By the time you read this, if all goes well, I should be in Cuenca, Ecuador. While I’m gone, though, the blog will continue, though with some changes.
A large Christian school here is seeking affiliation with the Consortium for Lutheran Classical Education. My wife Jackie, the other “Dr. Veith,” is in charge of accreditation and teacher certification for CCLE, so she is going to the equator to check out the school, accompanied by the Vice Chairman, Rev. Robert Paul. I am tagging along.
I know, I know, the narco gangs have invaded Ecuador, but Cuenca is nestled in the Andes, far away from the troubled coastal cities, and is generally regarded as safe. Still, you might pray for us and for the success of our visit. As you know, I’m greatly interested in the burgeoning Christianity and the growth of Lutheranism in the global south, so when I get back I’ll tell you all about it.
I’m not sure of the internet access I’ll have in South America and my schedule will be packed, but since you are paying good money for this blog, I intend to keep it going.
Back in the early 2000’s, I did some writing for Tabletalk Magazine, a publication of R. C. Sproul’s Ligonier Ministries. That’s pretty much a confessionally Reformed–that is to say, Calvinist–outfit, but I had gotten acquainted with R. C. when we were both involved with the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals in its early days when it included Lutherans. R.C. was a fan of my books and my cultural commentary for World Magazine, so when they needed an article in my wheelhouse, I began to get invitations to write for Tabletalk.
Eventually, the editors invited me to write a monthly column on cultural issues, so from 2006-2009 I was the columnist for “Truth and Consequences.” I enjoyed that gig and made the most of it. I still get asked to write pieces for Tabletalk occasionally, which I will usually link to in the Cranach blog. They always ask me to address specific topics, some of which I turn down, but I usually take them on because they get me thinking about something I normally wouldn’t think about otherwise. My columns needed to tie in somehow to the theme of that month’s issue. Having to reflect on something new is stimulating for me and also, I am told, for readers.
Tabletalk has kindly given me permission to post my columns and other contributions on my blog. So I am setting them up ahead of time and scheduling them to appear for the next two weeks. That will cover the time I’ll be in Ecuador, plus the time when I won’t be able to write posts for the following week because I was in Ecuador.
These posts will not be exactly what appeared in the magazine. I’m posting my unedited manuscripts, which can go on a little longer than what there was room for. The editors let me write whatever I wanted, including about theology, and never asked me for content revisions. But an issue of Tabletalk is the size of a paperback book with a strictly limited number of pages, so I sometimes had to shorten what I wanted to say, or, more often, the editors tightened up my overly-expansive prose. What I’ll post here for posterity represents the author’s original intention.
I picked pieces that are not too dated (though some of the references may be a little dated), but that still seem to hold up and retain their relevance.
I hope you like them and find them helpful and thought-provoking. I’ll start by posting one today.
When we get back, we’ll return to our regularly-scheduled programming.
P.S.: What I probably won’t be able to do is post a link to my posts on Facebook, something Patheos says we must do in order to increase pageviews. You could help fill in for me by posting links to our daily Cranach posts on your Facebook pages. Thanks.
Photo: Cuenca, Ecuador by Arabsalam – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84993350
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