An American Lutheran

Opportunities for the Future of Online Education

2012-01-05T14:27:00.000-05:00

A couple of months ago I was conversing with a Lutheran inanother state regarding means for learning and growing in the faith. Thisperson is isolated from a “normal” down the street relationship with a confessionalLutheran church and thus had problems getting good information and content forgrowing in the faith. I had directed this person to both a Lutheran and asecular web site and asked the person what they thought. Their answer surprisedme but now that I think about it a bit, it really shouldn’t be a surprise. Forthe secular site was one of these high flying heavily promoted sites that hadwon accolades from various educators and well-known foundations. Yet thesecular site fell flat for this person. Why? With all the money, time, and thegood reputation did this particular means for educating fall flat? People learndifferently, and different subjects may require different methods for teaching.

This is perhaps the biggest challenge of mass-education.While perhaps 75-80% of all students learn well in a lecture type presentationformat, what do you do with the other 20-25%? In the past (based upon my ownpersonal experience,) you tell the non-conforming students to suck it up andlearn. They need to adapt because that is just the way it is. It will be goodfor them we think. Many of them just drop out and quit. Such is an example ofone of the great failures of the one-size-fits-all education model. I believewe can do better.

When there is a learning gap, we have two choices. One isto force the student to adapt to the existing system. The other is for theteacher and system to adapt to the student. When we as educators force studentsinto a one-size-fits-all model of teaching, we run the risk of puttingpotential learners through unnecessary stress and strain simply because we asparents or educators fail to adapt our teaching to their modes and means oflearning. New technology and learning distribution models are on the horizonthat hopefully can help in adapting the right teaching for the better learningmodes of individual students.

An example of this is MIT who is in the process of preparing a beta version of theirMITx online learning platform which appears to do just that. Part of the goalof this momentous project is to refine and improve the learning effectivenessof online learning tools. As one reads between the lines of their plans, one islead to anticipate that part of this project is to provide a variety of commonmodes of learning for the same material. So if you are an auditory learner,there would be plenty of content directed at that learning style. If you are avisual learner, there would be plenty of videos available. For the reader,there would be plenty of reading material both condensed and in great detail tomeet those learning needs. If you need drills and practice they provide theadaptable and progressive means for challenging the learner at their own pace.Need a group and collaborative learning environment, that appears to be part ofthe package.

How can this help upper education and Christian education in general? I wasreading an article on the effective use of e-books the other day and was amazedto learn that one of the great failings of the medium was the inability orclunkiness of being able to annotate and highlight text. I thought it was justme as I personally have experienced this myself. I bought a common top-rated ereader withthe intention of migrating over from my large book and paper library into anall electronic format that I could read on a laptop, tablet, or smartphone. The current software just was not yet able to quickly and easily dothis. I was disappointed. I had high hopes for the medium and due to growingpains, the software and related hardware was not just there yet. For all youereader developers out there, solve this problem and a huge educational marketwill open up and beat a path to your door with cash in hand.

As the Vice President of Administration for a highereducation institution, it is my hope that the education market will quicklyadapt and make available a variety of tools through ereaders and LearningManagement Systems like that of MITx so that the warehouse of knowledge thatGod has permitted man to accumulate may be readily made available at a reducedcost for future generations to use and exploit for the benefit of our secular neighbor and fellow Christian.

Remembering Rev. David Ritoch

2011-11-23T11:39:00.001-05:00

In this season of Thanksgiving we give thanks for family,friends, and our Heavenly Father who sustains all in both good times and bad.Amy , the writer of this piece (posted by Rev. Walt Snyder), I was privileged to meet years ago at aReformation party held at her parent’s country home in rural Missouri when Iserved an LCMS congregation in the Concordia North Circuit. I had justcompleted preaching a joint Reformation service and the pastors had gathered atthe Ritoch home. As a homeschooler, Amy showed herself to be very wise for herage back then and very knowledgeable about Luther (who would be an apt topicthat evening). May her profession of faith and hope in the face of tragedy giveyour encouragement this Thanksgiving.

Letter: My Last Goodbye

Harold Camping Agrees: Harold Camping was Wrong

2011-11-18T13:59:00.001-05:00

We are getting closer to the end of the church year as weapproach the Christian Church year begins with the season of Advent November 27, 2011. So it is at thistime that we as Lutherans need to call out those fellow Christians who havegone overboard in predicting The End Of The World As We Know It (TEOWAWKI). Thecurrent poster child for this genre of Christian thought is Harold Camping ofFamily Radio, who after 3 tries (Sept-1994, May-2011, Oct-2011), struck out onpredicting the “end”. Thankfully Harold has done the church a great service andadmitted his error. Not all false teachers have the guts to do this and for hisadmission we have to give him due credit. Most people perpetuate their errorand never admit their wrongdoing. We frequently see this in politics. Haroldhas taken the high road and admitted his error.

Some may think it would be nice to sweep some of thesefailings of church leaders under the rug. Due to the clearly public nature of Harold’sproclamations, we are forced in light of Martin Luther’s explanation to the 8^thcommandment as recorded in the Large Catechism, to respond publicly so thatother Christians may likewise be publicly warned of his error. We should learnfrom other people’s mistakes as the saying goes. We should also note these sinsso that others can learn from them (Galatians 6:1).

As we have stated before in public teaching at Agnus DeiLutheran Church every week, the “supposed” and anticipated event of May 21, 2011 that Harold Camping hadpredicted was flat out wrong. When one starts with bad and incorrectassumptions, it is clear that incorrect results will not be far behind.We have been proved right by that statement as themillions of people that were slated to begin dying around the world beginning May 22, 2011 did not occur as Haroldhad said they would.

So as expected with the historically wrong date setters, Haroldmoved the goalposts setting a new date: October 21, 2011. We said he would be wrong inSeptember, 1994. We said he would be wrong on May 21, 2011. We publicly predicted that He would be wrongagain on October 21, 2011.The calendar has let the public decide who is more believable. Date setters arealways wrong. A few of these erring predictors may be right some day—j ust likea stopped clock is always right two times a day.

So that the reader may be well informed, let us take a fewsentences to explode some of the myths and misunderstandings about Biblical exegesis—aneffort at which Harold (and many similar prognosticators) so blatantly fail. Inan article posted at WND, Harold was quoted saying the following:

"TheBible is a very spiritual book. There are a lot of things that are veryfactual, very factual, of course, but there are a lot of things that are veryspiritual. How to know whether to look at it with a spiritual understanding ora factual understanding is hard to know," Camping said. "The fact iswhen we look at it more spiritually then we find that He did come."

Camping then predicted theworld would be brought to an end on Oct. 21, 2011.[1]

Harold has many things mixed up in his understanding ofthe Bible. Yes, Jesus the Son of God has come into the world in the flesh backaround 2000 years ago, was crucified on Good Friday, appeared on Easter morning,and following 40 days, ascended into heaven. He will come again on a day of Hischoosing—a day Christians frequently refer to as “judgment Day” or “The LastDay”. Since we are all here talking and writing about these things, Jesus hasnot yet returned as Harold predicted on neither May 21 nor October 21. Haroldas with many predictors before him and after him is wrong. This idea ofintermediating periods of time whether they be days, months (May 21 throughOctober 21), or years is a fiction—an invention of Harold and others that isnot found in clear Scripture. Sure you can find some people who advocate such athing based upon their interpretation of symbolic and visionary biblicalliterature. We as Lutherans have over many centuries however, found no clearevidence of this kind of prophecy in the scriptures. Quite simply what weclearly find is that there will be trouble in the world until Jesus comes on aday which will be a surprise to everyone. Following that day, time (if you wantto call it that) continues for the saints with their Lord Jesus Christ foreverin heaven. It’s a very simple and uncomplicated approach to the end times thathas served the church quite well for centuries. We still believe it and inviteothers to join us.

One other clear error in exegesis is Harold’s view that 1,000years is like a day and a day is like a 1,000 years to God (as taken from 2Peter 3:8). Harold has taken this to mean a literal 1,000 years. We do not.What this really means to us as Christians and as Lutherans is that God inventedtime as part of creation. God is outside of time. He is after all eternal. Hehas no beginning and has no end. So he is not restricted by time as we aresince God is uncreated (as one confesses in the Athanasian Creed). Thus thelimitations that time and space put on man are not a problem for God. So theability to know the future and to be in many places at the same time arenon-issues with our all powerful God.

One cannot help but feel sorry for those people fooledinto believing an end on a specific date will come to pass. Our best help is toteach them correctly and guide them back to a biblical truth.

While these church leaders may be charismatic and able tolead, they however have shown themselves to not be infallible prophets of Godas we have already seen and will continue to see. One does not follow those wholead others into error. In the Old Testament God’s faithful people would stonefalse prophets like this. We in this day and age deal with false prophetssimilarly in that we simply leave them (Romans 16:17-18).We separate from them. It is as effective as a stoning (they cannot falselyinfluence believers any more), yet it still by the grace and mercy of God, givesthe false prophet the opportunity to repent, amend their ways, and come back tothe truth.

This is what separates Christianity from other modern dayreligions such as an Islam that in dealing with a similar situation, wouldquite literally kill the false prophet or errant follower of their religion. Sincewe believe in a merciful God, we likewise show mercy to the wayward believer sothat they can turn from their error and return to the truth as presented freelyto all in The Bible—the Holy Scriptures.

As a Lutheran pastor, I have over the years dealt with anumber of Christians who have been wronged and hurt by false prophets likeHarold. Often times the key problem is that the people who get caught up in themovement focus on the person (like Harold) instead of the teaching or doctrine.In the history of the Christian Church over the centuries, erring leaders maycome and go, but the inspired Living Word of God—the teaching and doctrine aspresented by God through His prophets and through Jesus Christ always remainsunchanged.

The good pastor or prophet will always demure himself tothe one true shepherd Jesus Christ. That is what we do in the Lutheran churchwhere I serve in Fredericksburg, VA.That is what all believers in Jesus Christ should require of their churches andchurch leaders. That way if the leader is somehow mislead to teach somethingfalse and against what Jesus taught in the Bible, the people can ignore thatfalse teaching and remain faithful to the teaching of Jesus and the Apostlesthat we find recorded in the Bible. That is what the Berean Christians did(Acts 17:10-12). We should continueto follow their fine example.

If you or someone you know has been caught up in this orsimilar end of times movements that try and scare you into the Kingdom of God throughfear, intimidation, or other scare tactics, tell them about us. We are readyand willing to take people who have been hurt, abused, or mislead by previouschurches and using the Word alone, help guide them back to a path where theycan experience the freedom and liberty enjoyed under the Gospel of JesusChrist.

Thechances of Jesus returning tomorrow is 50/50. He eitherwill or He will not. One should always plan for both contingencies for as Jesussaid, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming”(Matthew 24:42).

[1] 'Rapture' of sorts takes place at site of doomsdaypreacher http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=302681

Celebrating the Reformation

2011-11-15T22:35:00.000-05:00

I was reading an article over on Cyberbrethren on some insightful aspects of Reformation day celebrations (What was tragic about the Lutheran Reformation? / How Should We Celebrate Reformation Sunday?). It appears that the whole idea of celebrating Reformation stirs up some angst in some folks. This is understandable since over the years I have seen many a naïve person who cannot grasp the whole idea of winning a war whether it be a spiritual one or a physical one. These are the people who will complain to the pastor when he selects a hymn from the section of the hymnbook labeled church militant. These are the ones who are always caught up in an erroneous idea that all wars are wrong, therefore victory should never be celebrated. Well then, let us quit calling Good Friday good and let us quit celebrating Easter if that be the case. This is all part of that liberal guilt mindset that some really need to get over. But we as conservative Lutherans celebrate in spite of the naysayers who mistakenly think celebration of any victory is a bad idea.

We as Lutherans do celebrate these two occasions because we recognize the victory that has been won by Jesus Christ over sin, death, and power of the devil. Years ago I remember hearing a missionary story of Christians in a far-off land, who took the phrase Good Friday, quite literally—celebrating Christ's death with upbeat music and the like in contrast to the somberness of German Lenten hymnody. This treatment of Good Friday seems quite odd to an American Lutheran who tends to over-emphasize the penitential side of Good Friday (in opposition to the reformed tendency to gloss sin and its consequences). Be that as it may, in an effort to solve one problem, we have perhaps created another. Thus those excessively penitential Lutherans tend to fail to grasp the offsetting and balancing victory that has transpired as a result of Christ’s death. So let us as Lutherans not let worldly culture divert us from celebrating all three events because they truly signify God's victory over sin, death, and error.

The writer at First Things (Joshua Genig), even has a problem with the liturgical color red assigned for the day. After listing some of the principal Lutheran Reformation actors of the day who survived Rome’s fury unscathed, the author lets his fractured view of Reformation history steer his angst. For if one reads beyond the sanitized and Sunday School friendly versions of 16th and 17th century Reformation history, one finds the cold, dark reality of many, many Lutheran martyrs in Martin Luther's day and beyond whose deaths are often ignored or forgotten by those who think only the elite leaders of the church are worthy of their commemoration. To the contrary, LSB hymn number 678 speaks of these "unsung saints" whose story will never be told, but whose sacrifice will never be forgotten by those of us who respect and honor these unknown saints who died for the Faith. So bloody red it should be!

The Reformation needs no apology. False doctrine is false doctrine and it is always wrong. One should never be sad or apologetic for being right with God on the basis of Holy Scripture alone. The people that need to repent are the ones who martyred the unsung Lutheran saints and many others mentioned above. John Paul II has apologized (2000, 2004) for the deaths of those Christian souls who died in the Inquisition. Us Lutherans are still waiting for a pope to lift the anathemas announced at the Council of Trent against those Lutherans who believe with that of God the Holy Spirit and St. Paul: justification by grace through faith apart from works (Eph 2:8-9).

All of this eventually comes down to arguments of how to accomplish Christian unity between brothers who hold diametrically opposing doctrines. Our position as Lutherans towards the Roman Catholics is: come join us and believe what the Holy Scriptures say alone. And for good measure, throw in the clarification of God's Word that one finds in the Lutheran Confessions. Roman Catholics on the other hand, make the siren call: come join us and believe what we believe, based on tradition and the counsel of men. These approaches are miles apart and irreconcilable in this life.

One side will have to blink. Biblical Lutherans need to continue to show their patience and wait for the errorists to blink. In the meantime, I'm not going to let some hand wringer spoil my celebrating the Reformation—a period of time when God and his Reformation people came out victorious over errorists in His church.