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A book never comes

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out of a vacuum,

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doesn't just materialize

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out of thin air.

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It's coming from some source,

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from some writer.

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And that writer has

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some context.

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So I've got context for my book

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a Case for Character.

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And my context primarily grew

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out of my experience

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in the parish.

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Before I started teaching

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at the seminary,

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I spent eleven years

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as a parish pastor.

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And the those were eleven

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wonderful years working with

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the people of God,

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sharing God's truth with them,

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shaping them,

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being shaped by them.

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It was just a delightful eleven

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years I enjoyed it.

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But one of the experiences I had

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during those eleven years caused

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some frustration which led me to

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do eventually more

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careful research.

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And that frustration was simply

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the issue of not always feeling

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like I had the resources

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available to be able to

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give people concrete,

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specific answers to the really

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concrete specific questions.

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So if I would have somebody

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perhaps come into see me in the

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office and say, pastor,

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I've got an issue.

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I've got a family struggle.

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I've got a child I'm having

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some trouble with,

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or I've got a neighbor who is

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just continually causing

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trouble for me,

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and I'm trying to figure out how

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to handle this situation.

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Or I'm having some significant

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financial problems,

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and I need some help getting

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this thing straightened out.

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Often it seemed like the

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resources that were available to

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them were coming from traditions

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or from sources other than

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Lutheranism. In fact,

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my experience in the parish

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has been confirmed many,

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many times by other scholars

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and other thinkers who have

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suggested that Lutheranism might

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be really good at

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doing doctrine.

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But is not really very good

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at doing practical,

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ethical kinds of things.

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Because that's what really all

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this practical stuff is.

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It's the purview of ethics

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because ethics is really nothing

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more than living out behavior

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and doing things and thinking

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things and acting on things.

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That's what really ethics is.

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So it's become sort of a

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widespread idea that Lutheranism

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is great at laying down things

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like you're a sinner and you

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need the gospel and you need

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forgiveness and Lutheranism

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delivers hat stuff really

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well. Boy,

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we've got means of grace,

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we've got word and sacrament.

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We know how to do that.

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We know how to give

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people Jesus.

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We know how to give people

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forgiveness of sins and

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comfort and assurance.

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But when it comes to the things

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like how to handle rebellious

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kids or how to deal with a

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really hard boss or how to get

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your personal finances lined up.

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Well,

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when it comes to those kinds

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of things, well, frankly,

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you're better off just going

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down to the Christian bookstore

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and check out some of the

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resources and you'll find

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something more useful there,

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because we don't have

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much there.

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And there are even

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some who I have

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experienced some pastors who

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would have the idea that,

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in fact,

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those things are actually out

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of bounds for good Lutheran

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theology.

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Those things aren't even things

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we should deal with,

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which exactly perpetuates and

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confirms this suspicion that you

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see there's something inherently

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wrong with Lutheran doctrine,

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that it just can't

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handle ethics.

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And this idea has been around

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for a long time. Well,

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it was these experiences and

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these ideas that were often

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voiced in the academy that led

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me and prompted me to actually

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start thinking about,

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is that true?

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Is there something inherently

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lacking within Lutheran theology

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that keeps us from being able to

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engage these kind of concrete,

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specific questions with really

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practical answers?

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And so that led me to to

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carefully investigate and

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look about some things,

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especially going back into our

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own Lutheran heritage,

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looking at Luther and Melanchton

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and The Book of Concord and

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the early confessions.

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And what I discovered is what I

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lay out in a Case for Character.

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And essentially the argument.

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I'm going to make an argument.

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I hope you will follow

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along with me and learn

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with me is that it's not part

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of our Lutheran heritage.

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It's not inherent in Lutheranism

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to be able to distance ourselves

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from practical ethical concerns.

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But these are actually things

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that are very much right smack

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in the middle of good Lutheran

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thought and are consistent with

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everything we try to do as

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faithful teachers of God's

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truth. It all fits together.

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So I hope that you will come to

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that same conclusion as you read

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along with me in my book

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a Case for Character.

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And we can benefit from what is

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actually taught in this core of

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our faith we call Lutheranism.