Well, folks, it’s almost time for the unveiling of the new Issues, Etc. radio program! Many of us have been SO looking forward to this.

So, go here and right now you can begin to listen to the pre-game show and tailgate party followed immediately by the first new Issues, Etc.

http://www.issuesetc.org/

Enjoy!

To keep you in the loop, we had a problem with our Email Newsletter sign up form in our main NRP store - though it has continued to work here in our blog. The issue has been fixed, so if you previously tried to sign up from the form in our store and clicked on the “Subscribe” button only to have nothing happen, I recommend you give it another shot if you’re still interested.

Also, we may be switching providers (the company which actually sends out the newsletter emails) from our current one (Feedburner). If we do this, it should allow a little more flexibility and a few more features for us, but we’re still looking into it.

You just can’t keep good Lutherans down. A new organization called Lutheran Public Radio is starting an online radio station, Pirate Christian Radio. Its flagship program will be the resurrected Issues, Etc. show with Pastor Todd Wilken and Jeff Schwarz. You can see the announcement here:

www.piratechristianradio.com

This station will be offering more than just the freshly minted episodes of IE. Look for streaming and podcasting audio and video of sermons, church services, lectures, classes, interviews, and all sorts of new shows and programming.

These are exciting days. The creators of Pirate Christian Radio think that there should be an outlet for Confessional theology not controlled by or affiliated with Synodical bureaucracy. This will project a Lutheran voice into the conversation of the church at large, where we have largely been silent for so many years. It will also expose millions of people who have never heard the pure Gospel to the Lutheran message and our amazing doctrine.

All praise and glory be to God!

In case you’re one of the many, many folks who has been experiencing great despair over the sudden cancellation of the beloved Issues, Etc. radio program, you need to know that things are afoot!

Please stop by PirateChristianRadio.com and listen to the small audio presentation there by Pastor Todd Wilken.

Despair no longer! We will soon hear the wonderful program again which we have come to love so dearly and depend on to deliver the Gospel when so few others will.

NRP is a Christian bookstore. We may not think of ourselves this way, partly because of the image we get in our minds as soon as the words are uttered, but that is what we are. Look at our inventory—we sell books, T-shirts, music, hats, artwork, and some very excellent MP3s. But, if we were anywhere near the Christianity Today radar, they would be stumped as to why what we are doing is working—all our content has one thing in common: it’s Christian.

Honestly, there was nothing wrong with Christianity Today’s April 2008 cover story about “How to Save the Christian Bookstore.” Most of the article was basically about the change in the markets with the advent of online stores and the fact that Christians have learned that they can buy most of the bestselling Christian books at mainstream bookstores such as Borders and Barnes and Noble. The disturbing part for me was the subtitle: “(Hint: Stop making it so religious.)” What? Of all the things a Christian bookstore should be, it should be religious. Now, I am perfectly happy to do without the sappy Christian products that fill most “Christian” bookstores, but the products should still be Christian.

However, in an effort to “update” the Christian bookstores, the owners seem to have nearly forgotten the point of their existence. The Christian bookstore should be more than a sterile environment where patrons can be comforted that the material will be G-Rated. For a long time, mainstream Christianity has tried to win the hearts of non-Christians by trying to create Christian versions of secular products and trends. The problem with this principle is that their versions usually end up being poor representations of the originals. What we end up with is churches that look like movie theaters, music that sounds like sappy soft-rock, and, now, bookstores that are trying to be not-too-Christian versions of Barnes and Noble. In fact, what they are trying to be is just plain odd.

One bookstore in Arkansas boasts of a “build your own” skateboard area. This store, SKIA, “has 10 television screens that continuously loop skateboard and snowboard videos with Christian themes.” When you’re done building your skateboard, you can hang out in their coffee and smoothie bar and surf the internet with their free wi-fi. Or, you can head up to House of James in Abbotsford, British Columbia, and peruse their selection of “cookbooks, garden books, hiking guides, and classical music,” and stay for a while for “live shows by country rock, blues, jazz, and folk musicians.”

There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these things, but they certainly are not Christian. Seriously, just how many non-Christians do you think are going to darken the doorstep of a not-so-Christian Christian bookstore to buy a skateboard? If someone really wanted a custom skateboard, wouldn’t they just go to a good skateboard shop?

The problem with mainstream evangelical churches and, now, bookstores, is that they have one moral: do whatever you have to do in order to get them in the door. On its face, this idea seems benign, but it’s actually deceiving and unbiblical—and I’m not even sure it works.

I cannot remember once Jesus telling the apostles how to soften sin and the Gospel, on the contrary, Jesus and His apostles went preaching repentance. Yes, the Apostle Paul says, “I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.” But, I’m sure that he didn’t do this so he could eventually lead them to a church where they probably wouldn’t hear the Gospel preached. He didn’t create a sterile environment where most non-Christians would probably never go-he went to the sinners.

If Christians really wanted to create a place non-Christians might go, forget lattes and smoothies—try a bar.

I want to point our readers to a cool new website called The Wittenberg Trail.

It’s kind of a Lutheran version of MySpace, a social networking site for Lutherans or those interested in learning about the Lutheran faith and spirituality. The creators and moderators have done an excellent job.

In addition to personal users’ pages and groups they have music, videos, and discussion forums. In the video section they have actual class sessions from Lutheran Seminaries. There are some great doctrinal discussions on the forums. Registration is free, and it’s worth a look even if you aren’t Lutheran.

Check it out at wittenbergtrail.ning.com

This video clip has been making the rounds on blogs and in email lately, and the reason is clear. In a short 2-1/2 minutes, the writers of the TV show ER have taken on one of the most common and insidious issues with our postmodern wisdom.

It does not save. Period.

Every time I watch this, it shakes me. I went to the NBC website and watched the entire episode while it was still available. I found myself thinking, “He asked for a chaplain, where is he?!”.

But, of course, no chaplain other than the female character he was speaking to ever materialized. (What, they didn’t have a call list of representatives of varying faiths in case someone requested one?) What else would you expect from Hollywood? I’m stunned they posed the question at all - and managed to get that part right - let alone expect them to write a character who could deliver what the man was looking for: Christ crucified for his sins… ALL of them.

Christ IS the answer.

So, I’m placing the video here for you to watch. I can not stress enough that if you haven’t seen this that you need to watch it. It’s very short, only 2:38 in length.

To set the stage, the part that isn’t included in this clip is some of the initial lead in. It starts with a close-up on the patient’s hand where he’s grasping and rubbing a rosary with a crucifix dangling over his hand to face the camera.

He tells a story about how he was the doctor in a prison who was responsible for performing lethal injections. In a particular case, a young man was convicted of murder, and as usual it fell to this doctor to put him to death. In the initial attempt, somehow the doctor botched the IV needle insertion so that all the chemicals went into the young man’s arm and not into a vein. The doctor had to do it all over again, after which it took the young man 90 seconds to die.

So, now the video…

So, here is why I am putting this in our blog today. Clearly, the question placed before the viewer from the doctor is an open-ended one. It never gets answered satisfactorily in the whole show. As a matter of fact, the character only continues to receive condemnation from all around him until he is suicidal, and then he’s even prevented from doing that!

I believe the writers and producers of ER have placed before us an opportunity. They never offered a chaplain who would give a Christ-centered answer to the doctor’s question and allow him to drink of the Gospel, which is clearly what he was seeking.

“…How could I even hope for forgiveness?”

ALL OF YOU WHO ARE PASTORS, if you had been the chaplain called into that room, WHAT WOULD YOUR ANSWER TO THIS MAN HAVE BEEN?

Why is this important? How many people out there are experiencing a very similar situation right now? That is, they’re in dire need to hear what they suspect is true, but no one is there to preach it to them?

I think this is a monumental chance to give that answer. If you read this blog and you know of a pastor that you believe could offer a Christ-centered, Gospel filled answer to the doctor’s question, I urge you to contact him and have him enter one in the comments of this entry.

I’m not sure how many answers we’ll get, but even just a couple could make all the difference for some people.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1)

Pastor William Cwirla stands as one of the great examples of modern Lutheran preaching.

He has also resurrected the practice of Evangelical Confession and absolution in his congregation. Speaking from personal experience, this practice has been an invaluable aid in my struggle to lead a Christian life. (I happen to be one of his parishioners.) Being able to sit under his ministry for the past fifteen years has been a fantastic blessing.

Be sure to check out the archives. In the ‘Occasional’ category is the sermon he preached at my wedding. It’s the best wedding sermon I have ever heard.

The website isn’t much on graphics and the like but it is second to none in content. (Many of the sermons are available in MP3 as well so you can actually hear Pastor Cwirla deliver them.) You can visit it here:
www.holytrinity.ms/sermons

Enjoy.

I saw something the other day that really angered me. My wife was at first incredulous, thinking that I was over reacting to the situation. My children were watching some DVDs, among them was a copy of one of the “Veggie Tales” DVDs.

If you don’t know what ‘Veggie Tales’ are or have never heard of them, check them out here. Most Lutheran converts from evangelicalism, especially those with children, are familiar with the series.

I hate ‘Veggie Tales’. I know that will be shocking to some. They will say that I have become dour and no fun; that I take my theology too seriously. Before you jump to that conclusion, hear me out.

The episode in question was about Joshua’s conquest of Jericho. In addition to not following very closely the biblical narrative it was ‘cutsey’ and trivialized the whole story. When my children remember the story of Jericho, I don’t want them visualizing green peas wearing greek helmets, defending their city by throwing blue slurpees on vegetable Israelites.

People raise their children on this stuff in an effort to make Bible learning fun and then wonder why their kids leave the faith when they get into High School and college. When you contrast this video with the real narrative of the conquest of Jericho from the Scriptures, or the narrative of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Numbers 16) such trivialization appears blasphemous.

My wife protested that young children really couldn’t understand and that things like this are needed to introduce our children to the Bible. I disagreed. Children understand far more than we give them credit for, and even if they don’t in this particular situation, they do understand something’s importance based on the way their parents treat it.

For contrast I read the story of Korah, Dathan and Abiram for our family devotion that night. Not only were my children wide-eyed but they asked some pretty serious questions about sin and punishment, and about Jesus and His work on our behalf.

Turning something into a fun cartoon and attempting to make it funny and entertaining by being cute, tells our children that we aren’t that serious about it. Later on in life when these stories are referenced our children have these ridiculous pictures in their minds imparted by some insipid cartoon.

How can they then take these things seriously?

Furthermore these videos are devoid of the Gospel. They are moral exhortation and Law. Needless to say, there are no more Veggie Tales playing at our house. I’m sure some will say this is an overreaction. So be it. Sometimes Christians are our own worst enemies, and as parents we need to be vigilant.

This interview with Eugene Peterson is one of those classic gems that everyone should read at least once. I can’t believe that Christianity Today would print it, because it condemns about 75% of everything that they promote.

Pastor Peterson is one of my heroes in the faith, and his work has had a huge impact on me. He comes from Montana, very close (by Montana standards) to where I grew up. His writing has changed my whole paradigm, and my view of the role and function of the Pastoral office. It has rejuvenated and refreshed the ministries of hundreds if not thousands of Pastors.

In this interview he challenges our cultures idea of what is ’spiritual’ and calls BS on the whole idea of ‘relevance’. Man, I love it! Take a few minutes and treat yourself by reading it. We are also going to post it in our ‘Freebies’ section for your convenience.