Lutheran Carnival LXX-- Sabbath Rest

Thou shalt sanctify the holy-day.

What does this mean?--Answer.

We should fear and love God that we may not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it.

God gave us the blessing of rest. What a wonderful gift.

Weekend Fisher of Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength sends us two links. In the first, Lent 3 with Moltmann, Weekend Fisher continues her series of Lenten posts reading through Jurgen Moltmann's classic, The Crucified God. In the second link, The Shechinah, the Presence of God, and the Messiah, the glorious presence of God in the Old Testament -- the Shechinah -- was discussed by the Rabbis of old who scoured the Scriptures for the signs of when and where the Presence of God was promised. Weekend Fisher explores how Jesus uses the same language when he refers to himself.

Dan at Necessary Roughness also sends two links. In Charles Barkley, Fake Christians, and Judging Not, he takes a look at the theological and political nature of Charles Barkley's accusation that conservatives are fake Christians. Next, in Condemned Already, he points out that the Gospel for the first Sunday in Lent is a verse short, leaving out an exclusive claim of Christianity.

Over at Putting Out The Fire , Frank compares cooking up sauces with specialty saucepans with the liturgical season of Lent’s hymnody in a post titled Lenten Hymnody, The Windsor Saucepan Of The Liturgical Church Year.

There were a large number of third-party submissions. They include:

Thinking out Loud: Soul Winning Worhisp and Perhaps We Should Survey the Top 5% of Soul Bearing Marriages

Preachrblog: Revitalization: Numbers vs. Faithfulness

Weedon's Blog: Patristic Passages of Interest for Lutherans

Cranach: Happy Presidents (or Presidents’, or President’s) Day

Drowning Myself Whenever I Can: Funerals - The highest confession of a church's theology

This Side of the Pulpit: Sensuality and the Spectacular!

House, M.Div.: Hot Sex! Adults Only! 30 Day Trial! and No Sabres of Boldness Here

The Lutheran Carnival made it to 70 carnivals. I guess I thought we'd make it this far. I don't know. I wasn't thinking about that when my wife and I started the carnival. We were just thinking this is a cool idea. Time has moved on, my wife became my wife, and we have a baby now who keeps us busy. I've thought about this for a while, and it's time for the carnival to take a rest. Participation is down, and the hosts are now having to scour the blogsphere looking for posts. I think a rest would be good. The carnival will be back. When is something that has yet to be determined. We'll let you know.

Reminder for Lutheran Carnival LXX

The deadline for the seventieth Lutheran Carnival is this Friday. There have been several topics of interest, not just Lent but some of the stuff coming out of the Reporter as of late. I've also seen posts regarding 30 days of sex for married couples (don't they at least stop to eat?) and some good stuff regarding Lutheranism before Lutheranism was cool.

Send your stuff in!

Announcement for Lutheran Carnival LXX

The Seventieth Lutheran Carnival is upon us!

Seventy is a nice round number in biblical history: the house of Jacob in Egypt, the number of Gideon's sons (check that out, CSPP! ;) ), the Babylonian captivity, the seventy weeks of prophecy in Daniel, and so forth.

Let's make the Carnival LXX a nice large one. In case you forgot, here's how you enter.

The Sellers Family Three will host the carnival here on February 24.

Lutheran Carnival LXIX

Submissions

Four humble submissions came to the Lutheran Carnival:

James Wilson of the House, M.Div. blog takes issue with Archbishop Rowan Williams' concession that the British government should allow some aspects of shar'ia law. Usually, as the Brits would say, if you're in for a penny, you're in for a pound. Between that issue and the Pope's alteration of the Good Friday prayer, Wilson issues No Sabers of Boldness Here.

The Blair Church Project, one of the more interesting new blogs, has posted Funeral for a Friend. Our times are in His hands as she introduces us to the generous life, passionate ministry and Gospel legacy of Rev. Matthew R. Williams, a big-hearted Texas pastor and missionary who died suddenly on February 5th at the age of 38. In Funeral for a Friend, Christina provides us with an interview Pastor Matt gave in which he talks frankly about the cause of the Gospel in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

Partly in response to a book review on the Wittenburg Trail, David Bickel wrote Scripture Alone But Interpreted by Tradition? Bickel argues that tradition is not needed to intepret Scripture and make it clear, but pastors and teachers are needed to proclaim the clear Word.

Finally, I'm kicking in Expectations of Divine Law, where I note that Old Testament fear of consequence gave way to Phariseeism and finally to the desire to gain favor from God. We dare not get into a quid pro pro where we have no quid.

Update: Ryan Markel has submitted a proposal for Lutheran bloggers to unite in reading the scriptures through next year.

The Draft

Pastor Petersen of Cyberstones wrote Ashes to Ashes, We all Fall Down. He notes that he doesn't mind putting ashes on the foreheads of most people, but it bothers him a little to put ashes on the children that ask for them. Nevertheless, they will return to dust, too, and be raised again.

Keeping with Ash Wednesday, Pastor William Weedon in his Yearly Reminder tells us that the ash says, "I am dying...and so are you." The ashes reminded us that though we are dying, there is One who became our death for us that we may be His own.

Deaconess Emily Carder writes on the generic moralism that most people take for Christianity today, where Joel Osteen accepts Mitt Romney as a Christian. The Scriptures rebutt this Generic Jesus, Generic Christianity. To be Lutheran is to be Christian.

Along the lines of Luther and the Law, Pastor Charles Lehmann notes that the Ten Commandments are a repristination of natural law for Christians. Jesus broadens the Law, showing that all of us are condemned, but he doesn't leave it there. He takes our sins to the cross.

"Contemporary Christian Music is a valuable resource for the LCMS in the days of the post-modern world." Mike Baker, say what? :) Seriously, Mike analyzes CCM: Art Imitating Life, and instead of rejecting it out of hand, notes its benefit as a gauge of what people know about Christianity today.

Coming Soon

The Sellers family has volunteered for Carnival LXX.

Reminder for Lutheran Carnival LXIX

The deadline for the 69th Lutheran Carnival is approaching. We have not found a host as of yet; if there is no volunteer it will be held here.

The increased difficulty in getting volunteers for hosts and submissions is causing us to consider a change in format for the Carnival. The mostly-draft Carnival I did the last time worked quite well, but it involves work that I won't be able to do every two weeks, and the Sellers will be busy with their baby girl for some time.

We are talking ideas for how you'd like to see the Carnival go on, whether it go to more of a magazine format with a selection board, or something else. We think it is important to recognize those authors and bloggers whose work is appreciated outside their normal readership of parish members and friends.