Welcome
Welcome to "Lakeshore Theology" which is run by two Lutheran pastors in southern Minnesota, U.S.A.
It's our intention to regularly publish sermons, devotions, book reviews, letters, and other reflections on this blog.
We're pastors at a church in Fairmont, Minnesota, a town of about 10,000 people, situated on five beautiful lakes. Our church lies just across the street from the northernmost one, George Lake. On "Lakeshore Theology" we celebrate the beauty of the lakes in our town and remember the call our Lord gave to His disciples: "So they pulled their boats on shore, left everything, and followed Him" (Luke 5:11).
It's on the edge of the Lake of Gennesaret (Galilee) that, 2,000 years ago, our Lord called His first disciples to Himself. It's on the shore of the little lake in our town that He still calls disciples to follow Him - whatever the cost.
It's our hope and prayer that these little reflections, essays, sermons, and occasional pieces serve to inspire and encourage.
As a first piece, Pastor Adam would like to share an (adapted) book review he wrote on Jordan Peterson's bestselling "12 Rules for Life." Dr Peterson is a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, and his two published books and dozens of YouTube lectures have established him as one of the most significant - and sensational - public academics of our time. We hope the review is interesting:
Genesis.
The Tao Te Ching.
The Sermon on the Mount.
The Brothers Karamazov.
The Gulag Archipelago.
Just glancing at this list of texts fills me with excitement and questions. What are we going to be doing with these together? When can we start talking about them? What are the spiritual questions that bind them all together? Then I see that these are some of the primary texts that Dr Peterson quotes in his new book, indeed, are some of his deepest sources of images, ideas, and archetypes that he will be visiting again and again over some 350 pages. The possibility of exploring these works with a clinical psychologist, a Jungian philosopher, a man who is fed up with political correctness, a professor who stands up for himself, a dad who is not afraid to say that fatherhood is the highest calling - was, for me, too intriguing to resist. I bought the book on Amazon as soon as it was back in stock. I finished it tonight and am not disappointed at all.
Dr Peterson's book is one intended for the general reader and is timely, to say the least. I think that if more people (especially young men) would read it and take his rules to heart, there would be less stupidity, laziness, and violence in our society. Let me explain why.
The essence of the entire book is a message as ancient as his sources. It could aptly be summed up by John the Baptist's message as recorded in Matthew: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." The command to "repent" is the important part, and is the part which, when explained through Dr Peterson's clinical experience, is stunningly convicting. I am what is wrong. I am turned in upon myself. I am selfish, ignorant, and lazy. I know the good I should do but I don't do it. I am a coward, at least most of the time, and I need to admit my utter sinfulness (the book contains much religious language, though it is psychologized). Peterson urges the reader to fight back the chaos, to step into the fray, and to fight for what is true. It is an urgent plea, especially to young people today, to reject propagandist brainwashing, ideological polarization, and far-left or far-right pedantry. But the fight starts in your own soul. And this book made me think about my own soul a lot, and also, about my own need to repent. I am thankful for this psychologist's insights and encouragement.
Finally, I should point out that Peterson is far from perfect, and he'd be the very first one to admit this. Perhaps he was repetitive at points, perhaps he did diverge a little too much from his chapter plan, perhaps he did a million little mistakes - but, none of that changes the truth of this book, a truth that he needs to tell however he can. I just wish that Dr Peterson would remember that after John the Baptist's urge to repentance, basically a 1st century injunction to "Get up and do the dishes," another man came along. His message was similar, and he was from a similar family, region, and upbringing. But there was more to the message, even from the beginning. This one, Jesus of Nazareth did not just command all people to repent, but He concluded, "[And] believe in the Good News." This Good News is something that Dr Peterson has not yet seen for himself, as his heroes Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn did. Or if he has, he has not yet written about it. I hope he will, and then pass along in another book what he has discovered.
-Pastor Adam
