In part 2 of our interview with Lutheran/Country Music/Vocation powerhouse, Dr. Gene Veith (part 1 is here), author of “The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals” (Concordia Publishing House), we chat country-music Christians (did you know Lyle Lovett and Kris Kristofferson are Lutherans?! Did you know Loretta Lynn’s had a home, now abandoned, in Hawaii a few miles from my house?!) – what do we do with polarizing Christians like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash (are they “baby Christians”? Are they even Christians? Should we even ask this question?)? We also chat “closet Lutherans”, 1 John as it pertains to naval-Gazing/fruit-Checking and assurance, the paradoxes of Lutheranism that are so helpful (Law/Gospel, Saint/Sinner, etc.), the practice of confession of sins and absolution (”I forgive you”), and a few other precious gems of reality.
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Dr. Veith, in addition to being a medium of good news, is also a medium of communicating good country music. He is the author “Honky-Tonk Gospel: The Story of Sin and Salvation in Country Music” and so he knows some proper country tunes when he hears them.
