faith

Happy One Year Anniversary to Issues,Etc.!

June 30, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 6 Comments

It’s no secret. We’re BIG fans of IssuesEtc. BIG fans. Our children hum the ‘bump’ music as they play, ‘Todd’ and ‘Jeff’ are household names that need no further clarification. And if we’re talking about Steve’s brother ‘Jeff’, we say ‘BrotherJeff’, so as not to confuse him with our friend, ‘Jeff’ Schwarz. (A big thank-you to BrotherJeff, by the way, for introducing us to Issues). We’re warming up to Craig (the newest addition to the crew), but I don’t think the children would recognize Craig in a line-up yet. They could pick out Todd and Jeff in a heartbeat, especially by ‘voice’ recognition. They speak as fondly of them as they do their own uncles. Keep up the good work though Craig, they’ll come around. And if we weren’t such blasted procrastinators, we’d probably be on a plane to St. Louis by now to celebrate with our friends in person. But here we sit. Stevie in his Issues t-shirt and I with my mug, thinking back to all the great theological, political, and current ‘issues’ we’ve pondered over the past three years. Most of all, I think, Issues has taught us, from the scriptures, the depth of our depravity. We’ve learned one thing for sure. We have ‘issues’. And lots of ’em.

But we’re making strides……

We’re trying healthy drinks (in our Issues mug)…..

and light Lutheran beverages…….

and parenting by grace…….

…..even our marriage has been strengthened to the point that we staged a small ceremony on Sunday to renew our vows and do the traditional wedding toast…..Issues style.

Okay, I’m just kidding, that’s exactly what you WON’T get from Issues, etc—–How to be a better you. What you will get is Christ-centered, cross-focused talk radio, where the gospel of Christ is always the answer. This truly is ‘talk radio for the thinking christian’. They cover current issues such as gay marriage, stem-cell research, abortion, current fads and trends in American christianity, and many other culturally relevant topics, including book and movie reviews and in-depth analyses of other world religions. They also follow the liturgical calendar and teach about historical figures and events in the churchs’ past always highlighting events and teachings in the life of Jesus. And our favorite is the theological topics that are so well taught such as Justification, Baptism, the biblical view of marriage, the Lord’s Supper, Worship, the Theology of the Cross, Sanctification, the Ten Commandments, the Fall, eschatology, Creation, Apologetics, Redemption, Two kingdom theology, Vocation and the list could go on all day! This show is a treasure of excellent scholarship, with similiar benefits to attending a college of higher learning, without ever having to leave your house.

The host is Todd Wilken, a Lutheran pastor, who is the most gifted, well-spoken, scholarly interviewer I’ve ever had the privilege of hearing. He’s also an excellent speaker and preacher in his own right and has such a brilliant way of ‘getting to the heart of the matter’ on almost any topic. And Steve and I marvel all the time at how Jeff Schwarz, the producer, can possibly produce a schedule that is always packed with such relevant topics along with well-trained, gifted speakers who are experts in their particular fields. They provide ten hours of new programming a week and you can listen ‘on-demand’ by visiting their web-site, subscribing to them on your iPhone, or subscribing to their podcasts on iTunes.

We are so thankful for their faithfulness to the gospel and for the tremendous resource they have been to us in our discipleship and catechesis. They’re funny and smart and so down-to-earth. This is christian radio like you’ve never heard it. This is christian radio that men will listen to and learn from. This is christian radio that is rough around the edges and authentic. This is christian radio that you can be proud of. You will be challenged, inspired, possibly offended, encouraged, and instructed in the faith.

If you’re not subscribing, do it today, on their one year anniversary of producing their own show. I’ll be listening live today, from 4-6, from my computer, by clicking the ‘listen now’ button on their website. Join us in supporting men who proclaim Christ, and Him crucified!

Todd, Jeff, Craig—we send you big Southern hugs (except for Steve, who’s from MN—he sends a beer and a handshake) and hope you like your Tennessee paraphernalia, that should arrive today. Thank you for being mentors to so many christian men. We celebrate with you and stand with you in support as you continue to be faithful to the gospel of Christ!

And the little girls wanted to help us celebrate with a short vlog (video blog).

More on mentors later! If you’ve given Issues a try, let me know!

The Hidden God

June 18, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 4 Comments

Repost from December 20, 2008. And coming soon: A guest post by Taylor Riden (from The Verity—that’s my son ya know), and Painted Patio Furniture Linky Party on Monday June 22nd. Get busy now!

Caiti (now 16) at age 4

I’ve been reading a lot about the topic Christless christianity and how our inborn sinful nature is always bent towards self. We are by nature self-centered, self-focused and our perspective is always self oriented and is always distorted. Man’s natural theology is, in Lutheran circles, called a theology of glory. The rich man and Lazarus would be a good example. The rich man seemingly had ‘it all’. He wore the finest garments, drank the finest wine and ate gourmet food. Lazarus, in contrast, is a poor beggar who waits for the crumbs to fall from the rich man’s table. Based on just what you know on the surface, who is favored by God? We would often naturally conclude that the rich man must be favored by God. And we would almost always, at least in our minds, say “Well, surely Lazarus has done something to deserve this”.

A theology of glory likes to ‘figure God out’ and likes to use logic to determine how things are between God and I. Don’t we often think this about those who do not seem to have God’s favor in this life? “Well, God must be trying to teach them something.” If we’re blessed and making moral improvement, we must be ‘right’ with God. And if not, the opposite must be true. But as you know, in death the rich man finds himself in hell and Lazarus is comforted in the bosom of Abraham. So can I look at my circumstances in life and tell how it is between God and I? How does God show His favor to those He loves? And how can I know if I have His favor? God hides His glory behind the weakness of the cross. And he shows His favor to us through the death and resurrection of His own son for our redemption. And I know I have His favor because I receive the gifts He has given in faith and thanksgiving. I am favored by God because of Jesus. Thus, a theology of the cross……interprets everything in my life……the blessings, the suffering, every circumstance through the perfect suffering of Christ on my behalf.

God’s ways are hidden and paradoxical:

1. God hides His glory in the mundane elements of bread and wine. Jesus has withdrawn His visible presence from the earth. He is now the hidden God and we must depend on His word to know what He is about. So when God says “Take eat, this is my body”, He is hidden, in-with-and under the bread. We don’t ‘see’ Him there and it seems impossible to me that He is there. So I must trust His very own words and find comfort in His hidden presence in His Word and sacrements.

2. He hides His glory in the weakness of a baby. When He comes to earth, He does not come in glory but in the flesh. The very incarnation of Christ is so incredible to me. How can this be? It was scandalous then and seems scandalous now and so unlike how I would have chosen to reveal myself to the world. The smallness of God in a lowly manger on a lonely night greeted by mere animals and born of the travail and sweat of childbirth. This is God? Yes, this is the very essence of the truth of God. Humbled. Lowly. With His glory hidden. To bring to us our very salvation.

3. He hides Himself in our vocation. God achieves His means of serving and taking care of us through the hiddenness of others doing their vocation. So God hides himself in : a mother making dinner for her family; a father going to work everyday to provide; a doctor using his skills and knowledge to effect healing; a teacher teaching multiplication to her students; the garbage man collecting the trash. It all ‘looks’ and ‘seems’ so mundane…..but that is God at work in the world. Serving and taking care of His people.

So we must take heed to let the theologian of glory in all of us be crucified with Christ. We must accept God’s ways as mysterious and hidden; as not yet revealed. Whether our circumstances bring us joy or suffering, our posture to God should be one of repentance. We must learn to view our lives through the lens of the cross. For in him are hidden all treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col. 2:3) He will come in glory someday and we await that day with great anticipation. But until then, He has hidden Himself in things that might seem ordinary and even mysterious to us: words, water, bread and wine.

Luther said that Our Lord does not want to be found outside Christ….so he hides Himself in order to be found only in the grace and mercy of Christ. He seldom comes where we expect or look for Him: in victory and glory and glitz. He comes where we do not expect him: in suffering, in shame, in humility, as a baby, in His word, in the water of baptism, in the elements of the Lord’s Supper. God wants to be found in the words of the promise in Christ that give new life. If we find Him outside of Christ, we find Him in wrath.

The ‘hidden’ God is hidden in Christ….come to us in the flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior and who says “I am the way, the Truth and the life and no man comes to the Father except through Me.”

Much of what goes on in modern Christianity seems very Christ-less; alot about ‘me’ instead of Christ ‘for me’. We are favored by God because of Christ alone.

I credit the rare and sound doctrinal teaching of Issues, Etc, its’ host Todd Wilken and an article he wrote on this subject, and their many scholarly guests. I can’t seem to find the segment where these ideas were presented but I think the guest was Pastor Bill Cwirla. I listened to this segment just this morning on Children and Worship and it was quite enlightening. Bookmark their site and listen ‘on demand’ while you do your morning chores! I’ve been listening to this internet radio show for 3 years now and there is nothing else like it. They cover current issues in the news, current trends in christianity and sound Biblical doctrinal teaching. Maybe you could listen while you paint your patio furniture!! Just a thought.

Why I’m not a feminist

June 12, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 53 Comments

Sometimes I try to quietly sneek into the kitchen and very carefully remove ingredients and pans so as not to alert the small children. They love to ‘help’ and insist on stirring and pouring and seasoning until the symphony of,

“Can I help?”

“I wanna do that.”

“It’s my turn!”

“She won’t give me the spoon!”

It’s enough to have you fishing for the pizza delivery number. But as I remind myself that it’s my job to teach them and as I envision them making their own greek goulash with caramelized onions one day, I welcome the sous chefs gladly. They scamper outside to snip some fresh herbs and then painstakingly cut the luscious mint and parsley with scissors, their minds and mouths working as hard as their fingers, with questions like “You like to cook, don’t you mommy?” and “Do you really like eggplant?”

It’s moments like these that I am fully aware that they are watching me.

They are learning to live their lives by watching how I live mine. It’s no small responsibility to bear. This long circuitous journey that I have made through medical education, residency training and then a six year career in medical practice has finally brought me HOME. Where I have struggled to find my way. Where I am learning to ‘serve my neighbor’ in the most intimate but also seemingly mundane ways. I entered this vocation ill-prepared and ill-advised on what it meant to be a full time homemaker. And the questions that haunt me sometimes in the throws of laundry and dishes, about whether I am using my gifts to their full potential, are answered decidedly in those little eyes and hands helping me make dinner. I am making a bold statement to them.

The vocation of motherhood is honorable; instituted by God for the raising of children, for the domestication of men, and for the stabilization of society. It is His design and I’ve learned that I am most ‘female’ and truly most fulfilled when I embrace and nurture this role as wife and mother.

And that drove me to reread a few sections of a book that I read a few years ago called The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. Friedan is crowned with having started the second wave of the feminist movement and was the first president of the National Organization for Women (that’s enough to make me skeptical). I disagree with nearly every statement she makes in the book but in many ways, I’m glad I read it. I understand the feminist movement a little more clearly and realize that I am a product of a generation of women who were told that they needed to find fulfillment outside the home. Friedan compares housewifery to being in a ‘comfortable concentration camp’ and characterizes suburban housewives as chiefly unfulfilled, dependent women who have given up on intellectual interests and have no real impact on the major issues of society. She makes a few valid points but for the most part I find her conclusions flawed and riddled with the biases of someone who is driven by an agenda.

She comes across to me similiar to the way most feminists do; projecting her own misery and lack of fulfillment onto the whole of the female population and placing blame on men, religious institutions and society as a whole. She admonishes women to leave the

‘comfortable concentration camp’ to work and to be educated so that they may contribute so society in a meaningful way, thus finding true fulfillment. She says, ”

A woman must create, out of her own needs and abilities, a new life plan, fitting in the love and children and home that have defined feminity in the past with the work toward a greater purpose that shapes the future”.p. 338

Well, speaking from experience, I have never felt that I was contributing more meaningfully to society than when I decided to put my own career on hold to be home with my children. Any ‘ole Joe can refill Ralph’s prescription for hypertension, but I am the most uniquely qualified and gifted person to raise my own children and to love and serve my husband. Noone else can do that with the same passion and care. So, I want to stand up for all educated, professional women who have made an informed and conscious choice to give their lives in service to their families. I applaud you. What you do is important and powerful and instituted by God himself. There is no higher calling. There is no greater work.

Disclaimers: I am not in any way admonishing that every female should do what I have done. I am blessed with a husband who is able to provide for us financially, making it possible for me to enjoy this tremendous blessing. If I need to enter the force again, I will do what is necessary for our family. Nor am I casting judgement on women who have chosen different paths. It has been my experience that in our society, it’s the SAHM who feels a certain inferiority and who frequently questions her decision to stay home. There are many creative ways to combine outside work with home responsibilities and I personally know many women who do a fantastic job of it. When I was in the work force, I embraced the unique femininity that I brought to my vocation and tried above all else to keep my family first. Similarly, just because a woman stays home is no guarantee that she’s embracing her role and nurturing her family to her best ability. We are all sinners in need of forgiveness and whether or not we stay home or join the workforce, we do so riddled with sin and selfishness. We all need God’s grace to cover us and to give us true peace and joy!

I’ll conclude with a quote from Plato:

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

The Love of the Father

June 10, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 4 Comments

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Times by Tenth Avenue North

I know i need you
I need to love you
I love to see you, and its been so long
i long to feel you
i feel this need for you’
and i need to hear you
is that so wrong?
oh oh oh, oh oh oh, oh oh oh
now you pulled me near you
when we’re close i fear you
still im afraid to tell you
all that i’ve done
are you done forgiving?
or can you look pass my pretending?
Lord i’m so tired of defending
what i’ve become
what have i become?
oh oh, oh oh, oh oh. (repeat 4)
i hear you say “my love is over,
its underneath, its inside, its in between
the times you doubt me, when you can’t feel
the times that you’ve questioned ‘is this for real?’
the times you’ve broken, the times that you mend
the times you hate me and the times that you bend
well my love is over, its underneath
its inside, its in between,
these times you’re healing
and when your heart breaks
the times that you feel like you’ve fallen from grace
the times you’re hurting
the times that you heal
the times you go hungry and *are tempted* to steal
in times of confusion and chaos and pain
im there in your sorrow under the weight of your shame
im there through your heartache
im there in the storm
my love i will keep you by my power alone
i dont care where you’ve fallen, where you have been
i’ll never forsake you
my love never ends, it never ends
mmm, mmm
oh oh, oh oh, oh oh

The Slavery of Selfishness

June 7, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 10 Comments

So bound in selfishness am I, so chained,

I know it must be glorious to be free

But know not what, full-fraught, the word doth mean.

By loss on loss I have severely gained

Wisdom enough my slavery to see;

But liberty, pure, absolute, serene,

No freest-visioned slave has ever seen.

George McDonald The Diary of an Old Soul

We are selfish creatures. Selfish to the bone. And as soon as we succeed a little at putting the needs and wants of others ahead of ourselves, we’re thinking about how much we’ve sacrificed our time or our money or our dreams for someone else. And we’re plotting to get that time… or that money….or that dream back. And maybe I shouldn’t include you in my ‘we’. Maybe I can only speak for the profoundly selfish tendencies I see in myself. You’d think that motherhood would have cured me of this. But it hasn’t. I still viciously protect certain things in my life, that I forbid even mothering to encroach upon. I want some time ‘to myself’. I want some things ‘to myself’. If we’re brutally honest, we spend most of our lives making provisions for our own selfish desires. Even the love we have for our children is tainted with selfishness. We want them to look and dress and act the right way. And even all those hours we spend toting them around to lessons, seemingly a selfless act, is riddled with selfishness. We want them to be the best at whatever they do. Partly because it reflects well on us.

Have you ever noticed that when you tell a story that involves you, the tendency is to portray yourself in the best possible light. We will sacrifice almost anything at the altar of self-preservation. And I know, I know what you’re gonna say. And it’s true. It’s the way we’re made. At least it’s the way we’ve been since the fall of Adam in the garden. We are turned in on ourselves. We can only see things from our own selfish perspective.

Oh how I long for the day when I am free from the shackles and tyranny of this ‘slavery’ as McDonald calls it.

But until then, I am determined to practice. Today, I will purposely, and with reckless abandon, practice giving myself away. I will pray for God’s strength to see with new eyes the needs of others. I will ask His wisdom in showing me how to be a servant. How to see the world through another’s eyes. I will echo the beautiful words of George McDonald as I pray for God to do for me what I cannot do for myself.

From thine, as then, the healing virtue goes

Into our hearts-that is the Father’s plan.

From heart to heart it sinks, it steals, it flows,

From these that know thee still infecting those.

Here is my heart–from Thine, Lord, fill it up,

That I may offer it as the holy cup

Of thy communion to my every man.

Self-Feeding (Centered?) Christianity?

June 1, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 20 Comments

I should preface all this by saying that this post was informed and inspired by a recent segment on Issues, Etc titled The Decline of American Evangelicalism, where he interviews Dr. David Wells, author of The Courage to be Protestant. You can listen to it here. I’m probably a little behind the times, but I’ve only in the last few months heard the term ‘self-feeding’ as it relates to christianity. The church growth gurus, including Bill Hybels, have come to the conclusion (from their REVEAL study) that the church growth movement has been inadequate in making disciples of Christ. Their new ‘business plan’ in Hybels’ own words is this:

We made a mistake. What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and became Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become ‘self feeders.’ We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own………Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions.

There are several things that trouble about me these statements. The first is the concept of ‘changing the way we do church’, as if church were a man-made institution that are we free to ‘do with’ what we will. As Todd Wilken (Lutheran pastor and host of Issues) has frequently said, “We did not invent church, nor are we free to reinvent it”. I guess the fundamental question then must be asked. What is church? Ask ten christians that question today and you are likely to get ten different answers. But really, what is church? What is its’ mission and purpose? Can we make it into anything we want? Should it be culturally relevant? Should it be ‘marketed’? Has it become just another casualty of modern capitalism? Arthur Just was recently on Issues talking about true christian worship. He reminds us that from earliest times, even in ancient Judaism, worship was centered on teaching followed by eating (what we call Word and Sacrament). These structures of worship continued even during the time of Jesus in the feeding of the 5000, the Last Supper, and in the Acts 2 church;

Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, and to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Furthermore, for nearly 2,000 years, christian worship centered around Christ, His word and His body and blood given in the Sacrament. It has never tried to be culturally relevant…..until the last hundred years or so. Christianity is counter-cultural. And I don’t think we are free to decide ‘how to do church’. It is Christ’s institution where He makes disciples through the washing of water combined with His word, in Baptism, and where He feeds His flock with His Word and Sacrament. That is church. And though the specifics of how congregations do that may vary, the essentials should be the same. We are not permitted to start with our own clean slate and reinvent it in order to grow some super size church. It is His church and He will grow it, if we let Him. And I reluctantly say that what we ‘grow’ on our own, with our marketing schemes and fancy programs may not be church at all, despite what the sign says out front or how many people show up to participate.

Then there’s the concept of self-feeding. I think I understand what he means by the term but I don’t think it gives an adequate picture of what’s happening in personal bible study. I opened my Bible this morning and read the first seven chapters of John. Was I self-feeding? When the shepherd leads his flock to green, fertile pastures and they begin eating, are they self-feeding? Maybe in some basic sense of the word, but let’s not take credit for what He is doing for us in His word. He is feeding us with Himself. We are the recipients of His most holy mercy and grace in the forgiveness of our sins.

And when these ‘growth-driven’ churches have all but abandoned the true preaching of God’s word and the administration of the Sacraments, is there any surprise when their own studies fail to show those methods effective in making disciples? Christ gave us the formula Himself when He said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

And where has He promised to be? In John 6:51-63, he says,

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them…..The one who eats this bread will live forever.”

When many of the disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?”

His words seem so clear. He has given us our sustenance. In His very Word and in His very body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. I agree with the disciples. This teaching is difficult and there isn’t one Sunday when I approach the rail for communion that I wonder, ‘Can this really be true’. I can only accept it on faith. I can only take Him at His word.

So, as I see it, it comes down to this. Will we feed ourselves (through programs and self-help seminars and shwanky church growth methods) or will He feed us? That is the question. My attempts at ‘self-feeding’ over the past twenty years have brought nothing but despair to me, obscuring the all-availing work of Christ on my behalf. My time spent in ‘seeker-sensitive, growth-driven’ churches left me hungering and left me wondering if there wasn’t more to christianity than I could seem to muster up on any given day. I have been receiving regular communion and regular law/gospel sermons for almost three years now and the difference couldn’t be more stark. I am not more spiritual now. Not by a long shot. But I am much more keenly aware of my sin and of my utter dependence on the nourishment that Christ gives us when He gives Himself in Word and Sacrament. He is the very bread of life. And when you eat of it, you shall never hunger.