You know the adage that history is written by the winners. Well, it’s re-written by the losers. Solzhenitsyn points out in one of his books on the Gulag that the Soviets removed from their history ¾ of what really happened. Like the embarrassing mutinies. Those uprising became myths within 15 or even 10 years. “No wonder some say that there was no Christ, no Buddha, no Mohammed. Then you’re dealing in thousands of years” (Gulag 3, 228). But today I think the history is being re-written by what historically is the lowest rung on the intellectual ladder – fiction writers. Continue reading
Woman the Glory of Man?
You know 1 Cor. 11:7, “For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man”, doesn’t mean that women exists to glorify us. No it means they are the crème dela crème of mankind. Adam was the Beta model of humanity; then Eve was made. Women become the archenemy of the Enemy. He zeroes in on her. And fallen men help. Continue reading
Posted in Families, For Anyone who dares
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Don’t Let the Old Man In
One of my sister’s sent me the link to the song named above on my birthday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yc5AWImplfE.[i] Give it a listen. You need to be a certain age to really appreciate it. My older brother said: He sneaks in. My older brother-in-law says the old man sleeps in his bed. Continue reading
Useful Suffering
When suffering one either migrates to the poll of despair or resignation; at least I do. We know that despair is not of God but of the Evil One. We know that resignation is the refuge of the fatalists, Stoics, and often the atheist. I don’t want to exist, let alone live, dwell, inhabit, either place. What is the alternative? Continue reading
Posted in For Anyone who dares, For Pastors Only
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To be Hoisted Yet Again
Having recently published a blog about the ‘necessity’ (This word seems ill-advised in this context, but nevertheless.) of properly discerning what is truly adiaphora I find myself flummoxed, adrift, even asea. Continue reading
Posted in For Pastors Only, Missouri Megatrends
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Apparatchiks Я Us
I’ve been banging on Concordia Health Plan’s publication Better Health for years. To sum up my take from 2013 (“Better Health Poorer Christianity” 7-29-2013) and from 2009 (“Food for Thought” 11-09-2009), I would subtitle Better Health with :Poorer Theology. Continue reading
Posted in Ablaze, Contemporary Worship, LCMS 2007 Convention, Missouri Megatrends
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Fruit Dragging the Ground
If you don’t know what to say about this 2002 Editorial Cartoon, you don’t understand the bizarre nature of the Pro-Death movement. If you aren’t moved to write a Letter to the Editor in response, you might not be as Pro-Life as you think. Continue reading
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Excuse My French
An “Irish goodbye”, is an expression used today by Americans and Englanders. It comes from the English referring to a “French leave.” The French refer to it as “leave as the English.” Germany has “to make a Polish exit”.[i] This practice seems to be along the lines of American Indian tribes referring to themselves in preeminent terms and “others” with derogatory ones. I’m guess that our “excuse my French” as a way to “apologize” for vulgar or profane language is something else in France. Continue reading
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Devil’s Night
When I had a parish in in the City of Detroit in the late 80s, Devil’s Night was a feared Halloween Eve tradition. Pranks, vandalism, and crimes were up as youth ran wild. That’s how it was billed and the news story reported it. We lived in the city, and frankly we didn’t see this, but the concept is catching on thanks again to our friend psychology. Continue reading
Posted in Families, For Anyone who dares
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Just a Tool, Two
In my never ending quest, perhaps Quixotic, to expose the seedy underbelly of all things techie, I offer “Just a Tool, Two” or “2.0” for you Big Tech enthusiasts.
The scene in the 1980’s movie is this: the hero has tracked the irascible killer to a remote area in Los Angeles where he is burying his final victim whom he thinks dead but is not. The place is too remote for a scream for help to be effective.
This scene is not believable and would be not written, directed, acted, or sold today. The ubiquity of the smartphone, or even just a flip phone, means no one would write this scene or even think it. Think how far back not just in writing but in thinking the story would be different. Continue reading
Posted in Big Tech Big Lie or Promise?
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