Lutheran Carnival XL

The 40th episode of Lutheran Carnival is now here. Can you believe it, 40. I thought, at times, this thing might not last. There have been a few carnivals where I wondered. Anyway, we received a lot of submissions, so let's get started.

Unfortunately, many hosts have not done a "Lutheran you Should Know But Don't" for a while. It is unfortunate because there are three or four people I can think of at the top of my head that could be done. This is one of them.

Michael Praetorius was an organist, musician, and composer. The son of a Lutheran Pastor, he studied theology at the Un­i­ver­si­ty of Frank­furt an der Oder, and was a well know musician who died wealthy and left his money to the poor. He is probably the best know Lutheran musician after Bach.

As is my normal procedure, I am posting the links from earliest received to latest received.

First up is Poor Miserable Sinner with his post called Life - God's Plan. This post is in honor of life Sunday.

Next is Not Alone with the post The Reason for the Season. The reason for the season (Christmas) is more personal than people often think. People often think that Christ must be put back into Christmas. But what we really need is to put US back into Christmas, connected to Christ by the means by which Christ is already given in Christmas. Read how Jesus is the cause or source for the season and how the real reason for the season is US, and how Christ continues to come to us and for us during this blessed season. Pator Siems also sent in A Christmas Divorce. Joseph and Mary nearly were divorced on account of Christmas, but the Word of God turned them from this so that in Christ a wonderful Christmas divorce was declared for all the world.

Necessary Roughness sends us A Question on Sanctification. Dan asks the confessional Lutheran blogosphere if sanctification includes our efforts at sinning less, and is this in tension with the Lutheran Confessions which seem to state that sanctification is the forgiveness of sins and reception of Holy Communion.He also sent Pope Benedict's Urbi Et Orbi. Dan takes a look at the Pope's Christmas address, full of prayers for the nations. He notes the speech consistently refers to Jesus as the Savior, but it could benefit from a better treatment of sin than just national unrest.

The post St. Luke 2:1-20 - Christmas Eve 2006 was a third party submission from Bloghardt's Reflector. Pastor Borghardt preaches the incarnation of Christ and delivers the Gospel to a congregation that included non-churchgoing parents of kids in a Christmas program.

Next up is Hoc Est Verum with Lutherans Apologize for Past Mistakes. A parody of the ELCA's recent apologies to Mennonites for past opposition to Anabaptists.

Another 3rd party submission is from Little Loci and the post Advent 3 - No Such Thing as the "Lost". This is a sermon delivered by the Rev. Ryan Fouts on the Third Sunday of Advent. In it, he refutes the idea of there being those who are "lost" versus those who are "saved."

A Begger at the Table submits two posts. In his first, Nativity Thoughts, Pastor Klages tears a stripe off of the "Wise Men Still Seek Him" phrase. He the gives us If It's Friday..., where, on a less serious note, Pastor Klages invokes both Tim Hortons (a Canadian coffee-and-donut chain) and the Dukes of Hazzard in one of his most highly commented posts ever. Get in on the action! (ed. Tim Horton's is so good. I just wish they'd head south. They put Starbucks and Krispy Creme to shame.)

Old School Confessional brings us the post Whose Line Is it Anyway. Preaching is more than just the delivery of a sermon. It involves the whole process of preparation and delivery. This post once again addresses the issue of borrowed or downloaded sermons and their inappropriate use by preachers in our churches. It invites, and in fact, requests comments from any and all readers. (ed. This post now has the distinction of being submitted twice. It was submitted by the author and by a third party.)

Putting out the Fire sends the post The Infant Priest Was Holy Born. Frank writes a post that looks back to the miracle at Bethlehem, and then forward to the Eucharist by the way of the cross with his thoughts on a hymn by Pastor Chad Bird.

Horn+swoggled is back to his usual funny ways with Liturgy Card Girls Highlight Blended Worship. Here's the latest way to draw men back to church. He also sends Church Closes Nativity "Box". The Christmas Eve children's program at a New Hampshire church was canceled because of doctrinal concerns.

Ask the Pastor sends in two posts: Putting the "X" Back in Xmas and Do not Neglect the Gift. In Putting the "X" Back in Xmas, Pastor Snyder rejects the excesses of those who attempt to remove Christ and all other trappings of religion from the American holiday scene and those who appear to misunderstand the proper use of Christian symbolism. Also at Ask the Pastor, the Rite of Installation and the Office of the Holy Ministry are examined in Do not Neglect the Gift.

We also have more 3rd party submissions. The first of these is Northwest Seelsorger. In the post New Textbook Acknowledges Religion's Place in History, Pastor Don Engebretson expresses gratitude and, perhaps, a bit of surprise that a New Textbook Acknowledges Religion's Place in History as he comments on the publication of Unto a Good Land, a new college-level history text.

The next is Susan's Pendulum. Hail, Highly Favored Lady, says Susan. An Advent carol and the day's readings led the author of Susan's Pendulum to consider just what it was that made the Blessed Virgin Mary "highly favored."

Two more links come from Cantor's Padded Balcony: More Comments Shared in Christian Love and 3500 Members. One begins to understand why a certain Cantor needs his Padded Balcony after reading More Comments Shared in Christian Love, a summary of some of the invective he's received because of his unflinching Lutheran worldview. If his responses don't turn the tables completely, 3500 Members, his report on the ghastly state of the local megachurch certainly lets us see that even when we're wrong, Lutherans are probably more right than is most of Christendom.

Aardvark Alley sends in two links: O Emmanuel and David. Aardvark Alley, in cooperation with Rev. Cwirla's Blogosphere, completed a week long meditation upon the O Antiphons of Advent with O Emmanuel. He also continued the regular hagiographies, completing the schedule for the Year of Our Lord 2006 with David, King of Israel.

House, M. Div. sends us two posts: God's Own Child I Gladly Say It and Is Outrage. In " God's Own Child I Gladly Say It," he offers his thoughts on the recent baptism of Violet Affleck. In " Is Outrage," House interrupts Fr. Vasily Vaseilovich to offer some thoughts on a recent brawl at a "holy" site of Eastern Orthodoxy.

Finally, I offer up a blast from the past. In 2004 on my old blog, I wrote a post on the Office of the Holy Ministry and Closed Communion. I used the Small Catechism to prove that those pastors who are unwilling to use the binding key have no buisness using the losing key. They also have no buisness distributing the Lord's Supper. From the new blog Random Intolerance, my wife wrote Christmas Eve No Law Service. My wife points out the gospel reductionism in a sermon preached at a former church of mine.

That's all for the 40th Carnival. Number XLI is being hosted by Necessary Roughness. Remember, we are still looking for hosts for the next 10 carnivals. If you can volunteer, we can use it.