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
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
Is He a Churchill?
A while back I opined that the President of the LCMS is not a Lincoln, but is he perhaps a Churchill? Continue reading
Posted in Missouri Megatrends
Failing Homosexuals
“Preach the Law as if there is no Gospel; preach the Gospel as if there is no Law,” is a Lutheran dictum, and it is here we have failed homosexuals. Continue reading
Posted in Missouri Megatrends
Don’t Worry the Public Square Will Find Us
There has been much handwringing among conservative Christians since the 80s about not having a voice in the public square. If Cardinal Francis George of Chicago is right, we need not worry about being absent from the public square for long. It will eventually find us. Continue reading
Posted in For Anyone who dares
An Explanation of our Continued Dissent against Six Identified Errors in the LCMS
Our Statement of Confession, written by me and adopted by you, is really a copying of work done by others. This was a mistake. The virtue of our statement is that it is the only one I know of that contains documentation of the errors. However, by titling it Statement of Confession and citing the 1970 CTCR’s definition and acceptance of the term, I have repeatedly been asked about a time frame. Continue reading
Posted in General