Author Archives: Rev. Paul R. Harris

About Rev. Paul R. Harris

Ordained pastor of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

Sola Structura

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Rev. Paul R. Harris

This may be an apocryphal story, but I was told my someone that the sainted Herman Sasse and Kurt Maquart were attending the vaunted Vatican II Council. As things were going on and on and on about this or that … Continue reading →

On Exploded Ordinance

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Rev. Paul R. Harris

If you drive about a major military installation, you will find signs warning you to be aware of live ordinance. An EOD, Explosive Ordinance Disposal, officer told me in 1993 that every year around Fort Hood someone is injured or … Continue reading →

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Is This Confessional Lutheranism? A Critique of Confessing the Gospel, Volume I

Posted on May 28, 2018 by Rev. Paul R. Harris

The following is based on a presentation to my Bible Class on April 22, 2018. It was suggested that I put it in a blog. I would like to think I have refined it and not watered it … Continue reading →

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The Eww Factor Isn’t it

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Rev. Paul R. Harris

Joe Dallas, former homosexual activist, now married, father, and family advocate calls it the “Ick Factor” (Speaking of Homosexuality, 32). “Eww” is what comes to my mine. Choose whatever exclamation you will, Christians need to recognize that when it comes … Continue reading →

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Look to the Rock from which You were Hewn – Visit to a Baptist Church

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Rev. Paul R. Harris

“Look to the rock from which you were hewn,” is a call from Isaiah 51:1. Israel was to look to Abraham and Sara from which the Promised Seed came and therefore their righteousness did. In popular parlance it means to … Continue reading →

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Neither a Doctor’s or an Actor’s Look at Calvary Does it Justice

Posted on March 26, 2018 by Rev. Paul R. Harris

I’ve read the 1963 work A Doctor Looks at Calvary; you’ve probably watched Mel Gibson’s 2004 movie The Passion and while a medical doctor in my congregation says that the book is accurate and those who have watched the movie … Continue reading →

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A Janus-faced Synod

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Rev. Paul R. Harris

There are words in English that mean two different things. For example, ‘bolt’ means both secure in place and to dart away. ‘Dust’ means to both remove material and spread material. ‘Trim’ means to both add and to take away. … Continue reading →

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Politics and Peeing on New Hay – Rerun

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Rev. Paul R. Harris

This is not deja vu. You might have read this in May of 2008; you could have read it in 1998. Think of this as my Carthago delenda est. I am republishing because both at the district and synodical level the political … Continue reading →

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A Modest Plea for Retaining the Holy Ghost

Posted on February 5, 2018 by Rev. Paul R. Harris

To paraphrase Luther, the Holy Ghost Himself remains without our prayer or my plea. My pleas is for using the title Holy Ghost as opposed to Holy Spirit. Yes, I know the Greek and Hebrew are better translated ‘Spirit’ not … Continue reading →

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What’s all this fuss about Self-Identifying?

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Rev. Paul R. Harris

I think the fuss started when the leader of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP stepped down after self-identifying as a black person. You can, indeed, should and must, self-identify your gender, and a pox on your house if you … Continue reading →