Poehler Lecture

Dr. Stephen Stohlmann spoke for the Poehler Lecture on Tuesday, April 17th, 2007, at 7:00 PM at Concordia, St. Paul. His lecture was titled, "What Comes After Easter?" It confronts the issues of whether or not we are living our Christian lives as a school of Christians. Are we trying to hide the fact that we are Christian? We are a Lutheran school-- but we often seem hesitant to admit it. What comes after Easter is Christ's resurrection, and we can now look to our own life in Christ, both the life on this earth to witness and bring others to Christ in his name and to our own new life in heaven that is to come. We are acting ashamed of our Lord and his resurrection when we don't want to take Christian classes or proclaim that we are a Christian university. We should proclaim, because of the Gospel and what Christ has done for us, boldly and confidently that our Lord lives inside of our hearts and we are gathered here in his name, teaching and doing everything "all within the context of the Christian Gospel." Dr. Stohlmann so eloquently addressed an issue that was important for the University to address. He specifically targeted Admissions for the problem, but really, recruitment is something that we all do. The best part of his argument was the content. It was strongly supported by fact, logic, and Scripture, making it credible and sensible. It was an excellent argument because of the logos, or words of his argument. His point was extremely strong, supported, and justified. He did an excellent job explaining and making his points clear. I think that applies to our class because it was such a well-worded and explicated argument. Also, it relates because it once again it shows that because of Christ's resurrection, we have a responsibility to God and our fellow man to witness to those who may not have heard or do not believe that Christ is Lord. All men are equal in the eyes of God, and all should be in heaven on the last day. We cannot idly wait for our Lord's second coming, but make haste and witness to those around us about our Lord's power, might, and grace. We can start where we are, in this Christian University, and branch out where God will take us in our lives. This is only a springboard of the adventure in Christ that is to come. I really enjoyed the lecture. Dr. Stohlmann's passion and vigor truly comes out in his words as he makes his point. It is true that we should recruit differently. Especially for me, having worked in the Admission Office, I see how important it is for us to be honest about who we are and why we are here. I do think that he is right in saying we should present ourselves as Christians and have those who are or are not Christians all take the same class about Christianity, as you would in an Islamic university. The message seemed to say, "Hark, the voice of Jesus crying, 'Who will go and work today?'" and I wanted to respond, "Here am I, send me, send me!" I really enjoyed the lecture and felt God's call once again through the words of the lecture. It was excellent to hear and was definitely a good use of my time.