The Ablaze! quote of the week comes from my very own congregation which was visited this past Sunday by a district official:
"Hey, if I had to make choice between Lutheran theology and saving souls, I'm going to save souls!"
Now, the person that made this comment I know rather well and I know that he knows that he can’t save a single soul. He was in full backpedal mode when challenged on this and had to state several times that he did in fact believe and confess that saving souls and bringing people to faith was the work of the Holy Spirit.
But at the end of the day I really think he did more to damage his chance of getting one red cent out of us than any of the good stuff he promoted that we all can agree with (like supporting missions).
One of the big flaws in Ablaze! was highlighted on Sunday; when we separate doctrine from missions, we get something that becomes neither. By pushing Ablaze! at the exclusion of retaining a solid doctrinal view of missions, our guest took the work of God and made it his own. Even if he did not intend for the statement to come across that way, and I don’t believe he did, the folks gathered for a Sunday school class heard from an official representative of our district that doctrine isn’t as important as their own work to save souls.
Rick Warren who often touts “Deeds not creeds” would be proud of our district. I was not.
"Hey, if I had to make choice between Lutheran theology and saving souls, I'm going to save souls!"
Now, the person that made this comment I know rather well and I know that he knows that he can’t save a single soul. He was in full backpedal mode when challenged on this and had to state several times that he did in fact believe and confess that saving souls and bringing people to faith was the work of the Holy Spirit.
But at the end of the day I really think he did more to damage his chance of getting one red cent out of us than any of the good stuff he promoted that we all can agree with (like supporting missions).
One of the big flaws in Ablaze! was highlighted on Sunday; when we separate doctrine from missions, we get something that becomes neither. By pushing Ablaze! at the exclusion of retaining a solid doctrinal view of missions, our guest took the work of God and made it his own. Even if he did not intend for the statement to come across that way, and I don’t believe he did, the folks gathered for a Sunday school class heard from an official representative of our district that doctrine isn’t as important as their own work to save souls.
Rick Warren who often touts “Deeds not creeds” would be proud of our district. I was not.
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