To that end, I have created a proposal for a new, online training course in Lutheran Apologetics for the Guild.  You may download a PDF version of this proposal here.  As you can see, this is not the complete course, rather, it is a detailed explanation of the rationale for it, a defense of the Lutheran apologetic itself, and an outline of the structure of the proposed course.

I am looking for one (or more) volunteers to collaborate with me in fleshing out the details of this course and in actually conducting it for several sessions.  If you are interested, please email me at biddlej@lutheraneducators.com.

This year, my son attended Pella Christian Schools as a 7th grader, after having completed grade school at a local public school. (If a Lutheran alternative was closer, well we would have sent our son there.) He marched in the Tulip Time parades each of the past three days in wooden shoes and vowed never to do it again.

Anyway, we monitor fairly closely an theological differences that may come up in Bible class or in discussions with other children who are in our son’s classes. His homeroom teacher, who is also his Bible teacher, is aware of our Lutheran faith and how to keep away from topics where there may be difference. In considering “Tulip Time”, I remembered in our study of Lutheran Doctrine classes the acronym T.U.L.I.P. as a way to recall the differences in Reformed and Lutheran theology.

Here is a little chart of Calvinist (Reformed) doctrine positions on five key issues. After the chart, you can read the Lutheran positions. There are two areas where Reformed and Lutheran agree, but three which are disagreed upon. I also provide Bible verses to support the Biblical doctrines of the Lutheran Church’s confessions.

T.U.L.I.P. Diagram

Here are the Lutheran doctrinal positions.

T) Total Depravity – Lutherans believe man cannot effect the will of God to save him or work for himself salvation (John 15:5, Ephesians 2:8-9).

U) Unconditional Election – Lutherans believe if man is totally depraved, then salvation from God is not conditioned by anything in mankind; God does not predestine some to damnation (Ephesians 2:8-9, 1 Timothy 2:3-4). Lutherans reject the Reformed believe in Double Predestination and that some are predestined to damnation.

U) Universal Atonement – Lutherans believe Christ’s atoning death was sufficient and is efficient to save all men (1 Timothy 2:3-4). Lutheran reject the Reformed belief in a Limited Atonement.

R) Resistible Grace – Lutherans believe that God’s grace can be resisted; this is sometimes called “Free Will”—though Luther would write about the Bondage of the Will to sin (Acts 7:51).

F) Fall from Grace – Lutherans believe that only by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit can a believer persevere in faith (John 10:28), but it is possible for a believer to fall from grace; this is related to the idea of “Free Will” (John 15:6).

Here is the diagram for the Lutheran’s T.U.U.R.F.

Lutheran Doctrinal T.U.U.R.F.

So when as Lutheran educators we are faced with challenging questions on our Lutheran beliefs (turf), we can and should be sure of our T.U.U.R.F. answers with regard to these doctrinal questions. May God grant us this always. Amen.

It stands for 21st Century Lutheran Education. 21CLE is an online conference in its 2nd year. There are speakers across the map. All the presenters love Lutheran Schools and Educators and want to improve Lutheran Schools and Education.

Want to know what the great thing is?

3 of your very own Guild authors will be presenting this year! How great is that!

02/25/10 – 4:00-5:00pm
What Are You Doing?
Kathy Maske
Altamont Lutheran Interparish School

“In our schools today, education is changing. We have more technology than we know what to do with. Our Lutheran schools have the opportunity now more than ever to utilize the same technologies as other schools do via the Internet. There has been an explosion in online, collaborative networking in the last 5 years or so with the introduction of MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Plurk and other social networking sites. What happens when we utilize these tools in our professional development? Continuous online learning! We now have tools that we, as Lutheran Educators, can use to collaborate with other educators continuously. Whether you are seasoned at networking or are just beginning, sharing is valuable for all.”

02/25/10 – 5:00-6:00pm
Podcast My Class Fast
Daniel Burk
Grace Lutheran Lancaster, CA

“Teachers are afraid to try something new. Podcasts is something that any class and any teacher can utilize in their classroom. We will go step-by-step how easy it is to record and publish a Podcast for your class.”

02/26/10 – 11:00-12:00 noon
Personal Learning Networks and You
Jeremy Biddle
CUW Ed Tech Cohort/Lutheran Educators’ Guild

“Personal Learning Networks [PLNs] are a solution for one of 21st Century education’s most difficult problems: keeping informed of emerging technologies and learning how to utilize them in our classrooms. PLNs tap into the vast array of freely available information via traditional sources (books, newspapers, etc.) and emerging ones (blogs, Twitter, etc.). A PLN, states Dr. Daniel R. Tobin, is a group of people who can guide your learning, point you to learning opportunities, answer your questions, and give you the benefit of their own knowledge and experience. This presentation will provide a starting point for educators to implement their own PLNs. The audience will be provided with a brief presentation on PLNs and their usefulness, suggestions of software to use (along with tutorials/demonstrations of their use), and a categorized list of sources for individual educators to use in beginning their own PLN. The list of sources will be posted online, with the ability for an educator to make their own additions to share.”

If you would like more information head over to http://blog.cuw.edu/21cle/ List of all the presenters are there.  You can also register to attend.

Personally, this will be my first real public presentation.  I have talked in front of my school and church and I have voiced thoughts in conferences before, but to be the focus!  I am a little nervous.  A lot of thoughts of being a student is rushing to my head.  Am I qualify to talk about podcasts? What if I am asked a question I don’t know how to answer.  Will I sound ok?  I kinda hate my voice on recordings.  Just need to breath and pray (A LOT!).

Make sure you join us during the 2010 21CLE, tell your colleagues to watch/listen to the presentations (Think about PD days)  All the sections will be recorded also.  You can check out the 2009 21CLE on the site also.

Make sure you tell your friends about the Guild also.  Plus this is your Guild also.  Make sure you make comments and be part of the forum to go into more depth on any topic that is discussed.