Witness, Mercy, Life Together Hymn "God's Redeemed, Beloved and Holy"

Steve Starke's Hymn, "God's Redeem, Beloved and Holy."

The hymn, "God's Redeemed, Beloved and Holy," used to introduce Witness, Mercy, and Life Together is now available for download from the Synod's Resource Page. (Here is the direct download link.) I hear that a full-color version is coming soon.

In the early days of planning, at the end of July 2010 and early August 2010, we thought it would be great to have a hymn reflecting the themes of Witness, Mercy, and Life Together. Late one evening over Facebook chat, a conversation of Rev. Steve Starke ensued. The next day, he emailed the hymn above -- well not in this exact form but ... Apparently, in 2005, once again demonstrating that this "idea" isn't new, Steve Starke wrote this hymn. We were very thankful that he was willing to share it with us. The singing at the board meetings and orientation,  reported in Reporter October Online, was very robust. We hope you find it edifying in your congregation too. 

Also, at the Synod's resource page are word studies on witness, mercy, and life together from the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT Word Study Link HERE)... more to come later.

Zeno, Natural Law, and a Roman Catholic Professor

Recently, I have been studying the topic of natural law. The concept of natural law has been discredited more and more since the Enlightenment for a variety of reasons. From my earlier post on Adiaphora, it is apparent that I have been interested in Zeno, the Stoic philosopher who taught of natural law -- a noble pagan (well, no, I'm not Zwingli). While Zeno argued against adultery on the basis of natural law, he "euthanized" himself by strangulation (doesn't sound like a "good death" to me) after he fell and broke his finger -- his conception of natural law didn't rule out suicide, at least under the circumstance of an old man falling and breaking his finger.

Zeno in Fragment 244 wrote against adultery:

ἐκκλίνουσι τὸ μοιχεύειν οἱ τὰ τοῦ Κιτιέως Ζήνωνος φιλοσοφοῦντες … διὰ τὸ κοινωνικόν· καὶ <γὰρ> παρὰ φύσιν εἶναι τῷ λογικῷ ζώῳ νοθεύειν τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν νόμων ἑτέρῳ προκαταληφθεῖσαν γυναῖκα καὶ φθείρειν τὸν ἄλλου ἀνθρώπου οἶκον.

"Those who pursue the philosophy of Zeno of Citeus avoid engaging in adultery on account of ideas that are commonly held.  For [they say that] it is even against nature for the creature of reason to engage in adulterating a woman who is still legally married, and to engage in ruining the home of another man."

(For the record, Dr. Jim Voelz helped me revise the translation -- although the above translation is "looser" than Jim would render it.)

In any case, came across this video of Professor Charles Rice from Notre Dame. He is a law professor and in the video below he provides a brief overview of natural law. Other than his opening prayer to the Regina Coeli, I didn't have much to disagree about in his presentation. He helpfully described what natural law is and the shift that has happened since the Enlightenment -- relativism and individualism. It is worth the 9 minutes or so he takes to explain it.

Grassroots Witness, Mercy, Life Together Video on YouTube

Tonight I stumbled upon this grassroots video that took images from the Synod's website along with the Witness, Mercy, Life Together emphasis artwork accompanied by A Mighty Fortress. Enjoy.

Friends of Issues, Etc.

This morning I received an email link to this great video by the guys at Issues, Etc. In their slideshow, musical video, they got a couple of pictures of President Harrison (and I even got in it too. Keep up the good work guys!

Rebuilding a 747 in the Sky

Thanks to Dr. Larry Rast and his fine comment in my previous post, "Mount Everest By the Spoonful." In that post, I noted how President Harrison described the implimentation of 8-08A (restructuring) like the retrofitting of a 747 while it is in flight. Thanks to Dr. Rast, we have been alerted to a consultant who can help rebuild a 747 while it is flying in the sky. Now I know why seminary professors must be consulted regarding the best way to bring about 8-08A. Watch the video below. Perhaps, we can find an airline pilot who can describe for us what it is like to fly a plane as it is being rebuilt. Enjoy :)

Mount Everest One Spoonful at a Time

Barb Below, Jon Vieker, Herb Mueller, Kim Vieker

Yesterday afternoon, President Harrison met with his staff, 1st vice president, and secretary of the Synod to discuss Resolution 8-08A. Topics discussed included but not limited to: what actions are required to fulfill faithfully Resolution 8-08A, what are the expectations of the church; what timeframe is needed to bring Resolution 8-0A to fruition, financial concerns, how to integrate the former program boards into the Office of National Mission and the Office of International Mission, and the concerns people have about what this resolution means for them in the International Center.

Dr. Raymond Hartwig explaining updated bylaws to  President Harrison

In the meeting, President Harrison told Dr. Hartwig that figuring out how to implement restructuring (Resolution 8-08A) in light of the personnel, financial, and churchly concerns in addition to the regular duties that each person on his staff is entrusted is like tackling "Mount Everest one spoonful at a time." Dr. Hartwig replied, "I do not envy any of you in your task, but I am here to help in anyway possible." In the past, President Harrison has described the restructuring task as being like retrofitting a 747 Jetliner mid-flight -- rebuilding the engines, remodeling the cabin, and reconstructing the cockpit without crashing the plane. President Harrison plans to consult with people throughout the church as we move forward.

When there are monumental challenges, President Harrison's pastoral approach becomes particularly evident. After a couple of hours discussing what had to be done and creating some short term goals, President Harrison said something like, "The task before us is great, but doable. The Convention has mandated it, and restructuring will be a blessing to the Church. The Lord has put each one of us here at this moment for the task before us. Take comfort in the Lord who gives all strength." 

And while Resolution 8-08A has not been implemented throughout the International Center (please keep in mind that President Harrison has only been in his position for 22 days and it will take time), the church's work of Witness, Mercy, and Life Together continues as people hear the Gospel, as people are helped in their time of need, and as we continue to live together as the Lord's people joined together in Christ. 

Web Discussions on Witness, Mercy, Life Together

Official Graphic of Emphasis Witness, Mercy, and Life Together

Imagine my surprise today when I received an email stating that Berthold Von Schenk invented "Witness, Mercy, and Life Together!" There is quite a discussion over at the ALPB (American Lutheran Publicity Bureau) on Witness, Mercy, Life Together -- as of today 22 September, there are 261 posts. (You can read about it here.) Apart from my blog, I am not a contributor to online bulletin boards, etc. and generally do not follow them much. But in Post #250, Rev. Dr. David Benke, District President of the Atlantic District, suggests that Von Schenk was the main source for the threefold emphasis of "Witness, Mercy Life Together" in his book Lively Stone.

Not being a student of Von Schenk, I cannot claim to be familiar with his book Lively Stone. His book does not grace my bookshelf, nor have I seen it in President Harrison's library. But then we never claimed to have invented anything new. In fact, new in the realm of the church in regards to her purpose and doctrine is not a good thing. Another word for innovation in doctrine is heresy. People turning up references to a similar threefold emphasis in other places might indicate that perhaps Witness, Mercy, Life Together is fairly good at describing what the emphasis of the church is.

Pastor Bill Weedon, someone familiar with Von Schenk, searched for a quote in Lively Stone stating the threefold emphasis. He found on page 97 "where Von Schenk speaks of Missouri's so-called doctrinal purity, moralism and legalistic ritualism (which outlaws the prayer of consecration with anamnesis and epiclesis) as false marks of the Church. 'These false marks are poor substitutes for the true marks of the Church:  Leiturgia, Missio, and Diakonia ('Liturgy, Mission, Service').'"


Indeed, Von Schenk mentions a threefold marks of the church: leiturgia (liturgy), missio (sending/mission), and diakonia (service). Doesn't seem that the "Witness, Mercy, Life Together" is precisely the same focus as Von Schenk's leiturgia, missio, and diakonia, but no doubt there are some similarities. In any case, I am glad that the "evangelical" catholic group on ALPB seems to have in general positive feelings toward "Witness, Mercy, Life Together" -- and if Von Schenk is the reason for that, great!


No doubt other similarities will be found between "Witness, Mercy, Life Together" and other Christian groups and writings. For instance the Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP) -- The Batak Christian Protestant Church -- has three departments in their church listed in the following order -- Koinonia, Marturia, Diakonia. Considering that the church's website is in Indonesian, apart from knowing the three names of their departments, I am not sure this helps us much in further understanding Witness, Mercy, Life Together.


However, you could help us with "Witness, Mercy, Life Together." Thus far, we have focused primarily on New Testament Scripture passages. You could help us by either posting in the comments or emailing us quotations or references from the Book of Concord that further elucidate the emphasis "Witness, Mercy, Life Together." Another area of help could be in the suggestion of quotations from Luther or Walther. How about some early church father references? Any takers?