The Christianity & Culture Conference of Spencer, IA
This is the podcast version of the annual Christianity & Culture Conference of Spencer, IA hosted at Christ the King Lutheran Church of Spencer, IA.
Listen on:
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 19, 2023
Tuesday Dec 19, 2023
The Christianity & Culture Conference of Spencer, IA
July 7-8, 2023
"Competing Stories: God's v. the World's"
Speaker: The Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller
Session 6 (Final Session): Living In the Middle of a Cosmological Rap Battle
The Christian story of history is full of order, life, hope, joy, and salvation. The world would pluck us from this faith and throw us into a den of despair. What does it mean for us to hold to the Lord’s Word while we wait for His appearing?
Feedback for Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller: bwolfmueller@gmail.com
Podcast Feedback (Broken links, suggestions, etc): CCConferenceSpencer@gmail.com
Summary
LSB 763 - When Peace, Like a River, Lyrics: https://hymnary.org/text/when_peace_like_a_river_attendeth_my_way
Hopelessness & Prisoners of Hope
The end is not heaven; it’s the resurrection
Answer to the riddle: Could Adam and the Woman starved in the garden before the Fall? Yes but No, Yes but No
First Resurrection, Second Resurrection; First Death, Second Death - The frustration of hating Paul; the frustration of hating you
Church is a court v. Church is a prom dance (during QA)
References
Ephesians 2:11-12; Zachariah 9:9-13 (Prisoners of hope); Revelation 6:9-11 (How long, O Lord?); Revelation 20-22; Hebrews 6:17-20; Hebrews 2:14-15: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+2%3A11- 12%3B+Zachariah+9%3A9-13%3B+Revelation+6%3A9-11%3B+Revelation+20- 22%3B+Hebrews+6%3A17-20%3B+Hebrews+2%3A14-15&version=ESV
Chesterton Quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/155352-the-man-who-kills-a-man-kills-a-man-the
Video tour of Abbey of the Three Fountains (Paul’s beheading): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQHrrotPFic
The skulls of St. Peter and St. Paul, Roman Catholic video (about the 2:06 mark): https://taylormarshall.com/2015/11/where-are-the-skulls-of-saints-peter-and-paul.html
TLH 605, “The World Is Very Evil,” stanza 4: https://www.projectwittenberg.org/etext/hymnals/tlh/very_evil.txt
“Send hope before to grasp it, till hope be lost in sight”
Pictures from Whiteboard (Need the picture from the final session!): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aA6uMAUHqrvOqcS9du4dEprvy_xzX_8W?usp=sharing
Clarifications
53:58 (first question): Concerning near death experiences and people claiming they witnessed heaven
59:12 (second question): From the Scripture of Lazarus and the rich man, where the rich man wants to warn his brothers. Does this show us that in heaven we’re going to know about our loved ones in hell? Will that steal from the full joy of heaven?
1:02:04 (Follow up): In the text, the rich man sees Lazarus and what he misses; Lazarus doesn’t see the rich man
1:04:54 (third question): A friend, Roman Catholic woman with kids, has a husband that doesn’t attend church and recently told her he doubts, which was a shock to her. The question is: How can we help witness Christ to people?
1:11:15 (fourth question): What about someone who doesn’t go to church because of the Roman scandal with the priests and they ask “Why does God let that happen?” What do we say? Especially since we can’t judge all of the church based on the actions of a few.
1:16:43 (follow up): Forgiveness releases you from the abuses
1:18:31 (fifth question): Concerning organ donation related to discussion of cremation
1:19:14 (sixth question): Concerning Lutherans getting a bad wrap for being serious and shamed for being “too traditional.” How do we respond?
1:29:57: (seventh question): What is a good way of talking to a non- denominational friend asking “Why all this division when we are the one body of Christ?”
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller is pastor of St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, TX. He is the author of Take They Our Life: Martin Luther’s Theology of Martyrdom (2019), A Martyr’s Faith for a Faithless World (CPH, 2019), Has American Christianity Failed? (CPH, 2016) and Final Victory: Contemplating the Death and Funeral of a Christian (CPH, 2010). He is host of What-Not The Podcast, posts videos on YouTube at wolfmueller1, and has a number of other theological projects that all end up on his blog, www.wolfmueller.co. Bryan is a member of the Doxology Collegium. He and his wife Keri live with their four children in Round Rock, TX.
https://wolfmueller.co/
Conference Partners:
Christ the King Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Michael McGinley - www.ctkspencer.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Spirit Lake, IA - Rev. Paul Dare - www.lcmslakes.org
First English Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Paul Kaldahl - www.spencer-church.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Terril, IA - Rev. Tom Marth - https://lcmsterril.weebly.com
Spencer Circuit of the Iowa District West (LCMS)
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
The Christianity & Culture Conference of Spencer, IA
July 7-8, 2023
"Competing Stories: God's v. the World's"
Speaker: The Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller
Session 5: How It Ends
Where are things headed? Is there reason for hope? Can things get better, or will the universe eventually die in the heat- death of thermodynamic necessity?
Feedback for Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller: bwolfmueller@gmail.com
Podcast Feedback (Broken links, suggestions, etc): CCConferenceSpencer@gmail.com
Summary
Reset, recap, and direction we’re going now:
Premise: Everyone is living in a story with four chapters
Got half-way through “The Fix” (chapter 3) yesterday; will do that, then conclude with chapter 4 today.
“Where do you come from?” - Often thought of on an individual, local level; not cosmically
How World thinks about the problems has this typical major answer: Problem is pain/suffering -> leads to Epicureanism & what is says are the two things which cause the most distress (Divine involvement; Eternity & Divine wrath)
We receive bad days and good days from Christ’s hand with rejoicing because Jesus is Lord
Satan likes to call God’s freedom slavery and slavery freedom
Three slaveries (Belly, Despair, Pride) and three freedoms (Contrition of Sin, Faith, Joy of the brothers’ salvation - ?) of the Scriptures
Seriousness (reverence) and joy belong together
Happiness obtain not by the pursuit of it; but a symptom of pursuing God - The fix is the Scriptures and comes in 2 phases; The Crucifixion and The Ministry of Reconciliation
During questions: Thankfulness v. Gratitude
Starting the fourth chapter; start of next session will be on the character of hope
References
Scripture: James 1:2; Romans 5:3-10, Matthew 5:10-12, 1 Peter 2:18-25, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Job 1:1-2:9, 19:23-27; John 8:31-34; Romans 6:16; Luke 15:1-32; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21: https://https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1%3A2%3B+Romans+5%3A3-10%3B+Matthew+5%3A10-12%3B+1+Peter+2%3A18-25%3B+Isaiah+52%3A13-53%3A12%3B+Job+1%3A1-2%3A9%2C+19%3A23-27%3B+John+8%3A31-34%3B+Romans+6%3A16%3B+Luke+15%3A1- 32%3B+2+Cor+5%3A17-21&version=ESV
Rev. Wolfmueller: “I’m really interested in hearing your thoughts on what we’ve reflected on yesterday and today (about living in the four chapters)” - Here’s how to share your thoughts with Rev. Wolfmueller:
wolfmueller.co (“I couldn’t afford the ‘m’”): Contact button that will send an email to him
Or email him directly at bwolfmueller@gmail.com
And, you can sign up for Rev. Wolfmueller’s weekly “What-Not” e- newsletter: https://wolfmueller.co/wednesday-what-not/
Or, get free books (e-editions, or you can purchase physical copies): https://wolfmueller.co/books/
“Holy Baptism: An Anthology” for free download or to order: https://wolfmueller.co/baptism/
On Epicureanism: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Epicureanism/The-Epicurean-school
A petition about suffering from The General Prayer (TLH, p. 23): All who are in trouble, want, sickness, anguish of labor, peril of death, or any other adversity, especially those who are suffering for Thy name’s sake and for Thy truth’s sake, comfort, O God, with Thy Holy Spirit, that they may receive and acknowledge their afflictions as the manifestation of Thy fatherly will (emphasis Rev. McGinley’s)
“Job,” painting by Leon Bonnet, 1880 A.D.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:L%C3%A9on_Bonnat_-_Job.jpg
Etymology of Islam: https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Islam
Etymology of Muslim: https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Muslim
Luther on Discerning Forgiveness Won and Forgiveness Delivered: https://wolfmueller.co/martin-luther-forgiveness-won-forgiveness-delivered/
Clarification
16:47: Euthanasia legislation in Iowa has been brought up and voted down, but keeps returning
1:02:54 (question 1): On Epicures’ two stressors - his two stressors are the only things that actually comfort us
1:04:55 (question 2): “What is your definition of evil since we’re putting that on God?”
1:06:10: The late Rev. Al Henderson’s wife speaks of the suffering of losing her husband and Christ’s victory in that suffering and death; “Not all blessings are easy”; blessings do come in suffering
1:10:34 (question 3): The world uses experience as the arbiter between good and evil, where the Christian by faith is brought to the understanding of God’s Word which says what is good and evil; Like Luther who says, “A true theologian calls a thing what it is.”
1:12:21 (question 4): The goodness of God is his presence in every situation, whether it is painful or not; e.g., Joseph (Gen 39) where the only times Scripture mentions when he is prosperous and successful is when he is a slave and is in prison.
1:16:54 (question 5): Do you think some bodies have lost sight of the ending that is why they seem to be focused more on the earthly and enjoying the here and now instead of focusing on where we’re going?
1:19:22 (comment): “The Crunch” then you explode
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller is pastor of St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, TX. He is the author of Take They Our Life: Martin Luther’s Theology of Martyrdom (2019), A Martyr’s Faith for a Faithless World (CPH, 2019), Has American Christianity Failed? (CPH, 2016) and Final Victory: Contemplating the Death and Funeral of a Christian (CPH, 2010). He is host of What-Not The Podcast, posts videos on YouTube at wolfmueller1, and has a number of other theological projects that all end up on his blog, www.wolfmueller.co. Bryan is a member of the Doxology Collegium. He and his wife Keri live with their four children in Round Rock, TX.
https://wolfmueller.co/
Conference Partners:
Christ the King Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Michael McGinley - www.ctkspencer.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Spirit Lake, IA - Rev. Paul Dare - www.lcmslakes.org
First English Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Paul Kaldahl - www.spencer-church.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Terril, IA - Rev. Tom Marth - https://lcmsterril.weebly.com
Spencer Circuit of the Iowa District West (LCMS)
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Digital CCC 2023 Worship Folder: https://tinyurl.com/DigitalCCC2023WorshipFolder
Preacher: The Rev. Chris Nitzel, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hartley, IA
https://www.stpaullutheranhartley.com/
Podcast Feedback: CCConferenceSpencer@gmail.com
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
Digital CCC 2023 Worship Folder: https://tinyurl.com/DigitalCCC2023WorshipFolder
Preacher: The Rev. Chad Dietrich, Churches in the Country
Immanuel Lutheran, Rockwell City, IA
Trinity Lutheran, Knierim, IA
https://churchesinthecountry.org/
Podcast Feedback: CCConferenceSpencer@gmail.com
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
The Christianity & Culture Conference of Spencer, IA
July 7-8, 2023
"Competing Stories: God's v. the World's"
Speaker: The Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller
Session 4: What's the Fix?
Different problems require different solutions. What is the Christian solution to our problem? Do we need a Savior, or are we saving ourselves? Where do justification and self-justification come into the picture?
Feedback for Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller: bwolfmueller@gmail.com
Podcast Feedback (Broken links, suggestions, etc): CCConferenceSpencer@gmail.com
Summary
LSB 708 - Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart
Continuing with chapters 2 & 3; Tracking the question, “What do most people think is wrong in the world?”
Solutions not for the emergency; emergencies for the desired “solution”
The only solution: “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life” & any other solutions are the anti-Christ.
“He shouldn’t, but Jesus really loves you.”
References
LSB 708 - Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart, Lyrics: https://hymnary.org/text/lord_thee_i_love_with_all_my_heart
“Disputation Concerning Man,” Martin Luther, , Translated by Lewis Spitz, In Luther’s Works, Vol. 34, edited by Lewis Spitz, (Philadelphia, PA: Muhlenberg Press, 1960), 137. LW 34 can be found here: https://www.cph.org/luthers-works-volume-34-career-of-the-reformer-iv
Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller’s email: Wolfmueller@gmail.com
Rev. Dr. Gregory Schulz’s “Ten Master Metaphors of Philosophy,” on Rev. Wolfmueller’s “Table Scraps” podcast: https://wolfmueller.co/philosophy/
The episode on Aristotles Four Causes is the second episode, and can also be found here with notes: https://www.whatdoesthismean.org/master-metaphors-of-philosophy/aristotles-cross-examination-of-nature-aka-the-four-causes-master-metaphor-2
St. Augustine’s Pears is the third episode, also found here: https://www.whatdoesthismean.org/master-metaphors-of-philosophy/st-augustines-stealing-the-pears-master-metaphor-3
“The Briefing,” podcast by Albert Mohler: https://albertmohler.com/the-briefing
Specific epidote on underpopulation can be found here: https://albertmohler.com/2023/06/29/briefing-6-29-23
Cicero - LC - “Emergency knows no necessity” or “Emergency knows no law” (???)
Pictures from Whiteboard: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aA6uMAUHqrvOqcS9du4dEprvy_xzX_8W?usp=sharing
“The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution,” by Carl Truman: https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Triumph-Modern-Self-Individualism/dp/B09GWD6ZGL/ref=sr_1_4?crid=39VRR80VTVLR8&keywords=Carl+Trueman&qid=1695330813&sprefix=carl+trueman%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-4
“Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution,” by Carl Trueman: https://www.amazon.com/Strange-New-World-Activists-Revolution/dp/B09VJY7G62/ref=sr_1_3?crid=39VRR80VTVLR8&keywords=Carl+Trueman&qid=1695330813&sprefix=carl+trueman%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-3
John 14:1-14: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14%3A1-14&version=ESV
World Famous Nutty Bars: https://s3-media1.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/2XGzww1nvdOOQbPTREz6KQ/348s.jpg
“A Personal Battle with COVID,” a two part podcast on Issues, Etc. featuring Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller: https://wolfmueller.co/2933-a-personal-battle-with-covid-pr-bryan-wolfmueller/
Clarification
23:19: Neo-Fascism - meant that it was a problem how it is a label to win arguments
24:01: “This is my body,” but the next phrase is different
58:03(1st Question): What are your thoughts about a problem being having taken Christ out of the (public) school?
1:08:29(2nd Question):Comment on emergency and COVID:That revealed a lot of things wrong in society and media and science and also what a church was willing to allow to change based on what they perceived as a crisis requiring a repentance for the change the Church allowed listening to the culture (Rev. Wolfmueller’s story of struggle with COVID)
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller is pastor of St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, TX. He is the author of Take They Our Life: Martin Luther’s Theology of Martyrdom (2019), A Martyr’s Faith for a Faithless World (CPH, 2019), Has American Christianity Failed? (CPH, 2016) and Final Victory: Contemplating the Death and Funeral of a Christian (CPH, 2010). He is host of What-Not The Podcast, posts videos on YouTube at wolfmueller1, and has a number of other theological projects that all end up on his blog, www.wolfmueller.co. Bryan is a member of the Doxology Collegium. He and his wife Keri live with their four children in Round Rock, TX.
https://wolfmueller.co/
Conference Partners:
Christ the King Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Michael McGinley - www.ctkspencer.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Spirit Lake, IA - Rev. Paul Dare - www.lcmslakes.org
First English Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Paul Kaldahl - www.spencer-church.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Terril, IA - Rev. Tom Marth - https://lcmsterril.weebly.com
Spencer Circuit of the Iowa District West (LCMS)
Tuesday Nov 28, 2023
Tuesday Nov 28, 2023
The Christianity & Culture Conference of Spencer, IA
July 7-8, 2023
"Competing Stories: God's v. the World's"
Speaker: The Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller
Session 3: How Things Went Wrong
What’s wrong with the world? What’s wrong with me? The Bible talks about sin, but the world talks about systemic problems and political solutions. We’ll look at the different ways different worldviews diagnose the trouble we are in.
Feedback for Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller: bwolfmueller@gmail.com
Podcast Feedback (Broken links, suggestions, etc): CCConferenceSpencer@gmail.com
Summary
LSB 562 - All Mankind Fell in Adam’s Fall. See the words here: https://hymnary.org/text/all_mankind_fell_in_adams_fall
Part of this hymn is included in the Lutheran Confessions, in the Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord, Article I. Original Sin, paragraph 23 (Also in the Epitome of the Formula, paragraph 8): https://bookofconcord.org/solid-declaration/original-sin/
Beginning Chapters 2 & 3, and how these two chapters go together.
Next: Pushing more into the emergency idea to the problem and solution
References
Concupiscence, our hearts being inclined toward sin and evil, is sin, see the Augsburg Confession, the Second Article, “Original Sin,” paragraph 2: https://bookofconcord.org/augsburg-confession/original-sin/
“On the Bondage of the Will,” Martin Luther
Read for free here: https://wolfmueller.co/wp- content/uploads/2019/10/Bondageofthe-Will.pdf
Or listen to it here: https://librivox.org/the-bondage-of-the-will-by-martin- luther/
The Book of Concord, the Confessions of the Lutheran Church (What we believe, teach, and confess), can be found here: https://wolfmueller.co/wp- content/uploads/2019/11/Book_of_Concord_100718.pdf
Or listen to it here: https://librivox.org/group/376primary_key=376&search_category=group&search_page=1&search_form=get_results
Genesis 3, Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:6-7, Luke 15:11-32, Revelation 12: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+3%2C+Philippians+ 4%3A6-7%2C+1+Peter+5%3A6-7%2C+Luke+15%3A11- 32%3B+Revelation+12&version=ESV
Ray Comfort video: https://youtu.be/Jch_NyRTUMk?si=0ycCcCC7dBAqPWgp
“Why I Am Not a Christian,” Bertrand Russell: https://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html
Commentaries by Christopher Wordsworth: https://wolfmueller.co/product/christopher-wordsworth-new-testament-commentary-4-volumes/
Quote by St. Hilary on the fall of the devil (???)
Ray Comfort, the story of the parachute: https://www.epm.org/blog/2012/Sep/7/how-you-view-parachute
“Dear ELCA,” YouTube video by Rev. Wolfmueller with the Large Catechism Challenge for ELCA members: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohhh75FK57c
Are you part of the ELCA or a progressive Lutheran Church body and want to hear more about confessional Lutheranism? Do you want to take up Rev. Wolfmueller’s challenge? Then fill out the form here: http://wolfmueller.co/dearelca/
And if you just can’t wait for the mail to read Luther’s Large Catechism, read it online here: http://wolfmueller.co/downloads/
Clarification
33:52: “Genesis chapter 3 is our chapter 2”
1:03:42 (first question): Clarification - the enmity between us and God and between the Woman and the Serpent: Where was the enmity before this? What is the source of the serpent’s enmity in giving a false word and to lie about God’s Word?
1:08:06 (second question): The fall of satan is pride; and last month (June) was “pride” month
1:12:35 (third question): The dumb TV show “Naked and Afraid” (mentioned); “Naked and Afraid” as an opportunity to confess, like Adam and woman, “Naked and Afraid”; but like Adam, people don’t have a high view of sin, which then misses the sweetness of the Gospel
1:14:21 (fourth question): The evangelicals say to people outside the faith, “You need saving, you need to Jesus, you need faith”; but people don’t know they need saved. Like trying to save someone from a burning house who doesn’t believe the house is burning.
1:19:17 (fifth question): With the language of “they were deceived first, then they are,” why not call it the “The Deceiving” instead of “The Fall” when the word “fall” is not used in Genesis 3?
1:24:33 (comment on answer to fifth question): That’s how wicked we are; as wicked as Adam who sat by, let the Woman be deceived, and ate of the fruit instead of telling the Woman not to talk to snakes and stopping her from eating the fruit.
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller is pastor of St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, TX. He is the author of Take They Our Life: Martin Luther’s Theology of Martyrdom (2019), A Martyr’s Faith for a Faithless World (CPH, 2019), Has American Christianity Failed? (CPH, 2016) and Final Victory: Contemplating the Death and Funeral of a Christian (CPH, 2010). He is host of What-Not The Podcast, posts videos on YouTube at wolfmueller1, and has a number of other theological projects that all end up on his blog, www.wolfmueller.co. Bryan is a member of the Doxology Collegium. He and his wife Keri live with their four children in Round Rock, TX.
https://wolfmueller.co/
Conference Partners:
Christ the King Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Michael McGinley - www.ctkspencer.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Spirit Lake, IA - Rev. Paul Dare - www.lcmslakes.org
First English Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Paul Kaldahl - www.spencer-church.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Terril, IA - Rev. Tom Marth - https://lcmsterril.weebly.com
Spencer Circuit of the Iowa District West (LCMS)
Tuesday Nov 21, 2023
Tuesday Nov 21, 2023
The Christianity & Culture Conference of Spencer, IA
July 7-8, 2023
"Competing Stories: God's v. the World's"
Speaker: The Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller
Session 2: Who Are You?
What are human beings? Are we basically good or bad? Are we more than walking stomachs? Is there meaning and purpose in life? We’ll consider the different anthropologies competing for our imagination about ourselves.
Feedback for Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller: bwolfmueller@gmail.com
Podcast Feedback (Broken links, suggestions, etc): CCConferenceSpencer@gmail.com
Summary
LSB 709 - The King of Love My Shepherd Is
Implications of our chapter 1
What is that mean for our anthropology - the study of man; theologically, the doctrine of man
Pagan anthropology v. Christian anthropology
Create own laws; rule of Gnosticism
Strong preference for burial because of the Resurrection - Four things which define us
The Lord’s Prayer teaches us who we are
If you try to aim for happiness, you will never get it
References
LSB 709 - The King of Love My Shepherd Is: https://hymnary.org/text/the_king_of_love_my_shepherd_is
Minority Report: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181689/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Pictures from Whiteboard: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aA6uMAUHqrvOqcS9du4dEprvy_xz X_8W?usp=sharing
Luther on Dichotomy and Trichotomy (Luther on the Magnificat): Page 7 here - https://www.checkluther.com/wp-content/uploads/1521-The-Magnificat- Translated-and-Explained.pdf
“Disputation Concerning Man,” Martin Luther, , Translated by Lewis Spitz, In Luther’s Works, Vol. 34, edited by Lewis Spitz, (Philadelphia, PA: Muhlenberg Press, 1960), 137. LW 34 can be found here: https://www.cph.org/luthers- works-volume-34-career-of-the-reformer-iv
Romans 7:7-25, Hebrews 12:1-2, Luke 11:14-26; Hebrews 2:14-18: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7%3A7- 25%2C+Hebrews+12%3A1-2%2C+Luke+11%3A14-26%3B+Hebrews+2%3A14- 18&version=ESV
Clarification
1:04:13: (First Question): Is it accurate to say that before Baptism the “I” is on the flesh side?
1:06:25 (Second Question): In the mirror, I see I’m a sinner with my sin; but when God sees me He sees His Son.
1:08:10: (Third Question): In my life, I run into many people who say their Christian, but don’t go to church and seem to be in lock step with the world. Does a Christian filled with pagan ideas have hope when they don’t realize who they are as a Christian? How do we talk with them?
1:12:28(Comment): (But their response is): “But God wants me to be happy.”
1:15:29 (Fourth Question): In the dichotomy/trichotomy, is there a third option that it could be an empty space (with neither the Holy Spirit nor a demon there)
1:18:02: (Follow up to Fourth Question): So would an important distinction be that not all pagans are possessed by demons but all pagans are captive by the devil?
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller is pastor of St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, TX. He is the author of Take They Our Life: Martin Luther’s Theology of Martyrdom (2019), A Martyr’s Faith for a Faithless World (CPH, 2019), Has American Christianity Failed? (CPH, 2016) and Final Victory: Contemplating the Death and Funeral of a Christian (CPH, 2010). He is host of What-Not The Podcast, posts videos on YouTube at wolfmueller1, and has a number of other theological projects that all end up on his blog, www.wolfmueller.co. Bryan is a member of the Doxology Collegium. He and his wife Keri live with their four children in Round Rock, TX.
https://wolfmueller.co/
Conference Partners:
Christ the King Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Michael McGinley - www.ctkspencer.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Spirit Lake, IA - Rev. Paul Dare - www.lcmslakes.org
First English Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Paul Kaldahl - www.spencer-church.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Terril, IA - Rev. Tom Marth - https://lcmsterril.weebly.com
Spencer Circuit of the Iowa District West (LCMS)
Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
The Christianity & Culture Conference of Spencer, IA
July 7-8, 2023
"Competing Stories: God's v. the World's"
Speaker: The Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller
Session 1: How It All Started
Are we all bits of cosmic shrapnel, the results of an ancient explosion? Or, are we the result of the Lord’s peaceful speaking, “Let there be...” The World and the Lord are telling two very different stories about how things got started, and, as Mary Poppins taught us, “well begun is half done.”
Feedback for Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller: bwolfmueller@gmail.com
Podcast Feedback (Broken links, suggestions, etc): CCConferenceSpencer@gmail.com
Summary
What is a Story & the 4 Chapters (Start, Problem, Solution, Conclusion) - Everyone living in a story with these chapters
Understanding this part of evangelistic and apologetics tasks
Part 1: The beginning - how things got started
Contrasting the Creation from Scripture v. The Enuma Elish
How what we believe about the beginning shapes us
The importance of words and names. Parable: What if we couldn’t read? - The elite and the world’s answer to how all this got started: Evolution (materialism)
Pagan way of thinking: Survival of the Fittest & Nihilism
The Three Distinctions that God makes in the Genesis Story being assaulted by Evolution and Culture: Creator/Creation, Man/Beast, Man/Woman - Denigration to wordlessness
Next: Simply ask who am I? If Genesis 1 is true? If Evolution is true?
References
Breakpoint: Colson Center Podcast with John Stonestreet: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breakpoint/id324173353
Stonestreet Quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9808817-every- story-has-four-parts-the-beginning-the-middle-the
Sparkle Creed: https://youtu.be/SpIvek8ZU58?si=6b99aHWeHS8zbb1W
Enuma Elish
What it is and the text: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/225/enuma- elish---the-babylonian-epic-of-creation---fu/
Rev. Wolfmueller reads from the fourth tablet
Genesis 1-2, Creation: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+1-2&version=ESV
Worldwide (Online) Bible Study, Wednesdays at 9:00am, Zoom Link Here: https://wolfmueller.co/bible/
Genesis 30, Rachel, Leah, and the Mandrakes: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+30&version=ESV
Psalm 23: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+23&version=KJV
Preface of “Alien Power: The Pure Theory of Ideology” by Kenneth Minogue: https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Powers-Pure-Theory-Ideology- ebook/dp/B076M72M1G/ref=sr_1_4?qid=1695158968&refinements=p_27%3AK enneth+Minogue&s=digital-text&sr=1-4&text=Kenneth+Minogue
Ray Comfort: https://www.youtube.com/@raycomfortjustwitnessing/videos
Clarification
15:30: “Split her in half and that (or she) became the sky and the sea
23:12 (first comment): Isn’t that (the Babylonian story) similar to the theory of evolution (meaning, creation by death and destruction)
24:20: “Even parents are at war with their children”
35:10: “The darkness he called night”
1:04:27: (first question): Is there another distinction - God’s providing and abundance v. survival and scarcity
1:05:03 (follow up to the to first question): The role we are called into those two different stories - caring for the world we’re a part of v. Consumed/Consuming
1:08:20 (second question): Is the appeal of the pagan side the search for truth? Accuses the other side of hopefulness, not the truth of reality?
1:11:13 (third question): Parable of the wordless world - it’s worse than wordless; the serpent misnames and lies
1:12:45 (fourth question): One of the problems with materialist view (if it can’t be measured, it can’t exist) is that it denies love.
1:14:26 (follow up to fourth question): Many materialists deny the pure idea of love; is an unexplainable illusion
1:15:57 (fifth question): Could you expand on the idea (???)
1:20:27 (sixth question): In the last 20-30 years, being introduced amongst Evolution and materialism, is a hyper-spirituality has developed and emerged detached from the Bible; which has more momentum in our culture since they are contradictory to each other? Even though people try to latch onto both.
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller is pastor of St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, TX. He is the author of Take They Our Life: Martin Luther’s Theology of Martyrdom (2019), A Martyr’s Faith for a Faithless World (CPH, 2019), Has American Christianity Failed? (CPH, 2016) and Final Victory: Contemplating the Death and Funeral of a Christian (CPH, 2010). He is host of What-Not The Podcast, posts videos on YouTube at wolfmueller1, and has a number of other theological projects that all end up on his blog, www.wolfmueller.co. Bryan is a member of the Doxology Collegium. He and his wife Keri live with their four children in Round Rock, TX.
https://wolfmueller.co/
Conference Partners:
Christ the King Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Michael McGinley - www.ctkspencer.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Spirit Lake, IA - Rev. Paul Dare - www.lcmslakes.org
First English Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA - Rev. Paul Kaldahl - www.spencer-church.com
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Terril, IA - Rev. Tom Marth - https://lcmsterril.weebly.com
Spencer Circuit of the Iowa District West (LCMS)
Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
Tuesday Nov 14, 2023
Digital CCC 2023 Worship Folder: https://tinyurl.com/DigitalCCC2023WorshipFolder
Preacher: The Rev. Michael McGinley, Christ the King Lutheran Church, Spencer, IA
https://ctkspencer.com/
Podcast Feedback: CCConferenceSpencer@gmail.com
Friday Oct 27, 2023