LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

OCTOBER 2017

Something that for me has been absolutely astounding – as we have been celebrating the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation – are some of the things that that milestone has been used to justify and support. I have seen the anniversary of the Reformation being used to advocate for environmental issues, even though the only time that I am aware of when Martin Luther promoted ecological concerns was when he said that if he knew the world would end tomorrow, he would still plant a tree. Luther’s antisemitism later in life as well as his not supporting the peasants in the peasant revolt have been made into a jumping off point to rail against racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, and all the other awful things that people are guilty of these days.

An observance that was held on Reformation Sunday in a church in the ELCA synod in which I was rostered before I retired used in its publicity an interesting version of the Luther rose. The outer perimeter was made up not of the typical colors, but instead of the hues of a rainbow, and in the center of the rose was not a cross but an angry looking fist holding a hammer. Concerned and alarmed, because I saw Christ and the cross as being replaced by human anger and political activism, I telephoned the church that was hosting the event and left a message for the pastor, asking what was intended to be communicated by that form of the Luther rose. As I expected, I have not received a reply. Because the bishop of that synod was participating in the event and the synod was helping promote the event, I also wrote to the synod, expressing my concern that that symbol was replacing Christ and the power of the cross with the power of human efforts and anger. Again, as anticipated, I have not received a reply.

And so it was so refreshing for me to attend the LCMC gathering in Minneapolis October 8-11, where the real message of the Reformation was kept at the heart of the celebration of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation.

LCMC GATHERING: KEEPING THE REAL MESSAGE AT THE HEART OF THE CELEBRATION

Under the theme “We Confess Our Faith,” the gathering was structured around conversation about three of the fundamental teachings of the Reformation: Justification, the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms, and the Priesthood of All Believers. Presenters first described the basic principles of each of those three teachings, then a panel made up of people serving in diverse ministry settings – both in the United States as well as in other parts of the world – discussed how that major teaching impacted their ministry in their own particular place of service. The panel discussion was then followed by discussions at tables where those attending the gathering were able to apply that teaching to their own lives and ministry settings.

My soul was stirred and my thinking was stimulated by the presentation of Steve Turnbull, pastor of Community of Grace Lutheran Church in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He spoke on the doctrine of justification. Maintaining the real message of the Bible and the Reformation while also applying that message to real life issues today, Pastor Turnbull talked about how Paul often discussed the concept of justification within the context of Jew-Gentile relationships. For example, in his letter to the Ephesians Paul describes God as pointing to the Church and saying, “See what I have done. Sin wrecks human community. I have put it back together again.” Pastor Turnbull then shared how Paul’s evangelism had created multi-ethnic communities. He needed a way to explain theologically what was happening. And so he wrote, The cross is enough to tear down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile. Pastor Turnbull then applied that principle to life today when he asked, “Is it enough to unite people today?”

I heard a similar emphasis during the discussion of the doctrine of the Two Kingdoms. One of the panel participants said, “We have got to be about reconciling things. If we are not reconciling things, we might not be the church.”

And then we were given the opportunity to experience a powerful, real-life, modern day example of cross cultural ministry by attending a Global Worship Service at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, south of downtown Minneapolis. At a workshop prior to the worship service Pastor Roland Wells shared how the greatest migration in the history of the world is happening right now; wherever there are jobs, there will be immigrants; and God is giving the church today the opportunity to learn how to reach out cross culturally by the people He is sending into our areas. And then, after being reminded that we also once were immigrants, we were led in worship by fellow Christians who are of Messianic Jewish, Latino, Ethiopian Oromo, and Filipino heritage. At the end of the service we were told that we had received a taste of what heaven will be like. And then Pastor Wells closed the service by saying, “Go in peace with a new sense of what God is doing in our world.”

I was struck by the number of people who attended the workshop entitled “Next Generation Leaders,” taught by Dr. Kyle Fever, director of the Nexus Institute of Grand View University in Des Moines. We of Lutheran CORE have known that many Lutheran pastors and congregational leaders and members are deeply concerned over where their congregation’s next Bible believing and outreach oriented pastor will come from. That concern is the reason why we of Lutheran CORE are involved in our pastoral formation project. The extent of the concern, as well as the importance and immediacy of the concern, were brought home to me by the number of people attending that workshop, which Kyle Fever entitled, “Resurrecting Timothy.”

The idea behind the title is this. Timothy was different from Paul, and Paul was willing to allow Timothy to be Timothy. In other words, Paul let Timothy be different from Paul. Dr. Fever shared how youth today are interested in spiritual things, but many of them in ways that we do not know how to deal with. We have virtually no training for non-traditional ministries. We have very few Timothies, who are different from Paul. Dr. Fever challenged us, What kind of church leaders do we want? Ones like what we already know? Or are we willing to be like Paul and let Timothy be Timothy?

Kyle Fever said that we need to find ways to raise up not future leaders for the church as we know it now, but future leaders for a church that we do not yet know what it will be like. We need to give young adults opportunities to participate in the vitality of the congregation, and not necessarily within the four walls of the church. We need to cultivate in them a yearning to be a part of the work of the Gospel in the world, rather than try to cultivate in them a yearning to be part of preparing the communion table for Sunday morning. He got down to basics when he asked us, “How many here are intentionally mentoring a high school sophomore or junior?” He challenged pastors, “The next time you write a sermon, target it to sixteen to twenty-two year olds.” He concluded by saying, “There are no easy answers, but there are resources.”

LATINO MINISTRIES ENCUENTRO (ENCOUNTER)

After being home from Minneapolis for a few days, I left for Chicago to attend the annual Latino ministries Encuentro (Encounter) October 17-19. This event is sponsored by Lutheran CORE and was planned and put on by Pastor Keith Forni, member of the board of Lutheran CORE and pastor of First/Santa Cruz Lutheran Church in Joliet, Illinois. Pastor Forni has an unusual gift for Latino ministries. He has an unbelievable number of contacts within the Lutheran Latino ministries community, and he is natural and comfortable leading bi-lingual worship.

One of the two main presenters was Dr. Alberto Garcia, professor emeritus of theology at Concordia University Wisconsin and co-author of the book, Wittenberg Meets the World: Reimagining the Reformation at the Margins. I was struck with how much he emphasized one of the same themes that I had heard so much about at the LCMC gathering – the theme of reconciliation. It made sense to me. Because we live in such a divided nation and divided world, one of the particular gifts that the Church has to offer our nation and our world is the power of reconciliation. And one of the chief ways in which the Church can demonstrate the power of the Gospel and give credibility to its message is if we as God’s people are able to become reconciled with those from whom we have become estranged.

The other main presenter was Ken Elkin, a retired ELCA pastor from Williamsport, Pennsylvania. During his presentation, entitled “A Pilgrim People,” Pastor Elkin described his recent pilgrimage walking the entire, approximately five hundred mile long route of the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. After describing the characteristics of a pilgrimage as well as the place of pilgrimage in the history of the church, he then told of his own experiences in walking that route. He described what he called “the spirit of the camino” – how people are very open to each other as well as very caring for each other while on the pilgrimage. Some people who are on the camino are dealing with major issues in their lives. He presented the challenge of then bringing that spirit of the camino back into the rest of your life. He shared two of the great life lessons that can be learned from the camino. One of them he had found written as graffiti along the way – “You are capable of more and you need less than you think.” The other one was the title of a book – “To walk far, carry less.” He concluded his presentation by saying, “The popularity of this pilgrimage shows that there is a genuine spiritual hunger in people, and we are not reaching them.”

One of the best discussions we had at the Encuentro was on the ways in which the Roman Catholic traditions of baptism, presentation, and first communion, and the Latin American tradition of quinceaneras give the Lutheran church real opportunity to make connections with the Latino community. One of the most serendipitous moments was when four of us participants were sitting, wearing our clergy collars, in the breakfast room at the hotel where we were staying. A woman came in shaking and sobbing. She saw us, walked up to us, and then began sharing how her fiancé had just been killed in a motorcycle accident. She had felt abandoned by God until she saw us. Dr. Alberto Garcia responded to the moment beautifully. He shared the love and comfort of God with her and prayed with her. She was certain God had brought her to us and us to her. How wonderful it was to be part of an answer to someone’s prayer.

St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church ELCA, the host congregation, is in the Hermosa neighborhood of northwest Chicago, which has changed dramatically in the last few decades from being totally Caucasian to totally Latino. In the basement there are pictures of confirmation classes from the 1960’s, made up of thirty to forty very Caucasian looking young people. We were able to experience how the congregation still has a vital opportunity for ministry, though a very different opportunity for ministry, as some of the neighbors joined us for dinner and a prayer service one evening. That evening we also held an outdoor candlelight prayer service for peace in a city that has experienced the tragedy of five hundred homicides so far this year. The neighborhood is a fairly high density neighborhood, so we know that nearby residents witnessed our service. The need for prayers for healing and peace were brought home to us by some graffiti we saw on the way to the church – “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”

Pastor Keith Forni, who serves St. Timothy’s congregation in Chicago, as well as First/Santa Cruz in Joliet, told of how dozens of children and their parents walk right by the church each day on their way to and from their school, which is only two blocks away. Pastor Forni uses the strategic location of the church as an opportunity to reach out to the children and their parents, and invite them to an afternoon children’s program at the church.

We were very honored and pleased that the Rev. Hector Garfias-Toledo, Assistant to the Bishop of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod ELCA, stopped by and visited the Encuentro and brought greetings from Bishop Wayne Miller. It is our goal that future Encuentros will continue to provide inspiration, resources, fellowship, and encouragement for those involved in or considering becoming involved in Latino, Spanish language, and/or bi-lingual ministries. We hope to find ways to make the Encuentro more accessible to more people so that this annual gathering will be a resource for Lutherans of all church body affiliations.

May your celebration of the five hundredth anniversary of the Reformation be a time for you of giving thanks to God for His abounding love and His amazing grace.

Blessings in Christ,

Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

909-274-8591

[email protected]

“But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.  I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, and I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.”  (Psalm 52:8-9)

 

We are as the young tree, filled with potential, but not yet producing fruit.  In spite of where we, or not are, come anyway to the house of the Lord and taste and see that what He gives is goodness and this shall be forever.  Come into the presence of the Lord and know that He will fulfill all that He has promised.  Come as one of His godly ones and walk in His ways.

 

Lord, what do I know compared to the wisdom You hold on the edge of your pinky?  I am but a young shoot tender and vulnerable in a world filled with avarice and wickedness.  Guide me O Lord in Your ways that I would walk according to Your Word and live into the life to which You call me.  Help me O Lord through the salvation You offer by grace to walk into the kingdom You offer.

 

Lord Jesus, without You and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, I could go nowhere, for my mind is clouded and my abilities are limited, yet You still offer the path of grace.  Lift me up O Lord to walk in Your ways knowing that only through You and by Your power can I ascend to stand in the Father’s presence.  Help me now and always to prepare for Your Kingdom and walk in the ways You have established from the beginning.  Amen.

LUTHERAN CORE: FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

APRIL 2017

A LIVING HOPE

Peter begins his first epistle by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1: 3) During this Holy Week season – as once again you travel with Jesus from the upper room to the garden to the cross and then to the empty tomb – may you receive God’s great mercy, experience a new birth, and rejoice in the living hope that we have because of Easter.

I am looking forward to being with the congregation of Zion Lutheran Church in Wausau, Wisconsin. I will be speaking at their Maundy Thursday men’s prayer breakfast, and then preaching at both of their Maundy Thursday services. On Good Friday I will be giving the message on three of the seven last words at their noon until 3 PM service. I am very grateful to Pastor Steve Gjerde, vice president of the board of Lutheran CORE, for the invitation to spend these sacred days with the congregation. Rob Kittel, treasurer of Lutheran CORE, and Jim Speckhard, volunteer office person, are both active in the leadership of the church.

Pastor Dennis D. Nelson

President of the Board and Director of Lutheran CORE

909-274-8591

[email protected]

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ARE YOU ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE?

DO YOU HAVE A FAITH THAT CAN WEATHER THE STORM?

On Sunday afternoon, January 8, the historic Pioneer Cabin tree, a thousand-year-old giant sequoia in California’s Calaveras Big Tree Park, fell to the ground and shattered on impact. A tunnel that had been carved into the trunk in the 1880’s made the tree famous and attracted visitors, but ultimately it was a major part of the cause of its demise. With the gaping hole in its trunk, it could no longer support the growth at the top, had less ability to resist fire, and, with the shallow root system that is typical of sequoias, it was unable to withstand the rain that flooded the park.

As I read about that tree, I thought, What are the dynamics in the church today which weaken people’s ability to sustain and support growth, resist the fires of tragedy which will happen, and survive the storms which will come?

In his first letter to his young friend Timothy, the apostle Paul wrote, “Certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith.” (1 Timothy 1: 19) Paul certainly knew what it was like to be in a shipwreck. What factors today lead people to suffer shipwreck in their faith?

Matthew 7 records Jesus’ famous parable of the wise man and the foolish man. Concerning the house built on sand (probably the sand of a desert wash which is dry almost all of the time), Jesus said, “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell – and great was its fall!” (Matthew 7: 27) Storms will come. Even the storm of the century will come once a century. What kind of theology, and what kind of teaching and preaching will and will not enable people to weather the storm?

In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul wrote, “I pray that . . . you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.” (Ephesians 3: 16-17) Whether you are a pastor, a church worker, or a lay member of a congregation, you have a ministry. Is your ministry – what you say and do and how you live – strengthening people in their inner being, bringing Christ to dwell in their hearts through faith, and helping them be rooted and grounded in love?

In my February letter to you, I told of hearing a sermon on Easter Sunday, where the preacher first told of the women who came to the tomb looking for Jesus. He then said, “Wherever you find people doing good, there you find Jesus.”

Easter is about God’s great victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil. How could God’s greatest act for our salvation be reduced to people’s doing good? As I become older I am less able to do as much good. Plus, when the needs are so great, how could I ever do enough good? How can a faith that is based upon not what God has done, but what I need to do, enable me to weather the storm?

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is in vain, our faith is futile, we are misrepresenting God, we are still in our sins, those who have died in Christ have perished, and we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Corinthians 15: 14-19) How could I ever think that something as life-changing as the resurrection of Jesus can be reduced to people’s doing good?

The end of last year I heard a prominent ELCA theologian – one who is often on the speaking circuit – say in a presentation about the letters of Paul, “Whenever Paul talked about justification by faith, it was always within the context of racial reconciliation.” Now I would agree that racism is wrong and racial reconciliation is important. I agree that being in right relationship with God gives me the power to become and needs to lead into my being in right relationship with other people. But how could I ever think that the way that God in His goodness, grace, and mercy provided a way for me to be reconciled to Him and to be accepted and declared by Him as righteous through faith in Jesus Christ is not something to value, give thanks for, and experience life change because of in and of itself, but instead only is a context for pursuing racial reconciliation?

With the big, gaping hole in the middle of its trunk, the giant sequoia fell. Built on the sand, the foolish man’s house could not withstand the storm. People of God, are you rooted and grounded in love? Do you have a faith that can sustain spiritual growth? Do you have a faith that can weather the storm? Pastors, are you preaching Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, and coming again, so that your people are rooted and grounded in love, have a solid basis for sustaining spiritual growth, and can weather the storm? For as we all know, storms will come.

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WHERE WILL OUR FUTURE PASTORS COME FROM?

For me two of the most powerful and convicting passages in Scripture come at the end of the book of Joshua and then also at the beginning of the book of Judges.

Joshua 24: 31 says, “Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.” Almost the same words are said in Judges 2: 7.

But then it says that Joshua died, and all the leaders who had served with Joshua died. And then Judges 2: 10 adds these sad words, “That whole generation was gathered to their ancestors, and another generation grew up after them, who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”

There was a smooth transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua. Joshua, and all the leaders who served with him, had experienced the Lord’s delivering them from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, the daily provision of manna, the water from the rock, being guided and sheltered from the hot, burning, desert sun by the pillar of cloud, being reassured of God’s presence by the pillar of fire, and the conquest of the Promised Land. So that generation worshiped, served, and obeyed the Lord.

But it was inevitable that eventually that entire generation would die, and the generations that followed them would not have experienced firsthand God’s great acts of delivering and providing for them. And so the following generations did not serve the Lord, because they did not appreciate what the Lord had done. All of which resulted in the chaotic time of the period of the Judges, when “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” (Judges 21: 25)

A generation who faithfully served the Lord. A generation who believed that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions rightfully interpret the Bible as the Word of God. A generation who took seriously the moral and ethical standards of the Bible. A generation who believed that fulfilling the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations, rather than addressing every social and political issue that comes along, is our Lord’s prime purpose for His Church. A generation who built up the Church, who started and established congregations, who built church buildings and paid for them, who founded various educational and social service agencies – that generation is retiring, has retired, or already is in God’s presence in glory. What is going to happen now? What will be the values, priorities, basis for motivation, sense of mission, and foundational theological understandings of those who will be leading the church in the future? In many ways it feels like we have come again to the period of the Judges, when “everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”

How much better than the situation that developed after the time of Joshua is the plan that Paul set forth for providing for future leaders and teachers for the church. As Paul wrote to his young friend Timothy, “And what you heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will be able to teach others as well.” (2 Timothy 2: 2) From Paul and many witnesses to Timothy to faithful people to others as well, Timothy was to make sure that the Gospel was always passed on from one generation to another.

Somebody once said, in any one particular part of the world, “The Christian faith is always only one generation away from extinction.” We know that “built on the Rock the Church will stand.” “The gates of hell will not prevail.” (Matthew 16: 18) Someday there will be a great multitude that no one can count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, that will be standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7: 9) The Church will endure no matter what happens to any one particular congregation, Christian organization, or church body. But don’t we want to be among those who will be faithful and who will faithfully pass on the faith to the next generation, who will faithfully pass on the faith to the next generation, and so on?

If any of those thoughts resonate with you, please be praying for the Summit on Pastoral Formation, which Lutheran CORE will be holding on Wednesday, June 21, at Grand View University in Des Moines. We will be gathering a group of leaders from several different Lutheran church bodies – ELCA, LCMC, LCMS, and NALC – to begin wrestling with the question – What can we do to raise up, support, nurture, and sustain a whole new generation of Lutheran pastors who love God, love people, and will be Biblical and orthodox in their theology and evangelistic/outreach-oriented in their perspective and practice?

And as you pray, may we suggest that you consider giving an extra gift to Lutheran CORE – over and above your current giving – in honor of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation to help cover the expenses for this strategic gathering which is intended to help ensure that in the future there will be pastors who will preach and teach the Gospel that we are saved by grace through faith.

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WEEKLY DEVOTIONALS AND SERMON STARTERS

Please remember that weekly devotionals, written by three members of the board, can be found on the blog, which is accessible through the home page of Lutheran CORE’s website, www.lutherancore.org. Two of us are writing devotionals based upon one of the following Sunday’s readings. A third person is writing devotionals based upon one of the previous Sunday’s readings in the Missouri Synod lectionary series. A link to these devotionals is then posted on a number of different facebook and twitter accounts.

Please help us get the word out about these resources. It is our desire that they be an inspiration to all who read them and also a source of ideas, thoughts, illustrations, and images for pastors as they prepare for the following Sunday’s sermon.

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Please consider a gift to Lutheran CORE in support of the summit which will be held on June 21 in Des Moines to begin wrestling with the question, How can we raise up a new generation of Lutheran pastors who will believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, and who will be committed to fulfill the Great Commission? We estimate the cost for the day to be around $11, 000, which includes travel and housing expenses for the ten church leaders from different Lutheran church bodies who will be participating plus the seven members of the board.

Your gift to Lutheran CORE – in honor of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation – will help ensure that in the future there will be pastors who will preach the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith.

Please detach, enclose your gift, and return to us at –

Lutheran CORE, P. O. Box 1741, Wausau, Wisconsin 54402-1741

Or, if you prefer, you can give online by going to the home page of our website, www.lutherancore.org and designate your gift for the pastoral summit

Please find enclosed my gift. I want to help make sure that in the future there will be pastors who will preach the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith.

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Prayer request

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