"laestadian, apostolic, gay, lgbtq, ex-oalc, ex-llc, llc, oalc, bunner" LEARNING TO LIVE FREE: September 2010

Friday, September 24, 2010

The Kautokeino Rebellion

Matt Perkins has a new blog post out this morning reviewing the movie Kautokeino Opprøret (The Kautokeino Rebellion). The movie and the review are both worth a look:

The Kautokeino Rebellion

It's been a couple of years since I've seen this film, but I will always be struck by how I felt sitting in the movie theater, coming face to face with Lars Levi Laestadius on the big screen. Even though he only makes a short appearance, I felt goosebumps seeing and hearing him thunder from the pulpit.

The film also reminded me of something that it's very easy to forget as an ex-Laestadian: that the movement in its early years spoke to real issues and real needs among its adherents. Temperance might seem like much ado about nothing to me today, but for the Sami in Lapland it was a real issue, and Laestadianism provided not only spiritual renewal but the justification to take on the established Lutheran church and other "powers that be."

At the same time, I couldn't help but wonder what the film says about the danger of populist movements getting out of hand. Luther had the Peasant's War, and Laestadius had Kautokeino.

SEE ALSO: Laestadian Films on Extoots

The Kautokeino Rebellion on Wikipedia

Other posts about Laestadianism by Matt Perkins

Laestadian Leaks?

Can any of our Finnish speakers enlighten me on what this site is all about?

http://laestadianleaks.blogspot.com/

Google Translate from Finnish to English is not helping me much, although the title and some of the content seems tantalizing....

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

ALC Foreign Mission Sites

This may be news only to me, but I thought I'd post some relatively new links to the ALC Foreign Mission.

As far as I know the ALC (Apostolic Lutheran Church of America "Federation") is the only Laestadian group in the U.S. that does missionary work.

http://www.themissionsite.com/ This is the offical web site for The Foreign Mission of the Apostolic Lutheran Church

http://www.foreignmissionnewsblog.blogspot.com/ This blog appears to reprint the monthly newsletter and other breaking news and letters regarding ALC foreign missions. Maintained by John Ruotsala

http://foreignmission.blogspot.com/ This blog is also maintained by John Ruotsala, but has different content then the one above. This blog appears to be reprints of devotional material.

http://foreignmissionstore.blogspot.com/ The Foreign Mission Store. As far as I can tell all products are created by Apostolic Lutherans, including a memoir by an ALC pastor, handcrafted wooden pens made by another pastor, and (my favorite based on title alone) "Naomi in Nigeria" --a collection of correspondence surrounding early ALC mission attempts in Africa.

I thought the store in particular was most interesting. Aside from the kitschiness of some of the items, I never knew there where that many ALC-themed products in existence!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Summer Reading

I hope everyone had a nice summer. I got a lot of reading done, and it occurred to me that it might make an interesting topic here.

What books did you read this summer, and what did you find interesting about them?

Among others, I read two contrasting religious books --both "didactic" Christian novels from opposite ends of the theological spectrum:

Putting Away Childish Things, by Marcus Borg. Written from a liberal/progressive Christian perspective, this novel follows a young female religious studies professor through a major career dilemma, showing how she draws upon her faith to guide her through a difficult decision.

Edge of Apocalypse, by Tim LaHaye and Craig Parshall. Written from a conservative/dispensationalist Christian perspective, this novel follows the exploits of a military-hero turned entrepreneur and defense contractor as he battles the evil forces advocating one-world government both within the U.S. presidency and overseas. Features a nuclear explosion.

Both links above go to more in-depth reviews I wrote for each book.