Love and Blunder, is written by a young Lutheran couple, Devona and Rob. They are expecting a baby any day now! Lots of you probably already know Rob and Devona, but their blog is new and enjoyable to me. Here is a sample post from their blog:
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Semper fidelis, semper reformanda.
I added a bit to our blog’s sidebar this week — a few links to some of our favorite pages on the web and a description of our blog.
To explain the description: For anyone who doesn’t know, semper fidelis is Latin for “always faithful,” and semper reformanda means “always being reformed.”
Since deciding upon this description, I’ve realized that the second part might need a little clarification. I’ve found that semper reformanda has a lot of attachments to it — especially in Reformed theological circles. Devona and are not Reformed with a capital R, meaning we don’t hold five-point Calvinism to be true, etc.
Rather, I chose the phrase for two other reasons: 1) We are Lutherans, members of one denomination produced by the reformation. 2) We hope to be experiencing a personal reformation daily. We both hunger for a daily rejuvenation and revitalization of faithfulness, fed by the Word.
We’re at a pretty pivotal time in our lives. We’ve been learning how to be married, welcoming a child, entering a new church and so much more. It often feels like every day I wake up a different sort of person than the one who fell asleep. That’s got to be a good thing.
Just thought I’d explain.
The Phenomenon of Matt is written by a 22 year old college student at UW Whitewater (Wisconsin). He and Brian Braatz know each other and are on the same campus. Matt has done a better job than I did of explaining why I am a confessional lutheran christian.
Monday, September 27, 2004
God, Weather, and Music
The band performed a much better show after a much better rehearsal on Sunday morning. I was bummed about having to miss church. I thought to myself about the opinions of the students who had to do the same. I wonder if the parents cared. I wonder if religion and family life in the “real world” is much different than from what I have had. There is such a broad spectrum when it comes to how religion (for lack of a better term) plays into the modern American family. I think there are some pretty classic trends, but I am always amazed by the different stories I’ve heard about people’s encounters with “church” growing up. Here are a few that I have named and defined, totally arbitrarily…
Classic Catholic: “I don’t really know much about what our church teaches, but my [parents/mom/family] go there, so I go there every once in awhile, plus I took first communion in second grade. It makes me feel good and I generally try to live a good life and be a good person.”
Classic Contemporary Christian: “I was baptized and went with my [parents/family/mom/dad] to [insert church here] when I was little, but was always bored and hated it. I never really knew God until this one time at [insert name of youth conference/contemporary service/revival here] where God [spoke to me/brought me to my knees/slayed me in the spirit/came to me] and I committed my life to him. Before then I didn’t know God, but now I have decided to let him into my heart and now I live my life for Jesus…I was born again, and was baptized in the river, ‘cuz I know this time it really counted.”
Classic Nothing: “I never really went to church growing up. Only at Christmas and Easter with my grandparents or weddings and funerals.” or “I go to [insert church here] because that’s where our family goes. It’s boring.”
Classic Confessional: “Since I was baptized at [insert church here] and all [insert church body here] are going to heaven, I try to go to church every Sunday. Everyone else who doesn’t believe the same thing as me is going to hell and it’s my duty to convert them to my faith.”
Obviously these are all very arbitrary and exaggerated and slightly sarcastic…to prove a point. These are all kind of quotes that you may find someone saying before they hit their adolescent or “college enlightenment”. People will switch categories…a lot from classic catholic to classic contemporary Christian or classic nothing…or classic confessional to classic nothing or contemporary Christian…or they’ll stick to the original and be die-hard.
Ideally, I would not like to be identified with any of these categories that I made up. Most often others would put me in the Classic Confessional category. While it is true that I was baptized (as an infant even!) and make an earnest effort to attend church every Sunday, I do not hold that only my church body will be found in heaven (see this), nor do I possess some sort of Christian elitist attitude. I feel that it is important to let others know what God has done for us, though I hope and pray that I am not too forceful that I drive someone away. I believe that God works through his Word and sacraments, so I think it is effective to tell other people about the Bible and what God says in the Bible and what he has done for us. I do realize though, that often times people think of me and my church body as being elitist in attitude and beliefs, but all we’re really trying to do is follow the Bible as the inerrant and inspired Word of God. Now, “following the Bible” can mean a number of things. What it doesn’t mean is that we can or have to do certain things to get to heaven. What it does mean is the cross. The cross is the center to what I believe. Period.
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