Our golden age. . .

We live in the Golden Age of faithful and Biblical evangelical Lutheran resources.  It is an undeniable fact.  Whether you are talking books or journals or online publications or podcasts or conferences, we are quite literally drowning in great stuff to encourage the Christian, inform us of the truth, assist us in the Scriptures, and support our lives of knowledge and devotion in the Lord.  It is amazing and too often overlooked.  There is no shortage of videos, podcasts, speakers, those with a social media presence, and authors to build us up in the faith and sustain us in that faith.  It is almost too much.  I am not talking about fly by night publishers or amateurish resources but well-developed, well-produced, and well-esteemed resources.  Sure, some have a small following and others, even some less profound or orthodox have more, but it is a dazzling array of good and faithful offerings made available to us through modern technology. 

Of course, these solidly Lutheran products have to compete in a crowded marketplace with people who have made a business out of this kind of stuff.  Sadly, too many Lutheran ears are tempted by things that are not faithful to Scripture, consisted with our confession, and filled with the riches of the Christian ages.  That this is true does not in anyway detract from the good stuff that is out there.  We need to acknowledge the riches available to us and make use of them.  None of us should be complaining about a lack of orthodox theological books or commentaries, a scarcity of older and established books, or few new and fresh expositions of the timeless faith.  We live in great times.  Even when these are not in print, it is as easy as Amazon or any one of a dozen used booksellers to find us what we are looking for.  But we have to look and we must not be satisfied by what happens to hit the internet by a storm or what sells out in evangelical marketplaces.  We need to know the names of the authors worth reading and pursue these resources.

I hesitate to say this but sometimes I wonder how some pastors can manage their flock and produce audio and video resources like they do.  I am not speaking of those whose major time is spent in these resources but those who put these together on a smaller scale but a still demanding one.  I know what it costs me to put out these words day after day.  Fortunately, I am not retired but still have meandering thoughts.  That said, putting words down is still rather low key to the kind of podcasts in which tough subjects and important guests come together to discuss them.  Hats off to those who can manage this while managing their calling.  In any case, we need to stop complaining and start mining the rich veins of Scripture study and theology that surround us.  The internet has produced much not worth our attention but it has also enabled us to have access to great riches which are worth that attention,  Some of them may cost us a few bucks but books are not cheap.  Some of them require an expenditure not only of money but also of time yet conferences are available all over the US and many of them worth so much more than the price of admission.  Now it not the time to borrow what is hitting the evangelical charts.  Now is the time to see what is available that is faithful to the Word that endures forever, clear in its Lutheran confession, and rich in its treasures to support our lives of faith individually and together as a church.