Fall 1998

Volume XIII, Number 3

In This Issue

• Transcending Everydayness by Bruce Carlson

  Some people in town don’t like it–too modern. I tell them, “Art is once again ahead of the curve.” They, of course, tell me, “Take a hike.”

• Thanksgiving 1998

  So, am I thankful for Pietisten? Is it more than a burden and a host of obligations? It takes tons of time. It seems impossible to really get ahead with it. How many more times can we do it? People have subscribed out as far as the 56th issue and this is the 45th. Ufta!

• Normative Pietist Worship by Todd Johnson

  “Worship” and “Wars” are often paired these days on the covers of theological journals and ecclesiastical magazines. From low-church Protestant to high-church Catholic and Orthodox, lines are drawn in the liturgical sand over issues of ritual propriety and worship. The Covenant Church is certainly not exempt from this stream of controversy as the recent resolution on baptism and “re”baptism indicates. Ultimately, the search in these debates is for liturgical bedrock–for norms which define the boundaries of a tradition’s worship. Are there such norms for those who claim a pietist heritage?

• Finding Sam by Curtiss D. Johnson

  I first met Sam VanderJagt in the barracks of the Dodge City Air Base in Kansas. It was late 1945, and I noticed that he knelt to pray by his cot before he retired for the evening.

• A Parable of Salvation by Arthur Bowman

  Joel had been circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, becoming officially Jewish, a member of Israel. But Joel grew to manhood with little sense of his Jewishness. He did not attend synagogue nor did he go through Bar Mitzvah. He was just your average American baby boomer looking after his own career and interests as best he could. All that changed one fall day.

• Revisiting the Past by Jane Wiberg

  Can it be nearly fifty years since Glen and I first took that winding road to an obscure hamlet in the Connecticut hills called Haddam Neck? It was a delight to go back now, with autumn in its full splendor, to celebrate the centennial of our first church. This was the fifth centennial of our five churches and Glen preached at each one.

• Waldenstrom's Commentary Philippians 4:4-9 and Waldenström's Commentary by Paul Peter Waldenström and translated by Tommy Carlson
• Africa Report Cameroon – Peace Corps by Christine Swanson

  It’s October 2nd and I’ve been here in Cameroon now almost four months. The first three months were training in a town called Bandjoun (West Province), which is near the large city of Bafoussam.

• Africa Report Congo – Covenant World Missions by Kenneth Satterberg

  As I write this, I admit that I have not been following the radio news reports very closely so I have no idea where the rebels are right now in their campaign. As the war has dragged on, the reports of Congo have become much less urgent to international reporters.

• Here and There by Elder M. Lindahl

  During the years 1845-1930, 1.2 million Swedes, 25% of the Swedish population, emigrated to North America. This mass exodus, fueled by social discontent, poor crops, religious persecution, land fever, and new opportunities, split the country into two distinct groups–(A) Swedes who stayed, and (B) Swedes who left to become assimilated into an alien culture. America-fever tore families apart geographically and emotionally. In this essay, I am interested in the various ways those in Group B adapted, or failed to adapt, as they settled in as immigrants.

• E. Gus by Bob Bach

  While rummaging through a box of old North Park memorabilia on a recent quiet afternoon, I came across a Swedish exam I had taken in the Fall of 1957. My test result was pathetic and along with the many red marks that appeared was a little note from my instructor, E. Gustav Johnson. It read: “Learning the Swedish language requires regular class attendance. You don’t occasionally go to football practice do you?”

• Sports Seen by Curtiss D. Johnson

  We arrived just in time–before the soccer game began–and took our seats in the very back row of the lower section in the Hubert Humphrey Metrodome. Looking to the right, who should we see but a really old time Minnehaha fan, none other than Milton C.R. Carlson!

• Sport Prophecy Ricky Williams Wins the Third Waldenstrom Trophy by Eric

  This year's Waldenström Award for the top college football player goes to Ricky Williams (Running Back, University of Texas).

• Fishing News

  Elder Lindahl wins fishing contest; Covenant Men's Auxiliary formed.

Regular Features

• On the Aisle Comedies by Max Carlson

  Mel Brooks once said, “Tragedy is if I cut my finger. Comedy is if you fall into an open manhole and die.” Since laughter is the best medicine, and we all need medicine now and again, I thought I would write about some of my favorite film comedies.

• Sightings in Christian Music by Glen Wiberg

  Prior to our own hymnals and song books was the hymnal of the State Church of Sweden, Den Svenska Psalmboken (the Swedish Psalm-book). This was the major literary achievement of the archbishop of the Swedish church, Johan Olof Wallin (1779-1839). Among the 500 hymns in the psalmbook, Wallin wrote 128 original hymns, made 178 revisions, and translated 23 hymns from the German chorales.

• Cooking with Gunny Swedish Spice Cookies by Gunny
• Practical, Therapeutic, Theological Thought Acting too quickly by Penrod

  Text: “Bodily Exercise profiteth little.” – Paul of Tarsus
  Motto: “The real game is the game you are in.”

• On the Prowl by Arthur W. Anderson

  Hugh Downs was being interviewed one night. Since he is my age I consider him a secret brother. The talk was about aging. That got my attention.

• Out and About

  Pittsburgh Wedding; Happy 100th; North Park Seminary–A Going Concern

• Post: Readers Respond