Because I won’t commune members of the LCMS who believe that communion should be open to all who want it, or all who have been baptized, or all who believe in the Real Presence, I am accused of practicing selective fellowship. Au contrari I’m practicing confessional fellowship. Those communing all members of the LCMS are the real ones practicing selective fellowship. Continue reading
Deep Calls from the Shallows
Nietzsche said don’t stare too long into the abyss or you’ll find the abyss looking back at you. Earlier I used this in reference to evil; here I use it of the things of God. Continue reading
Posted in General
Evolution and the Gay Rights Agenda
Does anyone know anyone who is for gay rights and against evolution? How about for abortion and against evolution? How about for feminism and against evolution? Continue reading
Posted in For Anyone who dares
A Non-Compete Clause
We don’t have non-compete clauses among pastors, but perhaps we should in our own heads because there ain’t no way I’m competing with this Missouri Synod church. Continue reading
Posted in Missouri Megatrends
Pietism in Law and Gospel
As promised months ago, here are things I think ought not to be said or reflect incipient pietism in Walther’s Law and Gospel. This is not to say that the book ought not to be read. I have read it five times in the last 33 years. When I brought these concerns before Professor “Hammering” Hank Eggold and later Professor Marquart I was told it was a matter of poor translating. So I waited till this new (and improved?) version came out. Two caveats to all this: Walther himself never saw this book in print. Had he, I cannot but think he would have amended some of these. Second, I’m not trying to make fun of Walther. The latest movie Concordia Seminary released about his life does a fine job of that. Continue reading
Posted in For Anyone who dares
Fiel pero desdichado
That’s the Churchill family motto since 1661. It’s not Latin but Spanish, and nobody knows why. It expresses how I have frequently thought about my relationship to the LCMS. Continue reading
Posted in For Pastors Only, Missouri Megatrends
Lutherean
That’s what the pen had printed on it – Trinity Lutherean Church. I know this is a typo, but it seems to me that it describes what many Lutheran churches have become. Continue reading
Posted in Contemporary Worship, Missouri Megatrends
Hating Hate Laws
“Don’t be a hater” is a popular expression among those current in pop culture’s lingua franca. Continue reading
Posted in General
Hold the Line or Dance their Tune
It’s well-known that in a battle one running man or one charging man can turn the tide of battle. Macarthur’s’ father won the Medal of Honor for picking up the fallen standard of his Civil War unit and continuing the charge. The battle analogy is all through Scripture. We “war” not against flesh and blood. Pastor Timothy is admonished to solider on. The question is will we hold the line on the LGBT or BGLT or whatever alphabet soup represents the embracing of things perverted sexually? Confidence is not high that we will, and if we don’t hold our line we will dance their tune. Continue reading
Posted in For Anyone who dares, Missouri Megatrends
The Quest for Holiness
I just finished reading The Quest for Holiness for the fourth time. I probably wouldn’t have ever read it once except that Doctor David Scaer wrote the foreword to the 1995 edition. Each time I read it I like it; I hate it. I am helped; I am bothered. Continue reading
Posted in General