Letters On The Page

Jeffrey Bilbro, Jessica Hooten Wilson, and David Henreckson, editors. The Liberating Arts: Why We Need Liberal Arts Education.  Plough Publishing House, 2023.  Reports abound about the financial and enrollment challenges of liberal art colleges. Reports also abound about universities and colleges making drastic changes with their humanities departments. Programs in history, English, foreign and classical languages, philosophy, etc. and the professors that teach them are reduced or eliminated. Some argue this is a good thing.  We should focus on science, engineering, technology, and math instead. Others say, not so fast!  This engaging, thoughtful, and informative collection of brief essays about the liberal arts enters the conversation. These essays are the end result of a movement among practitioners of the liberal arts that began in the spring of 2020 with a series of video and audio conversations and interviews and the development of the website liberatingarts.org...

Image:  The Blind Men of Jericho  by Nicolas Poussin, 1650 [Louvre, Paris] Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   23rd Sunday after Pentecost   Jeremiah 31:7-9     Hebrews 7:23-28    Mark 10:46-52   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.    This past Monday and Tuesday I was at the All-District Pastor Conference. Before the conference began on Monday, there was a “New to the District” orientation led by President Stuckwisch. He arranged for a number of people that worked in the District Office, as well as the Vice Presidents, and others to be at the meeting so that we can attach names to faces. We also heard President Stuckwisch’s emphasis in his work at President of the District. He exhorts pastors and congregations to become uniform in doctrine and practice, especially centering worship around the use of the Lutheran Service Bo...

 President Stuckwisch has a video/podcast explaining why Close Communion is the practice of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. President Stuckwisch strongly encourages congregations in the Indiana District to continue with this practice.  Here is his article in Earthen Vessels: On Pastoral Care, Church Fellowship, and the Practice of Closed Communion The practice of Closed Communion has been the consistent teaching of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod throughout its history, yet it can be awkward and difficult to understand and to carry out consistently and clearly in the week-by-week life of the Church. Misunderstandings of Closed Communion, its meaning and purpose, have resulted in a variety of different practices across our congregations. As part of my ongoing efforts to address these concerns and teach on these matters, I’ve recorded a half-hour audio-video “podcast,” with the help of Rev. Danny Mackey (Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Muncie, Indiana, and our District...

John McWhorter.  Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We Should, Like, Care. Gotham Press, 2003.  304 Pages. We regularly encounter complaints that the writing and the speaking of English continues to get worse as time goes along. This kind of complaint is often expressed in connection with criticism about education. McWhorter is a professional linguist. This book is an investigation into whether or not English language usage, both written and spoken, has indeed changed. If so, why and when?  McWhorter begins with the Gettysburg Address. Abraham Lincoln provided a brief address that is a sophisticated piece of writing and oratory. Lincoln’s address stands in contrast to the speech immediately before his because of Lincoln’s brevity. Edward Everett waxed eloquently about the conflict and its meaning at Gettysburg for two hours. (The speech in its entirety is found here:  https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/everett-gettysburg-address-sp...

Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   2024 22nd Sunday after Pentecost    Ecclesiastes 5:10-20      Hebrews 4:1-16      Mark 10:23-31 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen. The Bible describes God’s Word in a number of ways. For example, the longest Psalm in the Psalter is Psalm 119.  Through the course of 176 verses we are led into an extended reflection on God’s Word. One of my favorite verses there is verse 105: “ Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path .” God’s Word does illumine our journey through life.  I regularly return to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “ 16  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work .” When we read the Scripture...

  Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   Pentecost 21 – Amos 5:6-7,10-15          Hebrews 3:12-19               Mark 10:17-22 The prophet Amos pulls no punches. He is confrontational in his speech. He speaks directly and bluntly of a problem that is bringing spiritual ruin to God’s Chosen People. The sinful behavior that the LORD and Amos witness are not innocent deceptions. They are not little white lies that don’t hurt anyone. The powerful and wealthy are taking advantage of those who are beneath them in wealth and status and who cannot legally fight back. They refuse to receive God’s truth. They engage in bribery to conduct business. They manipulate the law and work the government against the less fortunate so that they can make more money. They have allowed their wealth and their endless need for more to become their idol. Their love for their idol is leading them down...

By Edal Anton Lefterov - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,    Icon of Christ - Pantocrator - Creator of the Universe Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   2024 Pentecost 20 – Genesis 2:18-25    Hebrews 2:1-18        Mark 10:2-16 The Letter to the Hebrews is addressed to Christians who are being persecuted or under the threat of persecution. When you read through Hebrews, you realize that this is hardly an epistle at all. Rather it is a sermon encouraging the baptized to remain faithful to their confession despite the real distress they feel and the real danger that their faith exposes them to. An actual recognizable letter is not found until the final words in chapter 13.  We know that Hebrews is written and preached and disseminated to the wider church sometime before AD 70. The author of Hebrews speaks of the old covenant and the necessary animal sacrifices as if they are still happening in the Temple in Jerusalem. That came to a gri...