Several weeks ago we tweeted a link to a blog post entitled ‘7 Reasons Why Lutherans Shouldn’t Jump on the Contemporary Worship Bandwagon’ written by Dawn K. on her blog RealRealityZone. It was a very insightful post, and after reading more on her blog I discovered she was a relatively new convert to Lutheran Christianity.   She writes well, and we wanted to hear more of her story, so we invited her to guest blog for us.  Here is the first of three posts tracing her journey into the Lutheran Church.

Somewhere near the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 I was quietly standing on the verge of utter despair.

At that point I really feared that Christ’s terrifying words “Depart from me, I never knew you” might be for me. And there was nothing I could do about it. I was a Christian, but a poor excuse for a Christian. I looked at my life and everything I did was tainted with sin. Even the best works I did were tainted with sin. My heart was desperately wicked and I did not love God with all my heart. And worst of all, there was something inside me that hated God, that had contempt for Him. How could I possibly be saved?

Maybe I was fooling myself about being a Christian. The lives of true Christians kept getting better and better, and I felt as though mine was getting worse and worse. My “growth in holiness” and in love for God was supposed to assure me that I really was a child of God. But I did not see this. All I saw was sin. And I despaired that the salvation offered in Christ was really for me. Salvation was for people who really believed. And I was not sure I really believed. How could I be a true believer when I continued to sin and sin and sin and abuse the grace of God? How could I be a true believer if everything within me is sin?

* * *

It’s hard to summarize my spiritual life. I still struggle to make sense of it all. But I can say this: when I discovered the Reformation, my eyes stopped looking at myself and my faith and my sincerity, and raised to look at Christ alone. I finally understood that Christ’s death on the cross was really, truly for me, after years and years and years of struggling to find assurance of salvation.

I grew up in American evangelicalism of a moderately fundamentalist stripe. The church I grew up in instilled in me the importance of God’s Word. They emphasized that Jesus died on the cross for all our sins, that good works could not save us and that we were saved through faith alone.

This sounds great on paper. The problem was that the way faith was defined it became a work. My church taught decision theology – being born again meant praying the “sinner’s prayer” to accept Jesus into your heart and committing your life to Him. If you prayed that prayer and meant it, then you were a child of God – born again. Your life would be radically transformed and you could be certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were going to heaven.

I probably don’t have to tell you that it didn’t quite work that way. At least not for me.

According to my mother, I first “prayed the prayer” when I was six years old. The problem was that even a few years later I had no memory of the event. And no matter how many times I tried to “make sure of my salvation” by praying the prayer again or recommitting my life to God, I was in doubt as to whether I really meant it or was really sincere.

No matter where I was taught to look for assurance of salvation – be it by family members or people at my church or later, Bible teachers on the Internet – I was always taught to look inside myself. The decision theology I grew up with taught me to look at my sincere free will decision. Later I read various Bible teachers who repudiated decision theology but instead taught me to look to my works and my growth in holiness to determine whether or not I was really saved.

Well-meaning folks at my church said that if only one would surrender everything in one’s life to God like they had, one would have peace and joy and freedom from doubt, just like them. My problem was that I felt powerless to surrender in this way. I did not have this power. There was something inside me, even as a Christian, that would not submit to God’s Law, not even for a second, no matter how committed I tried to be. I hated it, because I wanted desperately to please the God that I loved. But there was always sin in my life that would not go away.

Somewhere down the line I discovered what can only be called a form of Christian mysticism. It had to do with “listening to what God is saying to you personally,” or “listening to God’s still small voice speaking to your heart.” I came to believe that God regularly spoke directly to my heart. And how could I not be a true Christian if God was working so powerfully in my life in this way? Yet I always wondered whether what I was hearing was really God, or just my own heart.

The only time I had any real peace was when I looked outside of myself to Christ. My favorite hymns were the ones that pointed to Christ alone. But in evangelicalism, these things were so often overshadowed by the hymns and praise songs and teaching that pointed me to myself – to my feelings, to my obedience, to my acts of worship, to my commitment.

Several years ago I stumbled on to ‘This American Life‘ with Ira Glass while listening to a National Public Radio station in the LA area.  This show is some of the best storytelling and reporting available anywhere.  The stories run from heartwrenching, to so funny you’ll laugh till you cry, or deeply and truly frightening.

I recently tweeted about last week’s show that did a segment on bait and switch evangelism.

Here is another one of my favorites. Act one is about an Iranian family that emigrates to the US, then the parents divorce; what happens next is truly unexpected.  Act two concerns a family that has their prized bull cloned by Texas A&M University after it dies. ( These two stories are true, by the way.)

They also have done some of the best financial reporting on the present economic crisis.  Start here:  http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1242

The show is an untapped goldmine of sermon illustrations, and has provided hours of thought provoking entertainment.  Do yourself a favor and listen in.

Here is Dr. Rod Rosenbladt’s sermon on Justification which he just preached for Reformation Day on October 31, 2009 at Zion Lutheran Church in Tomball, Texas while he was there with Craig Parton for the Apologetics Symposium. As you may have come to expect from Dr. Rosenbladt, it’s just wonderful.

And a big “Thank you!” to all the wonderful members of Zion who worked so hard to make so many outsiders feel welcome.

Please feel free to download and share this MP3 as you wish. We will also be making it permanently available in our Freebies section. Enjoy!

Teach us to number our days aright that we may acquire a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Every year on All Saints day Lutheran churches, and churches from other traditions, engage in the bittersweet liturgy of the commemoration of the faithful departed.  Basically, the pastor reads from the church records the name of every member of the church who has died all the way back to the start of the congregation.  After each name is spoken, or several names are spoken, a bell tolls.  There is no background music and the parishioners are completely silent. This can take quite awhile in congregations with a long history. By the end, there is not a dry eye in the house.

This year, because we have moved, we have joined a different congregation, one that was a bit older than our previous church.  The Pastor read the names of husbands and wives together, sometimes even children. There were a lot.  We followed the reading with a resounding hymn, For All the Saints, and finished up with Crown Him With Many Crowns.

It was powerful. It was also some food for deep thought and reflection. I look forward to it every year, when we stare death straight in the eye, and yet rejoice in Christ’s work for us, and contemplate being with Christ in the Church Triumphant.

I know that someday my name and my wife’s will be read on the Feast of All Saints and that my sons and daughter will be in the congregation hearing it.

I pray that we will have run the race well and die a good death in the Lord Jesus, and  have done a good job raising our children in the faith.

Grant it Lord Jesus.

These are exceptional deals.  Both lectures are excellent.

‘Law and Gospel’ is a great introduction to the distinction of the Law and the Gospel. This distinction is the basic building block to a Christ centered theology, and central to being able to understand the Scriptures.

‘When a Good Father Dies..’ is a super deal, at over four hours in length. It includes Rod’s classic overview and defense of how we know the Scriptures are true, the Fatherhood of God and its relationship to earthly fatherhood,  Gospel centered parenting, and stories from Dr. Rosenbladt’s life growing up with his dad.  This is vintage Rosenbladt and not to be missed.

Download Thriving on Less here.

The Rich rules over the poor And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.  Prov. 22:7

“Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” Luke 12:15

If you read my post from a few days ago on The Explosion of Minimalism, you know about my conversion to minimalism and my attempts to live as simple a lifestyle as possible.  It has been great so far and has really helped me in a number of areas.  I am still in the process of editing down my possessions and commitments, both personally and financially, and have a way to go yet, but I am experiencing more  peace of mind and increased ability to focus.  My performance at work has improved and I am able to concentrate on the task at hand more fully.

The Scriptures are full of exhortations to simplicity of life and our dealings with each other.  A prime example is Jesus admonition to let your yes be yes and your no be no. (Matt 5:37)  When I am over extended and overwhelmed, with responsibilities and commitments pulling me in often opposite directions, my ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are rarely unqualified.

When I am drowning in debt and stressed, my financial choices are not the best.  I recently spent five years in a job that took me out of church and away from my family because I was afraid of going broke and had gotten us in a precarious situation financially.   It damaged my relationship with my wife and kids.

Another thing that really bothered me was that my job performance suffered because of the crazy hours and the stress. Not only was I ashamed , but I felt it reflected poorly on the Gospel. It is known at my place of employment that I am a Christian, and to not be consistently doing my job well says the wrong thing about my faith. Stepping down to another position more in line with my life goals and priorities has enabled me to perform at top levels again.  My work ethic is known and respected by my bosses and co-workers.

After ruthlessly cutting our expenses and paying off most of our debt, financial disaster has not overtaken us as I had feared when we suffered a loss of income. We need a lot less to get by now.  We are much less slaves of the lender than we had been.

Here is a link  to download a free e-book entitled ‘Thriving on Less’ written by Leo Babauta of Zenhabits.net.  It is a companion book to his published work ‘The Power of Less.” (Note: I have not had a chance to read ‘The Power of Less’ yet, but will do a review here when I have finished it.)

‘Thriving on Less’ is a great intro to minimalism and simplicity for those unfamiliar with the concepts or who are just starting out. I enjoy Leo’s writing, and the concepts and actions laid out in this e-book have had real world results in my life. I hope they are of help to you too.

Earlier in October of this year (2009) the Pastor of a faithful ELCA congregation asked Dr. Rosenbladt to come and address the current situation in the ELCA, and to contrast the true Gospel with a number of false ones in circulation. This is the recording of that presentation. Dr. Rosenbladt discusses the various factors that need to be addressed by ELCA congregations considering leaving their synod. He then goes on a brilliant discourse highlighting the differences between the Gospel and the effects of the Gospel. This is followed by an exhortation to retain the distinctives of the Lutheran tradition. The session ends with a question and answer period.

This one is short and sweet coming in at slightly longer than 36 minutes. Enjoy.

For the past several years my family, my friends and I seem to be living at an ever increasing pace. Our responsibilities, commitments, and finances seem to be growing exponentially more complex. We have been living in a state of exhaustion. In this frenetic rush my relationship with my wife and kids gets pushed to the back burner.

To be entirely honest, making time for prayer, the Scriptures and catechizing my children, even attending church, has been often more than we could manage. (It probably didn’t help when I accepted a promotion several years ago that demanded upwards of 60 hours a week and working ten hours a day every Sunday.)

Not too long ago I was reaching a breaking point. My health was beginning to deteriorate. I was exhausted and depressed. I would come home from work with nothing left to give emotionally to my family.

Together, my wife and I made the decision that I should step down from my position and return to working part time for my employer. It was a good call. Slowly I caught up on my rest and settled into becoming reacquainted with my family. We returned to regular church attendance.

This chapter in my life has caused me to reflect deeply on our culture’s call to become enmeshed in work for the sake of money and possessions. Today it is called ‘consumerism.’  The Scriptures call it covetousness or greed, they name the fear of privation as unbelief and lack of faith.

In an effort to enlist aid in a new way of life I searched the internet and found several blogs that have really helped guide me. Through these blogs I have been introduced to an entire online community devoted to sane and frugal personal finance and the discipline of simplicity.

The first site is The Simple Dollar. This blog is devoted to simplifying and organizing your personal finances. Trent Hamm started this blog to help people dig themselves out of bad financial situations after he recovered from his own financial meltdown. Trent is a Christian, but his faith is not the main thrust of his site, and he mentions his faith tangentially where appropriate. He covers everything from eating inexpensively to simple budgeting and investing. He also has tons of tips on saving money and regularly does book reviews. His writing is clear and he strikes an encouraging and even-handed tone.

Through the links on his site I found the second blog that has been extremely helpful, Zen Habits. (NO, I am not becoming a Zen Buddhist.) Leo Babauta has devoted his blog to the discipline of simplicity in every area of life. He does wax a little New Age on occasion, but the the benefit of his writing transcends those issues.

Years ago Leo found himself in a similar situation to the one I faced and decided it was time to prioritize and ruthlessly cut out all that was not in line with what he valued most: family, friends, and a sane relationship with his vocation. There are tons of great posts on simplifying your work, your budget and finances, simple ways to increase your productivity at work, how to overcome bad habits and instill good ones, how to simplify diet and exercise, even how to cultivate the habit of getting up early. Check out his ‘Start Here’ column.

Explore the links on these two sites and you will find a wealth of sites devoted to living simply and living debt free. There is an explosion of interest in what is termed minimalism or the simple life and the accompanying discipline of frugality.

The traditions of frugality (stewardship) and simplicity have a long and honored history among Christ’s people. It is refreshing to find a resurgence of these disciplines in our culture.

These sites have been of immense help to me. One of the themes that they have pounded into me is that if I ruthlessly cut expenses, get out and stay out of debt, and live within my means, I don’t need to spend every waking hour slaving away at a job to the detriment of my faith and my family. I actually have time and energy to devote to what is most important in life, and, strangely enough, do a much better job at my work. I hope our friends and readers will find much help and encouragement from these sites and the accompanying links.

Bible in an Hour has been marked down 10$ to just $9.95 for both the MP3 and CD.

Most of our shirts have been marked down to $15.95 or lower.

A number of our book outlines have been priced at $1.95.

There will be more price changes to follow and we will makes those public in the near future. Follow us on Twitter or visit our blog regularly to watch for a special announcement concerning NRP. We are really excited about the changes we are implementing and the new products coming out soon. Stay tuned.

I would like to ask your help, though. If you do receive a decline message on your order, before giving up, please double-check your billing and credit card information. The only ways we’re seeing declines come in right now is due to incorrect billing or credit card information of some kind, like the expiration date, etc.

If you’re absolutely positive that your billing and credit card information is 100% correct and you still get a decline message, please contact us immediately. We’re watching our transactions very carefully right now, so we will likely know about it before you contact us, but we’ll look into it for you nonetheless.

Thanks again for your patience!