Driving from Texas to Michigan in December 1977 John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas” seemed to be on all the radio stations. At that time in my twenty-year-old life Lennon’s melancholy lyrics particularly the line “so this is Christmas, and what have we have done, another year older, and a new one begun,” expressed my understanding of what Christmas was suppose to be. (more…)
Bart Simpson cleared it all up for me. I’m not a regular watcher of the goggled-eyed little guy but I happened to catch a re-run of a Christmas episode. Dad, Homer, had only received 13 dollars for a part-time job he had taken to fund the family Christmas. Being far below what he had expected, he was in despair. A co-worker suggests that Homer go with him to the local dog track and parley that meager check into a real Christmas bonus. Bart tries to discourage Homer. Homer remonstrates. Bart says something like, ”What the heck. TV has taught me that at Christmas time I should (more…)
That’s a proverb Luther quotes. He says what is to be feared is not the trying, difficult, despairing times, but the good times. The Church has always believed this. From this sort of theology comes the oft quoted remark, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”
But being a pastor, a shepherd under Christ is tremendously difficult these days. Who in their right mind would really want to do this? (more…)
When I learned that a paper on why to stay in the LCMS was being given at a free conference in Brenham, Texas, I told one of my members he should go and hear it. He is contemplating going to seminary, and he needs to know what the best reasons for staying in the LCMS are.He went to the conference. When he came back he got a copy of the paper from its author. He asked me to read it. I replied that I would read it if he would go back through all the Convention Workbooks for the Texas District and the LCMS from 1984 to date to see how many resolutions were submitted from St. Paul, Wilson, Texas while Pastor Rohde was pastor there, 1984 - to the present. (more…)
Now that it looks as if there will be no special convention for the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in 2009, I have a modest proposal. (more…)
The Napoleon of Notting Hill is a delightful G.K. Chesterton story about a man who for a joke gathers together leaders of various London neighborhoods and tells them they are to regard their neighborhoods as countries. All know it is joke, except for the chap from Notting Hill. He takes the man seriously and forms a country complete with flag, army, and do or die patriotism. The politico hardly knows what to do with him.
I’ve met the Napoleons of the latter days of Lutheranism. I met them on a flat, barren piece of land outside of a town of less than 400 people. (more…)
I don’t know if the LSB bulletin inserts have changed this or not. One can only hope. The Gospel for this past Sunday in the old three year series is prefaced by the addition of [Jesus said]. I realize that people need to be able to identify that Jesus is speaking, but just as important is the fact that He is speaking today, now not just in the past. (more…)
This article was originally written by me in 1999.
The phrase “show me the money” was made popular by the movie “Jerry MaGuire.” MaGuire is a sport’s agent. One of his football players threatens to jump to another agent. MaGuire cajoles, smooth talks, and promises. The football player retreats to the mantra, “Show me the money.” He wants to see some results from having MaGuire as his agent.
We all want results. Especially pastors. Especially this pastor. I recently preached my 1,000 sermon. That means roughly 2 million words have poured forth - or dribbled - from my mouth. I have written the equivalent of 32 four hundred page novels, and let me tell you, “I ain’t exactly on the best seller list.” The results have been paltry. I don’t confirm kids in the faith; I graduate them from church. When I baptize children into the family of God, I, more often then not, am bon voyaging their family. Most adults I have catechized in the faith are not lost to the lions but to the Saints [An NFL football team], the lake, the camp, or the bed.
“Father Mackenzie writing the words for a sermon no one will hear.” So sang the Beatles in “Eleanor Rigby.” How often I’ve been able to identify with him. Particularly in the depths of Lent when it seemed liked I had preached this already, or in the dry seasons when sermonizing was torture, or in the interminable Sundays after Pentecost. There isn’t really much encouragement to preach is there? O there’s encouragement to preach dynamically, to preach entertainingly, to preach clearly, to preach somehow, someway, but there’s always and adverb attached. And that qualifier can grind away in my conscience till it has produced a fine gravel that constipates my mind before a blank sheet of paper and palpitates my heart before a glass-eyed congregation. “Is this dynamic?” “Is this entertaining?” “Is this informal?” “Am I being too theological, too preachy, too vague, too…” You know the questions that are really accusations. (more…)
