Evangelism As An Idol

I had a “conversation” recently with someone who believes that our beloved synod’s favorite evangelism program, eh, movement; Ablaze! is the best thing since sliced bread. I, as is no big secret ‘round here, completely disagree.

I put conversations in quotes above because there is rarely anything remotely resembling a conversation when debating Ablaze! from either a Scriptural or a confessional standpoint with those whose views differ from mine . I’m always up for a good debate and really do enjoy a dialogue with people that disagree with me. That being said, I just can’t accept a synod website, when that website conflicts with Scripture or takes Scripture completely out of context, as a legitimate debating point. Madison Avenue marketing campaigns will always be trumped by Scripture. If even that simple point can not be agreed upon, let’s just be honest and just call it a day because the discussion is going to go nowhere pleasant for either of us.

What I’ve seen by the precious few who will debate a slack jawed yokel like myself (and for reasons I can’t explain, there really too few who are debate anything at all concerning true evangelism) is almost a willingness to make an evangelism program the equivalent of a golden calf that is to bowed down to. Allow me to elaborate;

The Ablaze! program did not hide Easter eggs for the kids in the neighborhood.

The Ablaze! program did not invite people to your Easter breakfast.

The Ablaze! program did not shake your visitors hands in your church lobby.

The Ablaze! program did not work in the local food pantry.

The Ablaze! program did not talk to people at the bus stop or in the airport about Jesus.

The Ablaze! program did not, I repeat, did not bring anyone to faith.

I see very little difference between ascribing the receiving of faith by the Holy Spirit to a program developed by consultants and the bowing down to a golden calf by the people of Israel when Moses was still on Sinai in Exodus 32. Likewise, it is an error of similar magnitude to dance around that same golden calf to the drum beat of our own good works. Extol Ablaze! all you like but the focus is almost never on the faith in Christ which is the only thing that makes a good work good.

To take credit for your own works as being good or attributing the bringing of those who would hear their Shepherds voice to faith is nothing more than the fashioning of an idol from the gold colored metal of an evangelism program.

The old confessors understood this when they defended the historic catholic faith against the papacy and the Roman system of works righteousness that had developed through the middle ages before the Emperor Charles V at Augsburg when they confessed in AC V how faith is received and how and where we find Jesus;

That we may obtain this faith, the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. For through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Ghost is given, who works faith; where and when it pleases God, in them that hear the Gospel, to wit, that God, not for our own merits, but for Christ's sake, justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ's sake.

They condemn the Anabaptists and others who think that the Holy Ghost comes to men without the external Word, through their own preparations and works.

Golden calves take many forms but the one thing that every idol has in common is taking credit from the work of our Lord and making it our own. When Ablaze! is always running (the subject of) the verbs, no matter how well intentioned it may be, our beloved synod’s shiny evangelism program is nothing more than an idol to be condemned.

Ablaze!’s Counting Evolution

The Ablaze! website counting criteria evolution:

Baptisms do not count as baptism is only an outward sign

became

We are not counting baptisms or conversions. We are counting the number of Gospel seeds planted.

and ended up

We are counting sharing the Gospel with individuals--seeds planted in faith…

Well, I guess there has been some progress…

I would love to know when the second standard of what was to be counted on the Ablaze! website was changed to the third.

Personally, I see these changes as progress. Who knows, maybe the Ablaze! program or movement might resemble something vaguely Lutheran by, oh let’s say 2017ish if these changes continue!

Like, wouldn’t that be cool…

Does Ablaze! Count Baptisms Now?

From last week’s inbox comes this School Ministry E-Bulletin story under the heading “Ablaze Moments in Lutheran Schools”…

ABLAZE Moments

In the past 15 years, Our Redeemer Lutheran School in Fords, NJ, with an average enrollment of 100 students in Grades PK-8, has baptized 16 students. On May 10, #17 will be baptized, and #18 will become a child of God on June 14. God is so good!!!!

The fact that 18 children have been heirs of heaven in the waters of Holy Baptism is a blessing indeed as the sacrament “works forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare”.

But… I have to ask the question; is Ablaze! now counting baptisms? The reason the question is important is that for the longest time the Ablaze! website explained the methodology of the program this way:

"We are not counting baptisms or conversions. We are counting the number of Gospel seeds planted."

That same page that the LCMS set up to explain Ablaze! methods: "Are we really counting? If so, what exactly are we counting?" now states:

We are counting sharing the Gospel with individuals--seeds planted in faith…

See the difference? The statement that we do not count baptisms is no longer there! So, are we counting baptisms or not? If we are now counting baptisms, when did we start?

Don’t get me wrong, counting the sacrament of Baptism is a very good thing! One of my biggest problems with the whole Ablaze! fad is the lack of focus on and never pointing to the Means of Grace; the Word preached purely and the Sacraments rightly administered. The Means of Grace should be the only things we look to for visible signs of the Church on this side of eternity. To look elsewhere for signs of a visible church or pretending that we can see what lies in the human heart is the same vain and futile effort and thinking that sent many a Pharisee skipping their merry way down the road to perdition.

I hope that we are indeed counting baptisms now. I would also hope like heck that we hired the right consultant this time to tell us that Scripture and our Confessions have been pointing us to the Means of Grace as something to be counted for quite a bit longer than the Madison Avenue marketing gurus have been saying that the Means of Grace are only an impediment to growing Christ’s church.

Ablaze! Counter Hits 10 Million (Or If You Live By The Numbers…)

From the inbox; last Thursday the Reporter, the official newspaper of the LCMS, sent out emails and reported on its website:

Ablaze! faith-sharing counter exceeds 10 million

By Paula Schlueter Ross

The Web-based "counter" that tracks the number of times LCMS Lutherans have shared their faith with others as part of the Ablaze! movement hit 10,006,997, as of April 29. That figure includes some 310,000 additions from the Synod's Southeastern District, which has been recording Gospel-sharing events for three years and last month added them to the Ablaze! Web site.

Sally Hiller, who has been overseeing the districtwide Ablaze! emphasis, says "people are becoming more comfortable in seeing and seizing the opportunities to share their faith" and now the initiative is "beginning to gain momentum" in the district.

"I rejoice and give thanks to God because each day I am humbled to read of the faith-sharing experiences of people throughout the district," Hiller said.

She recalled one person who told her, "Oh, I probably speak to someone about Jesus 25 to 30 times a day. How do you not?"

Still, the district is not easing up on its Ablaze! emphasis. At its May 1-3 convention in Norfolk, Va., delegates unanimously adopted a resolution to make faith-sharing a districtwide priority for the next triennium. The Southeastern District wants to have reached 750,000 people with the Gospel by its next convention in 2012 -- that's 30 percent of its goal to reach 2.5 million by 2017.

With a little more than eight years left until Ablaze! culminates on Oct. 31, 2017, the movement is one-tenth of the way toward its goal of reaching 100 million people worldwide with the Gospel.

It would be truly delightful if those who lived by the numbers would hold themselves accountable by the very numbers and statistics that they demand of us. Allow me to make my case…

In 2003 the President of the LCMS Gerald Kieschnick was giving speeches as all presidents do at district conventions. In each of those speeches the President Kieschnick stated:

From 1971 to 2001, our Synod’s baptized membership has decreased from 2.89 million people to 2.54 million and confirmed membership has decreased from 2.01 million to 1.92 million.

Sadly, by 2009, the membership of the LCMS has dropped further to 2.4 million baptized members. I looked for how many of those 2.4 million members were actually catechized and confirmed but couldn’t find the current numbers.

How can this be? I thought the Ablaze! movement was being hailed as a success? If we have ten million “critical events” then why has the headcount dropped half a million people since Ablaze! was implemented? Does losing at least five hundred thousand people sound like the non-program is working to you?

So, let’s not try to all be negative Nancys and such and try to put a positive spin on the situation. Maybe those that we are counting as being reached with chance to respond (this is the definition of a “critical event”) are going to other protestant denominations. With the recent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life polling it has been learned that denominational loyalty can no longer be counted on. Maybe those we are counting are actually in other denominations based on our evangelism.

The problem with thinking that we, out of the goodness of our hearts, are just helping out every other denomination but our own is that the number of Americans who call themselves Christian, as a percentage, hasn’t changed in years and in fact there are very real signs of a decline in actual numbers. If we look at Americanized Christianity and can’t see even a small increase with ten million “critical events”, shouldn’t someone ask what the heck are these people doing with all these chances for to respond? Are they going anywhere at all? They certainly don’t seem to be going to church that’s for sure.

And continuing to put the best spin on the situation, I’m also going to make the assumption that they ain’t going to visit the Mormons. The Mormon numbers are increasing somewhat but I seriously doubt that the average unchurched seeker is interested in looking for Jesus on Kobol.

So again; where are these ten million “critical events” folks? Who knows and that’s my point. The Ablaze! movement never had as its goal pointing to the one thing that Scripture and our Confessions say can be counted; the Means of Grace, that is to say the Word preached purely and the Sacraments properly administered. Since we don’t point to the Means of Grace can we really expect a “return” on our evangelism investment?

It’s more than a little frustrating to read how a high cost evangelism movement is praised with no measurable movement concerning results within our beloved LCMS (or anywhere else for that matter). It would be nice if those who lived by numbers and spreadsheets would call a thing what it is and admit that the numbers and spreadsheets being hailed as a success only tell a portion of a sad story.

If you live by the numbers, shouldn’t you be held accountable to them as well?

Innovative Ablaze! Funds Outreach

This was sent to the inbox from a longtime reader:

On Saturday January 17, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. gas prices are falling.
Jordan Lutheran Church is giving the people of western Wake County a little break from the slowing economy at the Dolphins BP station located at 5016 Common Hills Drive in Cary. The church is buying down gas $0.50 per gallon and selling it for two hours at the discounted rate.
Here is how it will work. Anyone wanting the discounted rate must be at the gas station between 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. The limit is 15 gallons of gasoline per vehicle. The goal is to "share the wealth" with as many people as possible!
Mike Merker, Pastor of Jordan Lutheran Church says, "People often ask why we do these types of events? The number one reason is that we want the community to know that Jesus cares for even their practical needs. We believe that showing kindness in a practical way is what Jesus would do if He were walking the earth today. We are to be Jesus' hands' and feet."
This discounted rate comes just in time for everyone who is feeling the crunch of Christmas bills. Merker added. "We want to change the way people think about church. God was the best giver of all, so that is what we want to do, give!"
Jordan Lutheran Church will begin worshipping on February 8, in Beaver Creek Cinemas located at 1441 Beaver Creek Commons Drive in Apex. The worship services start at 9:30 a.m. with a nursery and children's church available for young kids.

Jordan Lutheran Church defines itself as a cooperative partnership of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.

My only commentary is that the prices and availability of a good single malt scotch in the Haut South is something that brings me significant stress. I wonder if my congregation would be willing to accept Ablaze! monies so as to do a single malt scotch outreach. This is certainly not a new idea as the awesomeness that is Mollie has long advocated for a “bar ministry.” I think she might be joking but I’m certainly not. What a great way to sit down, relax, and talk about everyone’s favorite movement. Just a thought...

My District’s Ablaze! Christmas Card

Well, I got my district Christmas “card” yesterday in the mail. It was a nicely done 8.5 X 11 glossy sheet that was decorated to look like a Christmas tree quilt with all the organization’s employee’s photos stacked inside the tree. Next to the tree was the message:

We celebrate Jesus who sets our lives ablaze with his grace, mercy, and peace.

Along the bottom of the flyer were these words;

May your Christmas remembrances overflow with love for Jesus, who came as a child, to be our Savior. The Staff

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Yeah, that’s what I thought too. I don’t think that any communication comes out of a district or synod office without incorporating the word ablaze into the message. Nope, it’s just not possible.

That being said, and to be fair, what I just received was a hell of a lot better than the card from two years ago. That card rewrote a verse of Scripture to include the word ablaze so that Luke’s account of the angels appearing to the shepherds read:
The heavens are ablaze as a great company of the heavenly host appear praising God and saying. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all”

After reading that abomination I actually sent the district a short email asking nicely what translation they were using. I didn’t really expect a reply and the good folks at the district offices didn’t disappoint me whatsoever.

It’s times like this that I remember the words not of one of the patristic church fathers, or of a reformation era theologian but of a contemporary Anglican layman who said:
Some men aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

Sir Alfred Pennyworth

Yep, smart cookie that Pennyworth. He knows his Ablaze! suit types well.

Isogeting Stewardship Into The Scriptures

The following Haut South district flash ended up in my inbox this morning:

"And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces." Luke 9: 16-17Good things come in small packages - or so the saying goes. In the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, a young boy's small offering of 5 little loaves and 2 fish become a banquet for more than 5,000 with leftovers! Today, we celebrate the miracle God is bringing about through Ablaze! for God's Mission."

The email goes on to talk about how important it is to support “an ablazing partnership!”

I always thought that the feeding of the five thousand was about what Jesus did and not about offering up seed offerings. I also thought there was a limit on the number of verses that could be used for raising monies. I was wrong.

In the book of Luke the three most important meals are the feeding of the five thousand, the last supper and finally the meal at Emmaus. All three meals show Jesus feeding his sheep. The first meal has Jesus showing that if he says he can feed more than is thought to be possible, than he can actually do it.

The last supper has Jesus instituting the means with which he will continue, even to this day, to feed his sheep. The great high priest who offers himself up on the cross gives that same Body and Blood to feed and sustain the saints. Those saints should always look at feeding of the five thousand as something of foretaste of what was to come in the upper room. If Jesus can feed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish then with confidence we should look at the Holy Supper, believe Jesus’s words and say it must certainly be true because He said it.

And finally, during the meal at Emmaus, Jesus reveals himself through the taught and spoken Word and the holy meal. Remember it is only after Jesus breaks the bread and gives thanks that disciples recognized their Lord. It is here that the saints of all time and all places see Christ’s gifts in action as they were meant to be for the first time. If we believe that Jesus can feed the five thousand, if we believe that he meant that the bread and wine really are His Body and Blood, then it is through the eyes of faith that we recognize our Lord today in spoken Word and in the blessed Sacrament because Jesus did it, does it, and continues to do His glorious work through these “ordinary” means.

All three meals are the work of Christ. It is Christ who is running the verbs. You know who Luke does not focus on? The boy who offered up the loaves and fish. In fact, Luke is so focused on Jesus doing the doing that he doesn’t even say where loaves and fish come from. We only know of the boy because of his inclusion in John 6:5-14. The feeding of the five thousand is the culmination of Jesus’s Galilean ministry, there’s no reason to draw attention away from this finale.Leave it to my district for a lesson in isogesis, that is to say reading ourselves into the Scriptures.

The proper way to read scripture is exegetically. To read exegetically you read verse by verse, line by line, chapter by chapter to read out of the Scriptures. That’s the good way.

The bad way to read God’s Word is the isogetically. By reading ourselves into Scripture we read what we want from Scripture. Usually this is done by starting with a concern, problem, or topic and has us searching for what verse backs up our point. Sadly this is my district has done.

There are a host of texts throughout Scripture that speak of stewardship and funding missions but Luke’s account of the feeding of the five thousand isn’t one of them. Reading fundraising into every verse of God’s Word may guilt people into giving more money but that doesn’t make it right.

Additionally, it shows poor theological scholarship when even a slack jawed yokel can spot the difference between Jesus feeding the masses and reading something into the verses that simply isn’t there.

The Best Idea To End Ablaze! Ever ( And With Honor!)

Scott Diekmann over at one of my favorite blogs; Stand Firm, has one of the best ideas to end the Ablaze! prog…eh, movement with honor so that we may put this divisive era of evangelism to an end.

I’m not going to give away his solution which means you’ll have to and read his great post.

I’ll give away this much however, in the past year it’s been determined that counting critical events can be done by determining the ratings of a TV show produced by synod entities and counting the number of viewers that may have watched the show.

What is a “critical event” and how can that be counted you ask? Well, according to the Ablaze! website’s definition a critical event is defined as;

When one person gives a clear presentation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to another person, so that there is an opportunity for that person to respond, this activity “counts” toward the 100 million goal.

Now the question becomes; how can we count a response to a TV show if we are not there to hear a response? It doesn’t matter. As the Ablaze! movement moves forward it evolves and now we count what we count. We need to work with what we have which segues back into my original point; read Scott’s post “Ablaze Numbers With Honor”.

How Do You Grow Your Church? Part Deux

How Do You Grow Your Church?

So, how do you grow your church? Looking around I see a couple of different ideas:

1. Preach God’s Word purely (it’s all about Jesus and Him crucified folks) and administer the Sacraments rightly. Baptize babies and catechize all people in sound Christian doctrine.

2. Open up a day care center and tell the parents that they will get a discount if they join your congregation. If members of your mother congregation apply for a job; tell them that it would probably turn out better if they transferred membership. Don’t worry, that mother congregation, they have plenty of members to spare.

3. Call your mother congregation’s members and just ask them outright to transfer to your exciting and dynamic congregation. Be sure to email the member’s pastor after they agree to give it a shot. Remember, if he objects; you need to say that you didn’t think he would mind… after all, they still have plenty (too many) of members to spare.

All three scenarios are in play in my little corner of the haut south.

My congregation, that uptight mother church that thinks it’s important to make sure her sheep are fed above all else without Madison Avenue programs has always went with the first of the above options. With two of our three daughter congregations are choosing the remaining options, is it any wonder why I have a problem with the Ablaze! program and it’s emphasis on counting?

We reap what we sow and we are reaping big time ‘roud here.

Ablaze! Ambassador Quote Of The Day

Today’s Ablaze! ambassador quote of the day comes from Dr. Richard Bimler, past president of Wheat Ridge Ministries and a member of the Ablaze! Ambassadors Planning Team:

"A few weeks ago, I was at one of my Starbucks 'offices' (I call it St. Arbucks)," he related via e-mail. "As I ordered my usual 'tall of the day,' a man saw the Ablaze! shirt I was wearing and also noticed my 'AH-HA' button. He simply asked, 'Why are you so excited so early in the morning?'

"I quickly explained that Ablaze! is a movement that enables people to share their faith in the Lord and that my 'AH-HA' button was one of the ways I share my faith through Lutheran Life Communities as the AH-HA person -- the Ambassador of Health, Hope and Aging!"

I just wish somebody would enable me to share my faith. Why can't I go to a cool new mission field like St. Arbucks? Is that even possible to do this without an initiative, program, or movement?

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.

It’s A Prize Puzzle

Pat Sajak: Jeri, did you remember that it’s a prize puzzle? Any guesses as to where to we’re sending you? No? Well, I’m sure you’re going to have a great time in…did I mention that your going to hell!

Where’s The Official Ablaze! Firefighter?

A bit ago, last month I think, a reader of POTF asked why I haven’t been posting as much on our beloved synod’s Ablaze! evangelism prog… eh, movement. “Have you relinquished your title of the official Ablaze! firefighter?”

Nah. The reason I haven't posted anything lately on the theological goofiness that is Ablaze! is that here in the Haut South Ablaze! has really taken a back seat to other programs and fundraising campaigns. Even paid staff from the district have had to “tone it down” a good bit to sell congregations like mine on giving the district even more money than we already do.

One of the ways this is done is by allowing us to target where our monies are going. By personalizing our mission funding the district has found a much more receptive audience. In the past, when the Ablaze! nonfundraising fundraising campaign was first rolled out, we were asked to give blank checks and told that we should simply trust that the money was being put to good use. Good stewardship took a back seat to trust in proper oversight of missions that were in favor with our ecclesiastical superiors. Now at least we can have a say in the district's missionial outreach by supporting a congregations vicarage program or the sending of pastors overseas to preach in places such a Siberia or some such endeavour. All this is positive even if a district skims a bit off the top for “administration fees.” Missions are funded by congregations and districts get to claim that that the “movement” moves forward.

Recently ,visits by district officials have shown huge cracks in our beloved synods favorite evangelism movement. When paid staff from the district start off a presentation to a congregation by saying “hey guys, even I have some problems with some of this stuff” one can’t but help but think that there are more people out there than just one or two lonely congregations. The very fact that the district feels that it is necessary to temper its message and deviate from the Ablaze! script so as to have a shot at getting folks to write a check is proof positive that all is not lost.

Are things peachy? No, they certainly are not. Synod continues to drift from dead orthodoxy to a slick market driven organization that strives to market itself to the “unchurched” in a manner that in no way resembles the historic Church catholic. “Meet people where they are at” and “this isn’t your grandfather’s church” are the mottos of the day that convey that at all cost we should in no way offend or scare off the unchurched by looking too much like a church.

While the Ablaze! prog…uh, movement may not be front and center as much as in the past, the theology behind Ablaze!’s church growth tactics remain both at the synodical and district level (and obviously at some congregations as well). There is plenty still to write about I can assure with a good deal of certainty.

And for what its worth I wouldn’t want to write serious stuff all the time anyways. I rarely take everything serious and why would POTF be any different. Sometimes it’s just plain fun to write about Ablaze! Death Rays and the like. Sometimes the jokes just seem to write themselves as with the Witness Duck (which my district did take seriously but was alone in that regard). Sometimes, ya just gotta laugh.

So, again, am I relinquishing my role as the Official Ablaze! Firefighter™? No, I’m not. Sometimes it’s just necessary to see the forest for the trees and that may mean that I write about teaching youth or hymns as catechetical tools. The reason that our beloved synod is in the state she is in is the lack of catechesis (or complete disregard thereof) and this won’t be overcome by me or any other individual overnight. This task is a serious effort that needs to done by a whole slew of people united by one common confession.

And for what is worth… with things in a bit of a slow down ‘round here, I’ve been working on something that will expand the role of the Official Ablaze! Firefighter™! Yep, as they say; the devils hands are idol playthings ;-)… more on that front soon.

Seminary Prof. Berger on Ablaze!

A big tip of the hat to Pastor Chryst over at Preachrblog for pointing out that Seminary Professor (and Board for Communications Services member) David Berger has just written a scathing commentary on the LCMS evangelism program Ablaze! and actually posted it on Concordia Seminary’s website “Concordia Theology”.

Some highlights;

Most troubling, however, is the lack of primary – front and center – emphasis on the Sacraments, especially infant Baptism, and on substantive preaching and teaching of the Word (the "business as usual" referred to below?) as the God-given means of creating faith and spreading the Gospel. Surely the Baptism of a child is a “critical event.” A lack of emphasis on God’s gifts can easily be understood as de-valuing the God-given means of grace and, by extension, the means He has provided for bringing the gifts to a world in need.

To provide resources and ideas for personal and group witnessing is an admirable goal, but when a program relies so heavily on a host of techniques, gimmicks, explanations, definitions, rationales, action plans, discussing the seven mission responses, etc., (not to mention funding and consultants), the methodology threatens to overwhelm the mission.

Having seen only reports of participants makes it difficult to evaluate the “re-vitalizing” process in detail; however, bright red flags have already appeared on the horizon, e.g., asking a pastor to commit to putting his name on a call list if his congregation does not achieve 5% growth within two years.

When missionaries must be recalled from the field for lack of support, we need to ask what we need to change to make it possible for them to continue their work. Those who are called to be evangelists need to be supported, not tasked with raising funds for the work that should consume all their energies.

Those are just the highlights. Again, read the whole paper here.

I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t going to be some changes to the staff at Concordia Seminary for programmatic and business/stewardship reasons…

The Wonder Twins And The Routine

Sometimes I don’t know why I even bother…

I got my chops busted yesterday for owning and wearing an Ablaze! bracelet in what was called A Shocking, Frank, Unrepentant Admission by somebody who’s never seen the Wonder Twins from the Super Friends Saturday morning cartoon from back in the day (and by back in the day I mean back in the seventies when Saturday morning cartoons were cool).

The Wonder Twins, Zan and Jayna, were something like superheroes in training under the Justice League of America. Their powers were activated when they touched each other and said "Wonder Twin powers, activate." Zan always turned into some form of water; like a mist, steam, or some kind of ice cage to trap the villain. Jayna would always transform into some kind of animal whether it be a bird, snake, dinosaur, or some weird alien creature nobody had ever seen before. Ah yes, the Wonder Twins, good times, good times.

So what does Zan and Jayna have to do with the accusatory post by Herr Diekmann? Stick with me here…

Let me address the issue (accusation) head on; yes I do own an Ablaze! bracelet, two in fact, and yes, I really do wear the thing. I wear it to every mission board meeting that I attend. Why do I do this? Because I have found that if I wear the bracelet I’m treated differently that if I don’t. If I wear it I’m treated as if I’m among friends. It’s sorta like Marlin Perkins dressing up as a lion to watch a pride devour a wildebeest on the television program Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. As long as he remained dressed as a lion or stayed behind the blind, he was safe and the lions didn’t eat him. You do remember the show dontcha?

So wearing the bracelet allows me to move freely among those mission minded individuals who are so concerned about the “unchurched” that they would fight any attempt to say that the purpose of the Church is to preach the Word and administer the Sacrament in a mission statement for fear that the “unchurched” might frightened away.

But why do I own two Ablaze! bracelets? For the routine and this brings us back to Zan and Jayna.

When I go into these mission meetings I wear my Ablaze! bracelet on my right wrist. The other one I keep for my pastor which he wears on his left wrist. As soon as we sit down, always next to each other, we do our Wonder Twins routine: we touch the Ablaze! bracelets together and say in unison “Wonder Twin powers activate!” then I’ll say something to the effect of “form of a TV evangelist!” and my pastor will respond with “shape of a Calvinist!”

The funny thing is the blank stares that we get when we do this. So that, my faithful reader, is why the official Ablaze! firefighter owns and wears his Ablaze! bracelet.

Note: the cartoon embedded is not from the Super Friends cartoon, but it’s just as funny, in my ever so humble opinion.

What Are The Numbers?

Last weekend Mollie Ziegler Hemingway blogging over at Augsburg 1530 sadly reported that World Mission has decided to cease employing Reverend James May as a missionary in West Africa. Rev. May writes;

World Mission has been pressuring me to move on and inform you as soon as possible. One reason is that I would be without a paycheck and insurance soon after we have a baby due in July. We hope that by the grace of God we could have another call in place when my salary and benefits terminate at the end of August 2008.

The decision leaves three newly planted churches in Burkina Faso without a theologically trained leader and also the Lutheran Church of Togo without a missionary which they had been awaiting for six years. Please keep all these people involved in your prayers.

Now I first heard about a large number of missionaries being recalled back in 2002 or 2003 while visiting Concordia Theological Seminary up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. A member of the staff that I was having dinner with made a comment that the way synodical bureaucrats had decided to pay for all the brochures, pamphlets and marketing consultants associated with the Ablaze! program was to cut back in world missions. That’s right; to reach those lost sheep that we say we are so worried about we had stop doing so much work in the field to reach more people though Madison Avenue style marketing.

The one thing I’ve never seen is the raw data on how many pastors and church workers are in the field now (as in actually in the field, not behind a desk at a district or synodical office. The debate on the increase of synod and district staff is another post) versus the number in the field in 2000. I’ve looked for this data and come up short.

Has anybody seen or have access to those numbers? If so please comment or send me an email.

New Hearts Ablaze! Toy

Are you looking for something to get the kids for their birthdays that will teach them all about your beloved synod’s evangelism movement; Ablaze!(tm) ? Do you lose sleep at night wondering about how you’re going to broach the subject that being on fire is a good thing with that unchurched neighbor of yours?

Well then, how about a Mola Ram Mighty Mugg from Hasbro? Teach your children and your neighbor all about how good it is to have an Ablaze! heart with this hip version of your favorite character from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Mola Ram comes dressed in his popular liturgical dance attire and is a must have for kids of all ages.

Now everybody chant: Kali Ma Shakti de! Kali Ma Shakti de!

What Do You Think About...

Ok, I’ll be honest here and admit that I did not expect so many people to actually want the sweatshirt that I was giving away. Sure there was the “oh cool, something free!” factor. I expected that.

But what I didn’t expect was that a goodly number of people, after the contest was over, who would ask me if they could still get a shirt.

Last month, Herr Benjamin Ulledalen, on my Wittenberg Trail page after realizing who I was asked the following question; "You should set up some sort of "Volunteer Ablaze!(tm) Fire Department." . I replied back “A "Volunteer Ablaze!(tm) Fire Department"? I'll work on that as soon as I'm done dealing with my current situation. Great suggestion, although, all you folks are doing is encouraging me...”.

Do see where this is going?

The short answer is yes, I can get more shirts made. I designed the logo and with the help of a coworker, we were able to get it down on paper in a way that I was able to take it to an embroider, get it scanned, digitized into a code that could be read by embroidery machines, and put onto shirts. The logo is mine to do with whatever I choose.

I would be more than happy to order up more shirts. But what I would love to try is something like what Dan over at Necessary Roughness and I tried, a series of cross posting but this time on the subject of evangelism.

The whole reason I started this blog was to poke fun at synodical goofiness, but obviously, I’m having fun writing about everything from how we educate (or don’t in some cases) youth to good hymnody that confesses our faith in Christ. With district officials publicly saying that there are serious theological problems with the Ablaze! program, I’ve sort of adjusted the focus here to things that interest me outside of Madison avenue style marketing campaigns, programs or movements. But that doesn’t mean evangelism isn’t important and that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy a little help.

So what do you think? How about setting up a few volunteer Ablaze!(tm) fire departments complete the official POTF (in)activewear?

And both the missus and I think it would be a hoot to see pictures of POTF (in)activewear being worn in front of, let’s say, district and synodical offices. Yep, that would a real hoot….

Again, what do guys think?

Update:

A Wise Warning From The Underground

Pastor Cwirla over at the Underground has some very good advice for everybody who wants to combine the criticisms of what happened to Issues, Etc. and our beloved synod’s favorite little evangelism program Ablaze!; don’t. He correctly points out that “The issue is not about the Ablaze! initiative but about Issues, Etc. and how it fit or didn't fit into the synodical vision. This is NOT about the Ablaze! mission initiative.”

He is right on target. While the theological leanings of our synod leadership are tied to both issues, (pun intended) the two issues need to remain two separate as we move forward in demanding answers for the latest debacle.

Listen, everybody who reads this blog even on an infrequent basis knows what I think of Ablaze! and all it’s theological goofiness. There is a time and place for that argument concerning Ablaze!, and now is not the time.