Let the Bird Fly!

01:08 - Introduction 05:55 - Scripture Narrative (Proverbs 22:6) 09:55 - Free-for-all (Self-driving cars) 21:55 - Main Topic (Classical Education) On episode EIGHTEEN of Let the Bird Fly! we welcome Dr. Jason Merritt to discuss classical education. Dr. Merritt has been a classical educator for over a decade teaching mostly classical Greek, as well as serving as HeadMaster for four years. He currently teaches at Covenant Classical School in Fort Worth, TX. Dr. Merritt has also taught Greek at Texas Christian University, has done translation work in Swahili, Croatian, Japanese, and Haitian Creole, and is the author of Devils and Deviants: Religious Schism in 1 and 2 John. In addition to Dr. Merritt, the guys are joined by two pastors that happened to be on campus for the Return to Wittenberg Conference that was recently held in Milwaukee. Pastor Johann Caauwe currently serves Trinity Lutheran Church in El Paso, TX and Pastor Nathanael Seelow serves Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Kearney, NE. Rev. Caauwe homeschools his children and has recently presented on the topic of Classical Education in the early Lutheran church. He has also offered Latin classes to children in El Paso as an extension of his homeschooling efforts. Before arriving at the main topic, however, the guys waste their time (and yours, should you choose to listen) by discussing--in perhaps the most uninformed way possible--the positives and negatives of self-driving cars. The discussion comes to it’s logical (and merciful) conclusion when Oliva questions how confident Wade should be about where he might find himself in the event of a tragic airplane crash. Moving on the main topic, Dr. Merritt offers a glimpse into his personal background as well as a brief description of his book Devils and Deviants: Religious Schism in 1 and 2 John. This leads into our conversation about classical education, where Dr. Merritt walks us through a discussion of how classical education differs from what Peter ham-handedly refers to as “modern” education. While acknowledging that there are many different ways classical education can--and is--understood, Dr. Merritt provides us with a sophisticated articulation of what he believes to be central to classical education in regards to its content, method, and telos (i.e., “end” or “objective”). Leave it to a Greek teacher to use Greek words in his answer, but it turns out to be perhaps the most essential part of Dr. Merritt’s view of the value of a classical education. Forming the student, he believes, NOT to be first and foremost getting them into a good school and getting them a good job, etc., etc. (although it may be a secondary effect). Rather, he believes that putting in front of students those things that participate in truth and goodness and beauty gives educators the opportunity to teach students to love those things that have truth and goodness and beauty. So, if you’re a longtime defender of classical education, or someone who’s never even really heard of it before, we think you’ll enjoy this episode. And if you’d like to contact Dr. Merritt,

00:00 - Introduction 05:55 - Scripture Narrative (Matthew 24-25 and 1 John 4) 16:01 - Main Topic (Beware the Sky is Falling!) On episode SEVENTEEN of Let the Bird Fly! Wade breaks out on his own providing an expanded discussion of his blog post Beware the Fearmonger. (If you haven’t read it yet, what are you waiting for? Head over to our website now!) After deciding not to argue with himself--and so skipping the free-for-all, Wade discusses the ease with which we push others into various boxes or labels and then assume that we then know all we need to know about the other. Pushing back against this cultural impulse, Wade encourages us to evaluate the role ideology plays in our own thoughts first. By doing so, we may find that those we’ve shoved into different boxes might not be everything we thought they were (or perhaps even more than we thought they were). Relatedly, Wade encourages us to view the “crises” of the day with a more critical lens, in order to avoid giving these political and cultural debates too central of a role in our lives as Christians. The sky hasn’t fallen yet, and although we look forward to Christ’s second coming as Christians, worrying about the sky and it’s fealty to remaining fixed above us won’t change any of that. Life is full of tensions and paradoxes, and while that may not always be comfortable for us as Christians, it is something that all of our worrying, side-taking, and fearmongering won’t even begin to change. The law accuses us and tells us how very wretched we truly are (and this world is), but let’s not forget the reason Christ came; namely, to be the balm that frees us from the law, allowing us to live freely in His Gospel assurance. The sky doesn’t look so bad afterall...so, let the bird fly! Peter did stop by in the middle of the episode to remind the listeners of what we have going on the website. He mentioned the blog posts, the devotions, the Wingin’ It episodettes, and the email lists. So stop on by and see what else we’ve been up to. Peter did forget which episode he’d interviewed Wade about his book An Uncompromising Gospel (at lease he remembered the name of the book this time), but if you’re interested in that, it was episode 12, which you can find here. And if you’d like to listen to Wade’s Wingin’ It episodettes on his book, you can find those here. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or

In this Wingin' It session Wade discusses the next section from his book An Uncompromising Gospel: Lutheranism’s First Identity Crisis and Lessons for Today. This section we pick up one of the central debates from On the Bondage of the Will; namely, synergism and the free will. The synergistic controversy has proved to be one that persists up to today (and I'm guessing it may make it to the next generation too). So despite its fancy name, it is one that deserves perennial attention. Peter interviewed Wade on his book in Episode 12, so if you haven't listened to that episode yet, it will provide a broader view of Wade's book. And, as promised in that episode, Wade provides a more in-depth discussion of one aspect of his book in this Wingin' It session. If you'd like to listen to Wade's other Wingin' It episodettes on his book, head on over to our Wingin' It page where you'll find them all. Stay tuned for more Wining' It sessions on Wade's book! Attributions for Music Used in this Episode: “The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License. “Not Drunk” by The Joy Drops is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 Intern

00:00 - Introduction 03:42 - Scripture Narrative (Hymns: Abide with Me and For All the Saints) 10:24 - Free-for-all (Review of the MLB season, with a focus on the Tigers and Brewers) 27:17 - Main Topic (We’re All Gonna Die: Ars moriendi) On episode SIXTEEN of Let the Bird Fly! we welcome back Rev. John Bortulin, who first joined us on episode three (which you can find here, if you missed it). This time we asked Rev. Bortulin to join us for a discussion of death and dying and what it means (and doesn’t mean) for the Christian. Before getting to our discussion, however, Wade cheats with the Scripture Narrative (but in a very “Lutheran” way) by talking about two hymns that he associates with funeral: For All the Saints  and Abide with Me. Next we move into a discussion of the first half of the 2017 MLB season, with a special focus on the Tigers and the Brewers. (If you want to know what we thought at the beginning of the season you can go back and listen to the first few episodes.) Somehow that discussion devolves into a “debate” over the relative merits (or lack thereof) of the State of Illinois. In fact, the discussion keeps popping up so much that we considered titling this episode “Death and (Illinois) Taxes.” Rev. Bortulin becomes oddly quiet during this discussion, bet he does manages to throw some shade on the Chicago White Sox. As must be the case, though, we do eventually manage to get to the main topic: death and dying. Death is always an uneasy topic, but it is nonetheless an inescapable reality for humanity, and a reminder of our fallen state. As Christians, however, we also have the confidence that comes through that one perfect death. This paradox is what allows Rev. Bortulin and Wade discuss the joy and privilege of a pastor to be present at the deathbeds of the faithful. Wade reads a section from Johann Gerhard’s Sacred Meditations, in which Gerhard reminds us that Christ in his death turns death from curse into gift. A huge thanks once again to Rev. Bortulin for joining us. If you’d like more information on the church he is currently serving, St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mukwonago, WI, you can find it at www.stjohnslutheran-muk.org. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And, of course, share us with a friend or two! If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at podcast@LetTheBirdFly.com, or visit our website at www.LetTheBirdFly.com.

In this Wingin' It session Wade discusses the next section from his book An Uncompromising Gospel: Lutheranism’s First Identity Crisis and Lessons for Today. This section deals with a fight about stuff that supposedly wasn't supposed to matter--adiaphora. How did a fight about supposedly indifferent things show some serious fault lines in the theology of many of Luther's colleagues and friends, what are true adiaphora, and when do adiaphora cease to be adiaphora, or indifferent? These are some questions, among others, explored in this session. Peter interviewed Wade on his book in Episode 12, so if you haven't listened to that yet, it will provide a broader view of Wade's book. And, as promised in that episode, Wade gives a more in-depth view of one aspect of his book in this Wingin' It session. If you'd like to listen to Wade's other Wingin' It episodettes on his book head on over to our Wingin' It page, where you'll find them all. Stay tuned for more Wining' It sessions on Wade's book! Attributions for Music Used in this Episode: “The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License. “Not Drunk” by The Joy Drops is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 Intern

00:00 - Introduction 03:28 - Scripture Narrative (Galatians 5:16-26) 12:56 - Free-for-all (“Would you rather…”) 27:42 - Main Topic (Witchcraft in the Atlantic World) On episode FIFTEEN of Let the Bird Fly! we welcome Dr. Aaron Palmer, who holds his M.A. in History from Marquette University and his Ph.D. in History from Georgetown University. Dr. Palmer has been teaching a course entitled “Witchcraft and Culture in the Atlantic World” for about 10 years, and that’s exactly what we get him to discuss on this episode of Let the Bird Fly! Before arriving at the main topic, though, Oliva attempts to pang Wade’s conscience by creating new rules (SPOILER ALERT: it doesn’t work, he’s just too calloused). Then Wade reminds us that sorcery and witchcraft are frowned upon in Scripture, and eventually we move on to a how-to workshop on witchcraft discussion of witchcraft (and witch hunts) from the early modern period in Europe through the colonial period as Europeans cross the Atlantic, ending with an extended discussion of the Salem witch trials. We also find out that Dr. Palmer is not ashamed to admit that he’s read the Harry Potter series...multiple times. If you’d like to find out more about Dr. Palmer and what he’s up to, you can find his faculty profile here, or you can check out his 2014 book A Rule of Law: Elite Political Authority and the Coming of the Revolution in the South Carolina Lowcountry, 1763-1776 (Early American History - the American Colonies, 1500-1830) (now that’s an academic book title!). We are extremely grateful to Dr. Palmer for taking the time to talk with us and our listeners. And even if he didn’t make us sorcerers, he definitely managed to give us a great conversation. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And, of course, share us with a friend or two! If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at podcast@LetTheBirdFly.com, or visit our website at www.LetTheBirdFly.com. Thanks for listening! Attributions for Music Used in this Episode: “The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License. “Horses to Water” by Topher Mohr and Alex Elena “Gib laut” by Dirk Becker

In this Wingin' It session Wade discusses Luther's  On the Bondage of the Will, which is the second of the two key writings of Luther that Wade dealt with in the his book An Uncompromising Gospel: Lutheranism’s First Identity Crisis and Lessons for Today. Wade hits upon the main arguments of Luther's opponent, Desiderius Erasmus, and Luther's responses to them, as well as the chief theological thrusts of the Bondage of the Will, revealing the nature of both the law and the gospel and the heart and core of Luther's biblical teaching. Peter interviewed Wade on his book in Episode 12, so if you haven't listened to that yet, it will provide a broader view of Wade's book And, as promised in that episode, Wade gives a more in-depth view of one aspect of his book in this Wingin' It session. Stay tuned for more Wining' It sessions on Wade's book! Attributions for Music Used in this Episode: “The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License. “Not Drunk” by The Joy Drops is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 Intern

00:00 - Introduction 04:23 - Scripture Narrative (Jeremiah 29:5ff) 08:37 - Free-for-all (City vs. Country Living) 21:47 - Main Topic (A Tale of Two Synods) On episode FOURTEEN of Let the Bird Fly! we welcome Dr. Mark Braun back to discuss Lutheranism in America, and especially the split between the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (and, as Professor Teigen would point out, the split also involved the Evangelical Lutheran Synod). It just so happens that this is the topic of Dr. Braun’s book A Tale Of Two Synods: Events That Led to the Split between Wisconsin and Missouri, so he knows a thing or two about the topic. The episode kicks off, however, by the “meme-master, self-certified child-genius, and internet-celebrity,” Nicholas Johnston (who also happens to be Wade’s oldest son). After some debate about whether city or country living is to be prefered (a discussion that splits the room and gets a bit ideological), we make our way into the main topic. Dr. Braun once again offers a fascinating conversation, this time on the split between the synods (if you haven’t heard his previous conversation with us, do yourself a favor and head over to Episode 5, where we discussed his book Time Between the Testaments: Connecting Malachi to Matthew). After listening to Dr. Braun’s discussion, we’re certain that you’ll want to get a copy of his book for more information. We’d encourage you to do so, and we’ll even help one lucky person out with another BOOK GIVEAWAY! So head over to our book giveaway page and sign-up for your chance to win a SIGNED copy of Dr. Braun’s A Tale of Two Synods. And if you don’t happen to be the lucky winner, you can always purchase a copy here. After reading the book, send us your questions/comments and we’ll do our best to pass them along to Dr. Braun and maybe even have him discuss them on a Wingin’ It episodette. In fact, Wade proposed that Dr. Braun consider doing a few Wingin’ It episodettes to dive a bit deeper into some of the topics covered, so help us make this happen! If you’re not familiar with our Wingin’ It series, head over here to check them out. They are shorter, interepisode episodettes that cover a variety of topics and are often less polished than our regular weekly episodes (if you can call our episodes “polished”). Quite a few links for this episode, so here they are in a list: Books and articles by Dr. Braun: A Tale Of Two Synods: Events That Led to the Split between Wisconsin and Missouri Time Between the Testaments: Connecting Malachi to Matthew “Those...

In this Wingin' It session Wade discusses Martin Luther's Heidelberg Disputation, which he covers in his book An Uncompromising Gospel: Lutheranism’s First Identity Crisis and Lessons for Today. Peter interviewed Wade on his book in Episode 12, and as promised Wade gives a more in-depth view of one aspect of his book here. Stay tuned for more Wining' It sessions on Wade's book! Attributions for Music Used in this Episode: “The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License. “Not Drunk” by The Joy Drops is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 Intern

00:00 - Introduction 04:51 - Scripture Narrative (Luke 15 - The Prodigal Son) 15:05 - Free-for-all (Kids and Cell Phones) 34:05 - Main Topic (Fatherhood) On episode THIRTEEN of Let the Bird Fly! the guys are all back together again with a couple of Wade’s children joining them in the studio. Although a couple of days late for Father’s Day, the guys discuss the role and vocation of fathers. Wade mentions is recent blog post about being a father, Peter recounts bringing his oldest daughter home from the hospital, and Ben shares his confidence in the power of the “BABY ON BOARD” car sign. Wade also mentions a recent post on wanting sinners in heaven (seriously, if you’re not visiting LetTheBirdFly.com at least a few times a week, you’re missing out on some great content Wade’s been producing). Before getting that main topic, however, Wade walks through the familiar parable of the Prodigal Son and the guys discuss when children should be given a cell phone (if at all). Peter brags a little bit on his own phone, but Ben puts him in his place. So with Father’s Day not too far in the rearview mirror, here are some of our thoughts on the blessings and challenges of being fathers. If you’re listening in the first few days after Episode 13 releases, make sure to head over to our BOOK GIVEAWAY and enter to win a SIGNED copy of Wade’s book An Uncompromising Gospel. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And, of course, share us with a friend or two! If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at podcast@LetTheBirdFly.com, or visit our website at www.LetTheBirdFly.com. Thanks for listening! Attributions for Music Used in this Episode: “The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.

In this session of Wingin' It Wade discusses our series of devotions on Galatians and gives some background and context for this letter from St. Paul. If you'd like to check them out, you can do so here.   Attributions for Music Used in this Episode: “The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License. “Not Drunk” by The Joy Drops is licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International Licen

On episode TWELVE of Let the Bird Fly! Peter takes the reigns and welcomes into the studio professor, pastor, softball coach, and author Wade Johnston to discuss Dr. Johnston’s recently published book An Uncompromising Gospel: Lutheranism’s First Identity Crisis and Lessons for Today. After an annoying little shtick where Peter pretends that Wade isn’t the host and Wade (for some inexplicable reason) plays along, the guys get to discussing Wade’s book. Wade also plans to release some Wingin’ It episodettes on different parts of the book, so stay tuned (and make sure to subscribe) for more information on An Uncompromising Gospel. The guys go far and wide during the (aptly named) free-for-all, but pretend that they’re discussing crazy summer schedules. Peter and Wade also find a way to turn the “7-10 minute” Scripture Narrative into something more closely resembling a complete episode. Well, we hope that going long doesn’t detract from your listening enjoyment! We mention in the episode that we would be giving away signed (by Wade) copies of An Uncompromising Gospel, so be sure to ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY HERE. The more you share, the more times you'll be entered. (Who knows, we may even announce the winners on a future episode...but we’ll make sure it’s okay to use your name first.) Since this episode went a bit long, here are the rough time markers for the various sections (feel free to skip around...we won’t be offended, mostly because we won’t know). 00:00 - Introduction 07:48 - Scripture Narrative (John 9) 24:02 - Free-for-all (Crazy Summer Schedules...sort of) 43:34 - Main Topic (Wade’s book An Uncompromising Gospel) If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And, of course, share us with a friend or two! If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at podcast@LetTheBirdFly.com, or visit our website at www.

On episode ELEVEN of Let the Bird Fly! the guys make a first pass at that central question of Christian theology: Law and Gospel. The guys are without a guest to keep them honest, and even worse they are at Peter’s house, so that can mean only one thing: PBR time. Wade starts things off with a recounting of the story of the Rich Young Man from the Gospel according to St. Mark, chapter 10. This leads the guys down the path of attempting to sort through the role of Law and Gospel in Christian doctrine. Before they get in too deep, however, Wade professes his love for trains and Ben agrees that trains are wonderful...but mostly when they’re carrying crude oil from Canada! Wade insists that despite the inefficiency (both in time and money) of much public transportation in the United States he LOVES TRAINS! (It may be that Wade has listened to his favorite song too many times...choo, choo, Wade, choo, choo. Whatever the reason, he turned into this kid...but on the bright side, he got a song written about him.) After Ben and Wade debate whose vehicle gets worse gas mileage (spoiler alert: Wade wins), the guys move on to their first official attempt at discussing the central doctrine of Law and Gospel. The distinction between Law and Gospel is a topic that has certainly been touched on already in a number of episodes, and it is one that we are sure to come back to, but here is our first official pass on the topic. Let know what you think (our email inbox has grown lonely lately: podcast@LetTheBirdFly.com). If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And, of course, share us with a friend or two! If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at podcast@LetTheBirdFly.com, or visit our website at www.LetTheBirdFly.com. Thanks for listening! Attributions for Music Used in this Episode: “The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License. “Horses to Water” by Topher Mohr and Alex Elena “Gib laut” by Dirk Becker is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) 3.0 International License.

In this episode Wade discusses some biographies, older and more recent, that those interested in Luther and the Reformation might find interesting or helpful as we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Books Wade Discusses: Martin Luther: A Life by James A. Nestingen Luther the Reformer: The Story of the Man and His Career by James M. Kittleson A Short Life of Martin Luther by Thomas Kaufmann Luther: Man Between God and the Devil by Heiko A. Oberman Three Volume Set by Martin Brecht: Martin Luther: His Road to Reformation 1483-1521 Martin Luther: Shaping and Defining the Reformation 1521-1532 Martin Luther: The Preservation of the Church 1532-1546 Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland H. Bainton Martin Luther: Visionary Reformer by Scott H. Hendrix Brand Luther by Andrew Pettegree Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet by Lyndal Roper   Attributions for Music Used in this Episode: “The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License. “Not Drunk” by The Joy Drop...

On episode TEN of Let the Bird Fly! we welcome Rev. Tyler Peil back (via Skype) for the second part of our two-part series. In episode nine Pastor Peil discussed the Ascension of our Lord, and in the episode he is back to discuss the festival of Pentecost. Pastor Peil demonstrates that he’d never make it as an official Trivial Pursuit question reader, but does regale us with fun facts about Nebraska (even if he does manage to lose us our Runza endorsement...and we were so close to our first endorsement). Ben introduces those in the studio to the Nebraska delicacy of Dorothy Lynch Dressing. Evidently Carhenge is something...in Nebraska. And Wade takes Detroit jokes in stride (although he does die a little inside). Before letting Pastor Peil go, however, we decide to spend at least some time on the main topic: the festival of Pentecost. Pastor Peil points out the centrality of the Means of Grace and God’s plan to sustain his Church in the account of Pentecost. As we enter the non-festival portion of the church-year, Pastor Peil reminds us that even during this “ordinary” time the life of the Church remains one of doxology. We are extremely thankful to Pastor Peil for joining us on this episode. If you’d like to learn more about Pastor Peil or the congregation he has been called to serve in Nebraska, you can do so at StJohnsStanton.org. Links: St. John’s Lutheran Church, in Stanton, NE: StJohnsStanton.org The Christian Year by Edward Horn If you enjoy the show, please subscribe, rate, and review us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn Radio. You can also like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. And, of course, share us with a friend or two! If you’d like to contact us we can be reached at podcast@LetTheBirdFly.com, or visit our website at www.LetTheBirdFly.com. Thanks for listening!   Attributions for Music Used in this Episode: “The Last One” by Jahzzar is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 International License.