Have All The Fires Been Put Out?

If you’re a new visitor here at Putting Out The Fire, welcome! I’ve noticed a number of hits over the last month or so due to folks looking for posts on everybody’s favorite evangelism progr…uh, movement; Ablaze!.

I haven’t had a whole lot to say about Ablaze! in a while because the focus of your beloved synod has shifted, as expected, to one of raising funds through programs like Fanning the Flames and others. To be honest, the slick Madison Avenue style marketing campaign which finds that every verse of the Bible speaks of raising monies simply doesn’t interest me all that much.

So does this mean that all the fires have been put out and the official Ablaze! Firefighter™© is without a job? Absolutely not. The theology that led us to count “critical events” instead of baptisms for church growth is alive and well. The theology that says the church needs to change how she delivers her message to ensure her relevancy shows no sign of going away anytime soon. As long as your beloved church body continues to act like a corporation and chases after fads deemed important by the longevity of books on the New York Times best sellers list, I’m gonna have plenty to write about.

If you are new here and wish to understand why I have problems with Ablaze! I wrote a seven part series entitled What’s Wrong With Ablaze! where I answered an email that challenged me to defend my position from a Confessional and Scriptural perspective. I would hope that you give the series a glance and hold it up against not only what is said publicly by elected and appointed officials but also what is practiced in the LCMS today.