie and I are going to finally get bedroom furniture, so the master bedroom, right now, has only boxes.

Jacob is like a fish in water. We were awake yesterday for less than an hour when he latched onto four or five other neighborhood boys around his age. So his day was spent riding bikes, playing baseball, exploring and swimming. He's in bliss.

Now I have to go to the office and start getting oriented.

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What a day!

This morning, a friend of Julie's came to help us load our cars and close up the parsonage. Then at about 10:45, we drove away in separate cars. Julie took the dog and the boy. I took the two cats. I had to zip by the library to return some books and make one final stop in the local Caribou Coffee.

But we made it. While Julie took Jacob to "back-to-school" night at his new Lutheran school, I took Lucy, the Golden Retriever, on a stroll around this beautiful 190 acre campus. She chased ducks and took a little swim in the lake. Fun for her, but not so fun for me because I had to give her a quick bath to get rid of the stinky fish smell she acquired.

It was quite a thrill walking through our new house because a friend painted several of the rooms for us and we hadn't seen them yet. I'll get some photos up as soon as I can. The one bathroom (Jacob's) is great because she painted the walls with an "under the sea" theme. I'll let the upcoming photos speak for themselves.

Tonight, we're camping out in our new house on the seminary campus with sleeping bags and borrowed bedding (thank you Grant and Pam). And early tomorrow, the truck arrives with all our stuff. Soon enough this house will be home.

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This image of my handsome and incredibly photogenic 11 year old son shows pretty much how all the Stiegemeyers feel today.

This morning, I preached my final sermon as the pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church, Brentwood, Pa. Our district president, Dr. John Brunner, was there to assist and offer prayers and a blessing for me and my family. It meant a lot to me for him to be there.

Then in the afternoon, the wonderful people of my congregation had a lovely farewell luncheon. Several other local pastors were there. The turnout was huge. So many kinds words and wishes and prayers. Julie and I were truly overwhelmed. We are so thankful for our time here and the many friends we have made.

This evening, we stopped over to visit a parishoner who recently had major surgery and could not attend the events today. As we were leaving their house, Julie was a bit teary and said, "It's like leaving family." And indeed, this congregation is family to us.

Tomorrow, we drive to the next stage in life's adventure: Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN where I will become the new Director of Admission.

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The Stiegemeyer clan is moving. The movers have invaded our home, packed our stuff and are finishing loading the truck today. Talk about having your whole life thrown into a flurry.

I remain excited about my future working at the seminary. (Read this). But I have to admit it was kinda sad last night walking through the empty barren house. Julie was annoyed by all the dust bunnies who no longer had anywhere to hide. The cats were COMPLETELY disoriented, poor girls. Lucy, the Golden Retriever, hardly even noticed. All she cared about was that there were a half dozen new people for her to make friends with all day. I will say this for her: She is all about people. Things mean nothing to her.

Sunday is my last time to preside and preach at Concordia Lutheran Church in Brentwood, Pa. Sunday afternoon the church is having a farewell luncheon for us.

It is sad to leave this place. My heart is heavy. Congregational pastoral ministry is the most exciting, unhappy, rewarding, disapointing, invigorating, frustrating and meaningful vocation one could have. I both hate it and love it. Other than my own death, the only thing I can imagine which would separate me from congregational pastoral ministry is the opportunity to help recruit and train future pastors. I hope that God will smile on my efforts. For His glory and the edification of the church.

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Pr. Kim Riddlebarger has the answer here.

FYI - A Reformed Christian is one of the Calvinist persuasion.

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By the logo, you can tell that this is an ELCA congregation, not a LCMS congregation. But I'm not gloating. Many within our own beloved synod, at times, stumble into these eccentricities.

This is soooooo 1975. Like all those Puff, the Magic Dragon love songs that get recycled as "contemporary" worship. Who is this trying to reach? Which demographic is this for? The unchurched clown population? Or maybe the aging and increasingly irrelevant boomers who remember earth shoes and patchouli incense and wax nostalgic for the glory days of Haight-Ashbury.

So what does it mean to be a fool for Christ (1Cor. 4:10)? Isn't the apostle saying that the cross is foolishness to the so-called wisdom of this world? He's not saying we should wear big shoes and greasepaint so people laugh at us. Do I really need to wear a big red ball on my nose in order to be a fool for Christ? How about I just preach the atonement, since that's what the apostle was talking about.


Addendum: I am all for working hard to reach the lost. Usually posts like this elicit complaints that I don't care about missions. I do care. I care a lot. But I think that gimmicks inspired by content-free hysteria do a lot more harm to the cause of Christ than good. I try to be winsome. I make inviting and welcoming guests to church a high priority. Indeed, one of my great interests is to examine how religious belief intersects with popular culture. But disrespecting God by playing circus in His house, mistreating his Word and blaspheming the sacrament are not prudent ways to do evangelization.

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One theme people often hear me sound is the importance of having a theologically well-informed laity in the church. But a similar concern I have is American voters who don't understand the world they live in. Just as poorly catechized believers can cause havoc in churches - esp when put in positions of authority - so also poorly educated voters can create devastating problems for the republic. Many voters just pull the levers their spouses tell them to or pick the guy with the best commercials. Many Americans vote without thinking very deeply about what they are doing.

In that light, this article claims that 75% of Americans can name two of the seven dwarfs from Snow White but only 25% can name two of the Supreme Court justices. More Americans could correctly identify Harry Potter than they could Tony Blair. Respondents to the survey were far more familiar with the three stooges than with the three branches of our government.

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Below is a sermon I will preach in about one hour at a memorial service for a grief support group that our congregation offers. I don't often post sermons on my blog, but this one is short so I thought, "why not?"

Stepping Stones Memorial
August 13, 2006
Text: John 6:35, 40

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. …
For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

You are all here today because you mourn the loss of someone dear to you. In a sense, such loss is just part of life. People live and then they die. Sometimes they die young and sometimes after many years of life. But everyone faces their final hour eventually.

With modern medical advances and the decrease of infant mortality, we can almost fool ourselves into thinking that we are invincible, that we can cheat death, that we can cure what ails us.

Our culture’s incessant emphasis on youth and youthfulness only perpetuates the myth that death is something that happens to other people, not something we need to be particularly concerned about for ourselves.

Counselors agree that denial is one of the common early stages in the grieving process. But denial can also color the way we think even when we are not particularly grief-stricken.

One of the most refreshing aspects of the Christian religion is that it is realistic. The Christian faith does not say to you, “OK, just stick your head in the sand, just live in denial of death and you won’t get hurt.”

No, instead the Christian faith repeats the words of St. Paul, “The wages of sin is death” and the words of the prophet Ezekiel: “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

We live in a broken world populated with damaged people. And that brokenness is never more obvious than when someone we care about dies.

But that is where Jesus Christ intervenes. This is the number one most important fact you will ever face. Jesus gives life. Jesus Christ is the author and source of life for people steeped in sin and oppressed by death.

He says, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” Our Lord is not talking about bread for your belly, the kind of food that once you eat it you eventually get hungry again and have to eat again and again.

Jesus gives you sustenance for your spirit, life for your soul. Most people today are more earthly minded than they are heavenly minded, more concerned about their material well being than their relationship with God, more concerned about where they’ll spend the Labor Day weekend than where they’ll spend eternity.

But the invitation of Jesus is a wake up call to all people. He is saying that man cannot live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He is saying that life is more than food and clothing, career and 401ks, possessions and acquisitions. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

He suffered and died to pay the penalty for our sins. That is the meaning of the crucifixion. You’ve been died for. Your sins, your shortcomings, have been paid for in full by Jesus Christ. And His resurrection from the dead is a preview of things to come for all who are baptized into Him.

Jesus says, “For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

He will raise you up. He will overturn the grave. Death will not have the final word. It will not have the last laugh. But you will laugh with inexpressibly joy when the Savior says your name on the last day and you stand up and ascend to heaven.

The Christian message proclaims the reality of sin and death and the grave. But even more emphatically the church must proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the first fruits of them that sleep. In other words, just as Jesus rose victorious from the grave, so also all who are in Christ by faith will likewise rise bodily.

Jesus is more than just the guru of the moment, the god de jour, a dispenser of good advice. He is life itself. And being literally incorporated into Jesus through baptism, we can each anticipate our own personal Easter. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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Julie and I are fond of animals. Always have been. So we own a dog and co-habitate with two cats. It makes for a happy home.

But with our move and a new yard , we (translation: I) are considering getting a second dog. The breed of choice is the Doberman Pinscher. I'd really love to hear from any Dobe owners and find out your thoughts.

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Anyone care to guess why there is this photo of two mallards in my post from Tuesday, August 8?

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Why are young women scared off by feminists? Here.

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Are you a toxic parent? Find out.

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kitsch \KICH\, noun:
1. Art characterized by pretentious bad taste.

It's like a car crash. I want to turn away but I can't stop looking. Why do people like this stuff?

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Hey, come take a peek at the Department of Admission website for Concordia Theological Seminary. Techno-guru, Mr. John Klinger, is already - I see - getting my stuff up there.

Come see.

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According to Murphy's Law, there are two types of people:
Those who divide people into two types and those who don't.

Someone else figured that there are two types in your church: Those who agree with you and the bigots.

Obviously, it is simplistic to divide people into tight little categories but making distinctions is necessary for clear thinking. I had one seminary professor who always used to say that studying theology is all about making definitions and distinctions. Pastoral ministry is utterly dependent on it.

So I think there are two kinds of people: those who are troubled by their sins and those who aren't. In stating that, I might just as well have written that the two types are Christians and non-Christians. It is not possible for a person to be in Christ and have no anguish over his sins.

That having been said, let me add that all the people I've ever met are complicated and contradictory. A Christian might live every day burdened by guilt over sins he has repeatedly confessed and been absolved for. He might also go through life essentially untroubled by his impure thoughts or how he mistreats his wife or his greed, etc. I have even met people who are in torment with guilt over things that are not really even sins.

So there are two types of people - those who are troubled by their sins and those who aren't - and I am both at the same time. I am a true dual personality. Or as Lutheran dogmaticians like to say, I am simultaneously sinner & saint. In this lifetime, no one is ever fully sanctified. That happens only in the next life, though that work of purification has begun here and now.

It's a paradox. It's St. Paul's struggle in Romans 7.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Our theology must be able to work in this paradox. The dichotomy that defines the Christian in this world. Saint and sinner. Law and gospel. To the "me" who is complacent with his sin, preach the judgment of God. And to the "me" who is troubled in conscience, preach reconciliation with God through the atonement.

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One of the great points of division historically between Lutherans and Romans Catholics is the notion of salvation through faith alone (sola fide). This topic continues to energize discussions between believers in those respective churches today.

Setting sola scriptura aside for another occasion, the remaining Reformation solas are sola gratia (grace alone) and solus Christus (Christ alone). When we say that a sinner is saved via faith only, we are saying the same exact thing as when we say that he is saved by God's grace alone and by Christ alone.

We mean that when it comes to being justified before God, I can boast of nothing. I can never stand before the Almighty pointing to my own achievements as a basis for His acceptance. I can only appeal to God's grace (unmerited favor). I can only point to the righteousness of Jesus Christ reckoned to sinners. When I lie dying, I will not find comfort in looking at myself, my life, my personal holiness. All of that falls short, far short. But I will find comfort in the grace of God and work of Christ on my behalf.

That's what sola fide means. It does not mean that a Christian can disregard God's law. It does not mean that it is possible to be a true believer without demonstrating fruit in one's life. It does not mean that we should not expect the believer to advance in holiness. It does mean that none of those things are sufficient to save us, nor are they capable of adding anything to the work of Christ on the cross. The merits of Jesus are the only merits necessary or capable of making me right with God.

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I agree that Mel Gibson has a problem. I don't agree with many in the media, however, about the nature of his problem.

First, he was drunk, driving 87 m.p.h. in a 45 zone, had an open container in his car and when stopped, let fly a string of insulting remarks toward the police officers.

All of that is bad, even criminal, behavior. His anti-semitic remarks are the part, however, that is receiving all the press. And admittedly, there is no excuse for what he is quoted as saying.

What puzzles me is the amount of coverage this has received. Is this the first time a famous person has been on the wrong side of the law? Or is it the first time someone of Gibson's stature has said stupid, offensive, hurtful things?

So the plastered Gibson said the Jews are responsible for all the wars. People say that about Christians all the time. Stop the presses! The statement, in both cases, is erroneous and bigoted. So what else is new? People are ignorant and bigoted. This is news?

Then I read this article from then LA Times. It has a lot of interesting stuff. It basically says that the people in Hollywood who know Mr. Gibson personally and have worked with him have always known about the man's drinking problem and say that when he ties one on, he becomes a different person entirely. So he acts differently when he's smashed on Tequila? Right. Would you, fair reader, want the world to know everything you've done or said after an evening of excessive revelry? This is not to excuse Gibson's behavior. Just to put it back into perspective.

The Times article then ends in the weirdest fashion. It lists a long history of movie stars who've misbehaved, implicitly lumping Gibson among them. But come on! Fatty Arbuckle was charged with rape and murder; Roman Polanski with rape (and he subsequently won an Oscar). Rob Lowe filmed himself having sex with a minor. By comparing Gibson's drunken misbehavior with these far more serious offenses, we risk the further deadening of our consciences.

Is hurling anti-semitic remarks - as wrong as that is - really as bad as rape and murder? If so, then why aren't people tarring and feathering Ted Turner for saying Christians are losers? Is he to be compared to rapists and murderers like Fatty Arbuckle and Rob Lowe? You can tell when a culture is unravelling when it lacks all sense of proportionality. Gibson did a bad thing. But it's not murder.

It reminds me of when I saw a television exchange between two Roman Catholic priests. One a lib and one a conservative. I don't remember the name of the lib, but the conservative was Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. The lib was barking at Pavone for being so concerned for fetuses but not showing equal outrage over the innocents who've perished in Iraq. God bless Father Pavone. There is a man who understands proportionality. Yes, even a single wrongful death is horrible. But there are btwn 3000-4000 abortions in America every day. Which situation really has the greater moral urgency?

Comparing Gibson to Fatty Arbuckle is a major lapse of moral judgment.

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I love Darrell's take on the story about the British amusement park needing to cancel its Muslim Fun Day due to lack of interest. Instead of September 17, they should have schedule it on 9/11. A much more jubilant day for many world muslims.

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In the Image of God:
A Christian Vision for Love and Marriage

I think all of you should attend this conference from the Cranach Institute on the campus of Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, IN. It will be September 18-20, 2006.

The publicity states: This conference will focus on God's design for marriage and sexuality.

Now who doesn't want to hear that?

Speakers will include:

• Rev. Matthew Harrison - Director for the LCMS World Relief and Human Care Ministries
• Ethicist, Dr. Gilbert Meilander
• And best selling author, Lauren Winner
  

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For the past couple of days, Julie, Jacob and I were in Fort Wayne, IN to make preparations for our move.

Regarding my position at the seminary, I had a couple of goals in mind. First, I wanted to introduce myself to the admission staff. They really are a crackerjack bunch. I asked them to show me what their respective jobs entail and tried to impress on them that I am eager to hear their ideas and suggestions. I heard a lot of great thoughts and already have a few things on the roll. I ask of them to simply be patient with me as I have a bit of a learning curve ahead of me. We share the goal of finding excellent candidates for the ministry and helping them through the admission process.

Secondly, I wanted to hand deliver my letter to President Wenthe accepting the call. It was good to speak with him also about his vision for the seminary and share some ideas.

Personally, my wife and son were eager to see the campus house and begin planning how to decorate and furnish it.

I was on staff at the seminary seven years ago before I came to this congregation and it was a joy to see so many familiar faces and renew those acquaintances. I am excited by the challenge ahead of me and feel such a devotion to the seminary and its mission to train shepherds for God's sheep.

Even so, it is sad to consider leaving this congregation which has been so good and loving toward us. May God smile on us all.

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Below is a comment I left on the Beast's blog earlier. Go here to see his post.


Very interesting post. I like what you wrote very much. I haven't read about Pastor Boyd, but he may really be on to something.

Certainly the Bible teaches us how to live holy lives. And certainly it is God's will for His children to lead holy lives. And the Christian Church will, at times, proclaim messages that overlap with current events or social issues.

But you are abso-tively correct that the Bible is not just a book of do's and don'ts It's firstly a book about Jesus and His saving work for humanity. That should always be our central focus.

I personally squirm a little when churches are so quick to adopt secular holidays like 4th of July, Mother's Day, Veteran's Day but ignore historic Christian holy days such as Epiphany, Ascension Day or the season of Lent. But that's another topic.

There is something a bit off about too much blending of Christian teaching with politics and current events. Yes, as I said, the bible does address many issues that happen to show up in the daily papers and the church must teach clearly the whole counsel of God.

But I do not believe the church is the proper place to display the American flag or sing the national anthem or anything like that. God is not (gasp!) an American. Nations rise and fall and ours will be no exception. America is not the new Israel (the church is). We are not the chosen nation (the church is).

Revelation talks about heaven being filled with people from every tribe, nation and tongue. Which flag do they salute in their sanctuary? Whose anthem do they sing in worship? Wouldn't it be great if the church on earth would better reflect the church in heaven?

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One of the things I love about blogging is the network of friendships I have found with Christians all over the nation and of varying confessions.

Two blogs that I check every single day and always get a kick out of reading are from Darrell, the devout Roman Catholic, at SouthCon and from Philip, the Southern Baptist youth pastor, over at The Beast's Lair. They are my peeps.

This is true ecumenism, my friends. We have never been afraid to discuss our differences, but I have been delighted by the civility and warmth and supportiveness these blogging buddies have demonstrated. I certainly do not believe in sweeping doctrinal disagreements under the rug, but it has been enlightening to find out how much we share in common.

Don't get me wrong. I have personally never been more convinced of the veracity of the Lutheran Confessions, but I find that when I hang out only with Lutherans of like convictions, we become sort of, well, smug.

I heard someone put it this way. Confessional Lutherans are like manure. When you spread them around they can do a lot of good. But if you put them all in one place, they just make a big stink.

Anyhoo, go check out SouthCon and The Beast's Lair.

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Friends,
I announced to my congregation today that I have accepted the call as the Director of Admissions for Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, IN. Our moving date is not certain because that depends to an extent on the moving company. It will likely be the third week of August. Our son will begin 5th grade in St. Paul Lutheran School I think the 23rd. My plan is to return to preach a farewell sermon on August 20th.

I approached this with varied emotions. There is a novel called The Hammer of God by the late Swedish Lutheran bishop, Bo Giertz, in which one of the characters says something like, "Can there be anything more wonderful than being a pastor in God's church?" And the answer to that question is no. And it is after prayer and consultation with trusted advisors that I am accepting this opportunity to have a small role in the recruitment and preparation of the future pastors of God's church. I thank everyone for their prayers and advice.

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P.D. James is one of my favorite contemporary writers. She's an octagenarian English woman who primarily writes detective novels. But anyone who's ever read a P.D. James book knows that she's not just another Stuart Woods or Michael Connelly. Her books are literature in the finest sense. She is also a Christian, a fact that any reader of her novels can discern.

But her most explicitly Christian novel was not a crime story. It was an unlikely sci-fi tale called The Children of Men. It is a wonderful novel. And now it's being made into a major film. I just hope they don't gut it. The preview (see here) looks promising.

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So here we sit in the Denver airport (online, of course). I had a minor boo-boo with the rental car so we got to the car place early to get that taken care of. At present, it appears that our credit card will take of it (whew!).

Looking forward to getting home. I have some hospitalized parishoners to visit and a sermon to prepare for Sunday. So I'll be hopping back in the saddle pretty quickly.

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Well, Julie, Jacob and I will return home to Pittsburgh tomorrow. It's been a great time out here in the West. But it's always nice to come home.

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So 34 U.S. senators voted against this bill. The bill which says that you can't transport a minor over state lines for an abortion without parental consent. How morally empty do you have to be to vote against this bill?

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The 8th commandment is "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." This is the commandment that everyone breaks and that no one breaks. What I mean is that this is the commandment that people always break against you, but which you never break against someone else. It's is hard to justify murder or lust, but easy to justify breaking the 8th commandment. "Oh, I'm just reporting what I heard." "I know what he said, but here is what he really meant...." And so on.

In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther explainse it this way:

We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest possible way.

In another translation, the last line says, "put the best construction on everything." That seems to be the rub.

On the one hand, I think this requires some qualification. Sometimes putting the best construction on something results is sugar-coating bad behavior. And that is something we should never do.

For instance, if a Sunday school child tells me his uncle is molesting him, I don't just pat the lad on the head and say, "Now, now. How can we explain this in the kindest possible way? Your uncle is just really affectionate and likes to hug you with his pants off." Sure, innocent till proven guilty, but take every accusation or hint of impropriety seriously.

Another example I've heard is when a man keeps beating up his wife and she excuses him saying, "Oh, I know he's a good man deep inside. He really does love me. He only hits me when he's drunk anyway."

Hmmm... Oscar Mayer produces a meat-type product that answers that. BALONEY. Sorry, sweetie. The man's a creep. He does not love you.

How does that beautiful paean to love from St. Paul go: "Love is patient. Love is kind. Love will punch you in the face, but only when drunk...."

Just like faith w/o works is dead, so also love. Call the cops. Move out. Get help. Don't let anyone use a perverted understanding of the 8th commandment to to keep you from doing what is necessary. According to Luther, the theology of the cross calls a thing what it is. Preserving that man's rep is not as important as saving your life.

ON THE OTHER HAND - and this is what I initially set out to write about - how quick we are to judge one another. Explain things in the kindest possible way? Seems like sometimes folks bend over backwards to attach the worst possible interpretation to your words or actions.

One thing I always advise couple who come to me for pre-marital instruction is this: Never assume you know what the other person is thinking. And never ever think that you know another person's motives. Certainly, I can judge your words and actions, but not your motives. Never. Why? Because only you know what your motives are and maybe you're not even sure.

So here are some practical ways to understand and obey this commandment:

• Don't assume you know someone's true motives.
• Don't read so much btwn the lines.
• Remember that you are not a mindreader.
  
• Remember that gossip is a sin.
• But DO call a thing what it is. Do not feel you must put a good construction on truly bad behavior.
  

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