...my mind is mush. What a day! It was jam-packed with great theology and great discussion. We had a Chapel service at 10 and Vespers at 4:45pm besides the 5 Exegetical papers. The (brief) summaries are as follows:
Paper #1 - 'The Role of Christ's Second Coming in the Church's Mission: Learning from Paul's Eschatology in 1-2 Thessalonians' by Dr Charles Gieschen (personal note: Dr Gieschen and I coached 7th-8th grade boys soccer together for three seasons during my time in Fort Wayne...and we won the conference two of those years!)
-Summary: Eschatology (which means 'end times') is not just in the future, when Christ will come again on the Last Day. Eschatology is past, present and future. Past eschatology is the crucifixion, and present eschatology is the effects of the crucifixion for us today, namely in Word and Sacrament. Part of eschatology is God's wrath. God's wrath now and at the Last Day is real and will come because of sin. God is seeking to rescue sinners from the present helpless idolatry we live in, as well as the hopeless future in hell by giving us the benefits of the wrath He placed on His Son, Jesus, on the cross; this He does by Word and Sacrament.
Paper #2 - 'Democracy or Torah Solidarity? Reflections on Scriptural Ecclesiology' by Dr Dean Wenthe
-Summary: He went all the way through history and gave a summary of how the church was structured in different times. In most times and places the Church had what was called an Episcopal structure, which we do NOT have in the LCMS. He showed us where our structure came from and told us some dangers that could come (and has come in congregations from time to time). In the end we have to find our true identity in Christ and His Sacraments; we must hear and follow the True Shepherd's voice, not promote our own self, but seek His good and gracious will in all matters. We are not an earthly organization, but a heavenly church and we should resist anything that takes away from Word and Sacrament.
Paper #3 - 'The Ecclesiology of Acts' by Dr Kavin Rowe (Dr Rowe couldn't be here because his father is on his death bed, but Dr Just read his paper)
-Summary: (Note 'ecclesiology' means the study of 'church', which includes what it is and how it is structured, etc.) Acts is not so much about church order but about how Christians are to be Christian in a non-Christian context. He looked at Acts 19, and Acts 25-26. He made a bunch of great points, but the main one is the answer to the questions: How does church and politics relate to each other? Are they compatible? The answer(s): Yes and No. Yes, they are compatible because Jesus is not competing to rule against "Caesar", they different types of ruling. But on the other hand, they are not compatible because Christianity "turns the world upside down" because "Caesar" is not ultimately in charge, for every knee will bow to Jesus.
Paper #4 - 'Luke and the Foundations of the Church' by Dr Peter Scaer (personal note: Dr Scaer was my Advisor during seminary)
-Summary: Jesus is THE Shepherd, the Church is founded on Him and by Him. And so He sends out pastors to continue establishing and building His Church. First, He built His Church on Peter, both Peter himself and his confession (we can't separate the two). Then He sent out the 12 apostles, the 7 deacons, and the 70 pastors. And whoever hears them, hears Jesus. This is a comforting promise for us.
Paper #5 - 'Paul's Use of the Old Testament in Philippians' by Dr John Nordling
-Summary: Paul doesn't quote the OT directly, but alludes to it in many places. He was so familiar with the Scriptures that, as he wrote the letters by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the OT just flowed out of him, perhaps unintentionally at times. The same is true for us, that when knowing the Scripture so well, it will just flow out of us in teaching and preaching.
A good day. A full day. Ready for some r and r. I continue to pray for you all and am looking forward to returning.
God's Peace.
+PH
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