CCC23, S6: Bryan Wolfmueller - ”Living In the Middle of a Cosmological Rap Battle”

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)