It starts with the synod not being a church. Congregational polity rules the day. Then the Synod incorporates and must function as one. Synodical president, District presidents, and even Circuit Counselors – oops now visitors – as officers of a corporation can’t hear, or keep confidential anyway, anything that they hear in Private Confession. Can’t get any more unchurchly than that. Watch.
Continue readingFrom Synod, to Corporation, to Bodily Function, to a Typo
Posted in Ablaze, LCMS 2007 Convention, Missouri Megatrends
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Danger – Close
(This is sermon I wrote in 1994. I had the secretary retype it in this format because if I did it, I would edit as I go. And I wanted you to hear it as I wrote it almost 30 years ago. The sermon is based on Ephesians 4:17-21. In a May 1, 2023 blog I published a letter I had written to WORLD magazine in regard to an article that said pornography would not be dealt with till after the Baby Boomers had gone. I mentioned that almost 30 years ago this Boomer had addressed this issue from the pulpit. Here’s the original sermon.)
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Posted in Families
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Buy This Book
In 1971 Abbie Hoffman’s book titled Steal This Book was published. It was a call and guide to “fighting against the man.” When I came to Trinity, Austin in 1999, Gene Veith’s Spirituality of the Cross was all the rage. This was the book to give to the non-Lutheran, particularly those coming from Reformed Christianity, to introduce them to Lutheranism.
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Posted in Blast from the Past
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An Open Letter to Helen Andrews
This is another letter from the trashcan. This was about an article on pornography where the author placed blame squarely on Baby Boomers. I disagreed.
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Posted in Families, For Anyone who dares
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“YouTube’s pre-eminent ‘Father Figure”
That’s what the dustjacket for Jordan Peterson’s 2018 bestseller 12 Rules For Life refers to him as. And if this really “is the voice of reason a generation has been longing to hear” better to be deaf.
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Posted in General
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Brazos Fellowship – Having Church and Doing Worship
Like all the Evangelical churches I have attended, it began with a 7-piece band doing a 3-song set. And the entire service could be summarized in the LCMS’ 1990’s giving campaign: His Love, Our Response. Evangelicalism to some degree is about God’s Love, but it’s ALL about OUR response. When someone indicates to you that they want church or sermon or Bible Class to be more practical, to be more about what they are to do, they are saying they want Evangelicalism. Once Evangelism infected Lutheranism in the 80s, we’ve been forced to deal with the oxymoron Lutheran substance – Evangelical style. Sorry, when these two get into bed, an Evangelical church is spawned.
Continue readingUnderstanding Depression Through Love Sickness
This is my third post on things psychological that I advise you not to read. This is not mainstream thinking. If that’s where you are, you will consider me nuts. Remember I claim no expertise in this field. I do know what is to be personally depressed, panicked, and obsessed. I don’t think the “depression as disease” model that carries the day, not only in secular society but Christian, is helpful.
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Posted in For Anyone who dares
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You’ve been Warned
This is for pastor’s only. If you are a layman, turn around now. I’m not kidding. I’ve shared such thoughts below in Bible classes and it bothered some. I can’t blame them. It bothers me. But you don’t need to be bothered at all. Turn back now. Don’t click the read more.
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Posted in For Pastors Only
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When Will They Ever Learn
Japanese businessmen wishing to break into the then lucrative Christmas card industry began selling their own. The image they chose for their first offering? Jesus kneeling in prayer and in agony in Gethsemane. In the immortal words of St. Maxwell, Smart that is, “They missed it by that much.”
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Visit to Our Savior Lutheran, Austin, Texas – Theology in a Time of Pandemic
Right off the bat let me say that I heard the Vicarious Atonement, Universal Atonement, and the Bible is the Word of God mentioned. The Nicene Creed was confessed and the Lord’s Prayer prayed. So, an unbeliever could have entered this church and walked out a Christian, but it is doubtful anyone could come out or stay a Lutheran here. Why? It’s the little things.
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