Hundreds attend Hansen recall meeting

There was huge turnout for the Recall Hansen organizational meeting today at the Rock Garden in Green Bay.

Attendees learned about the recall process and had the opportunity to sign up to circulate the petition as well as sign the petition if they reside in the 30th Senate District.

The 30th Senate district includes Assembly Districts 88, 89 and 90.

The paperwork for the recall was filed on February 25 so the clock is ticking as there are 60 days to gather the required signatures.

This photo says it all:

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Is Music Neutral in Worship?

One of the “battles” in churches throughout the LCMS revolves around worship style.  Traditional vs. Contemporary.  Divine vs. Praise & Worship.   The central issue revolves around music.

Abide in My Word weighs in:

“Lutherans have no business singing popular CCM songs which contain theology contrary to ours.  Likewise, Lutherans have no business employing praise bands and using rock and roll instruments to entertain the congregation.  Whenever the music used by Lutherans is the main thing, our theology of worship is lost.  Whenever the music used by Lutherans is presented in a performative and entertaining manner, our theology of worship is lost.  Whenever the music used by Lutherans does not remain a servant to the text, but overpowers it, our theology of worship is lost.  And, of course, as already mentioned, whenever the music used by Lutherans contradicts our theology, our theology of worship is lost.

At this point you may be wondering so what is the Lutheran theology of worship?  What is the Divine Service?

The Divine Service, according to our Lutheran theology of worship, is a holy, reverent encounter with our Lord, who graciously and mercifully comes into our midst to Gift us with forgiveness, life, and salvation through His Holy Word and Sacraments.  It is, by definition, Christ-centered and Cross-focused.  It’s focus is always on Christ and the work He does for us and among us.  It is ever mindful of the fact that our Lord is really, actually, and truly Present among us, and not “up there” in heaven waiting for us to reach Him with our praise.  Anything that detracts from that foremost and essential truth is inconsistent with our theology of worship.  And, certainly, one of the biggest detractors from that foremost and essential truth is the use of music which suggests otherwise.”

Confessional Bytes points out what it means for the music in worship to have value.

Value, in the sense being used here, means both what is suitable for the divine service and the meaning of the musical art form itself. I think it is the later aspect of value that is difficult for us to understand. However, it is terribly important to recognize that music itself does hold meaning. For instance, in Ezra 3:10 King David prescribes the instrumentation to be used by the priests in praise to God. Obviously not any sort of music would be God pleasing. Paul writes to the Colossians to teach and admonish “…one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16) and also in his first letter to the Corinthian church Paul writes about singing praises that are understood (1 Cor. 1:14) and using hymns for “building up” the church (1 Cor. 1:26). In short, music does not have a neutral value in the Scriptures and if some music is suitable for orderly worship in the Church, then the implication is that some music is not suitable for the divine service.

And that is where the battle lines have been drawn concerning what music is and isn’t appropriate for the worship service, as the music in the worship service is to lend itself to teaching and prayer.

On one side of the line are those who, marching under the banner of adiaphora, propound the notion that music itself is value neutral. Accordingly, we are free to use what ever instrumentation and sounds we please in the divine service and that we must not make laws regarding what music should and should not be used.

And on the other side of the line you have those who believe,

that when music is the focus of the divine service, then we have lost the Gospel. Music is elevated above Christ coming to us with His free gifts. Indeed, when we design worship services around music, we treat it as a means of grace and forget that God only promises to deal with us through His Word and Sacraments. Music assists in our receiving sound doctrine and in giving prayers. It is a mnemonic device and not for setting a mood; even though our moods are affected by music without a doubt. The point is that the use of music should not be about revving up congregants so that they enter an emotional state of mind where they ascend to God and connect with Him, and this point really drives to the heart of the matter.

I understand the argument of those who propose having the “contemporary” or “praise & worship” service on Sunday mornings.   I’ve been there.  But at the end of the day I have to agree with those on the side of the Divine Service.  As Confessional Bytes points out:

The point here is that music should not be about setting the mood for the divine service, since that takes music away from its sound role of teaching us doctrine and to pray and places it at front and center as a means to get in touch with God.

Music is not value neutral. We see from the Scriptures and the Lutheran confessions that music itself has value and a proper use in the divine service. Music which detracts from a Christ centered, cross focused, theology should not find its way into the divine service. We are not free to use any music we wish in the divine service, since music itself teaches. It tells us something.

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Sharing the Gospel

In the 21st century the Good News is being shared via Twitter.

There are two things to remember when publishing the entire New Testament across the Internet via Twitter, as a Grayslake church recently did:

Each segment is limited to 140 characters — as any tweeter knows.

And you have to do it backward — otherwise Jesus doesn’t get born until the end.

It took Lord of Glory Lutheran Church member Kyle Martin eight months and 7,358 posts to reach his own Holy Grail.

By the end of January, he had finished tweeting the New Testament of the King James Bible on the church’s Twitter page, twitter.com/lordofglorylcms.

Martin said he got pretty sick of counting 140 characters of Bible verses backward — especially in the Book of Matthew, where some names take up a big chunk of Twitter real estate, reaching lengths of up to 30 letters.

Inputting the lines in reverse order was necessary because Twitter shows the most recent post at the top of the page.

Very cool.

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Senator Hansen’s red herring argument

It’s been one week today since state Senator Dave Hansen and his fellow Democrats in the State Senate skipped town to avoid voting on the budget repair bill.  And state Senator Hansen has made an appearance, in the local paper.

Thirteen days ago Gov. Scott Walker and legislative Republicans introduced a 144-page bill, at the heart of which aims to destroy the right of Wisconsin’s teachers, nurses, probation and parole agents, Capitol police officers, corrections officers and others to organize. Their goal was to pass this bill in less than a week so the people of this state would not know what was in it until it was too late. If they had succeeded, this bill would have received less legislative consideration than that afforded a bill making the polka our state dance.

State Senator Hansen there has been over 17 hours of public hearings on the budget repair bill.  The Assembly has also been debating this bill for since Tuesday morning.  So it has received more than adequate legislative consideration.  Compare that to the 2009-2011 state budget, when you and your Democrat colleagues were in charge, which received very little in the way of public hearings and debate.

The message is clear: Public workers have agreed to the increased payments for health and retirement benefits that Gov. Walker has requested. All they have asked for in return is to protect their rights as Wisconsin workers and citizens. In response, Gov. Walker refused, saying his position is non-negotiable.

It is the government’s job to protect the rights of its citizens, not take them away.

The time for negotiation has passed.  As for the agreement regarding benefits how long will that last, until the next contract negotiation, if collective bargaining isn’t restricted. When it comes to rights, those are protected under the state’s Civil Service Protection laws so nothing is being lost there.

At the beginning and end of every day we are all Wisconsinites. We may disagree, but we are fundamentally fair and respect each other’s opinion. The workers and their families have stepped up to help resolve this impasse.

You are right state Senator.  We do disagree on this and other issues.  But are you seriously going to claim the opinions of Governor Walker and others supporting his budget repair bill?  Do signs comparing Governor Walker to Hitler, calling his supporters names, etc fit the definition of respect in your eyes?

The workers have stepped up when it comes to benefits and for that credit is due.  However they really wanted to step up why not do it in previous contract negotiations in order to save the state, local municipalities, and school districts money.

It is now up to Gov. Walker and legislative Republicans. They can end this impasse today by simply removing all language related to collective bargaining from this bill and return its focus to their stated concern for the state’s finances.

State Senator Hansen, do you really think you are in position to make such statements?  Instead of running away like a scared child perhaps you should return to Madison and start doing your job which is to represent the constituents you serve.  In other words debate the bill on the floor of the State Senate and cast your vote against it if you feel it is wrong.  That is how the legislative process works.  And that is what your colleagues on the other side of the aisle did when they were in the minority.  They didn’t take their ball and go hide.  They didn’t shirk their responsibility and make a mockery of democracy.

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