A blog of the Evangelical Lutheran Liturgy
A soft confessional Lutheran is a contradiction in terms. We are people who have already died. Confessional Lutheran preachers are men who crucify people with Jesus. Men who wear soft clothes are in kings’ palaces. Men who make harmless tweets and go to harmless conferences and say, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace are not confessional Lutherans. If they are, they are men who are selling their birthright. We are called to much more.
Read MoreWhat I’ve been thinking about more and more is this. How do we as pastors help or hinder that process? Are we to see ourselves primarily as agents of alleviating pain or of administering it? Are we called to make other people’s lives easier and more comfortable? Or are we called to call them to a life of embracing difficulty, of endurance and fortitude, of daring and risk, of zeal for what is good despite the pain?
Read MoreThe world is always evil, but as age gives way to age, the spirit of the age chooses different evils to emphasize. Today’s preachers of the Church must bring the Word to bear on today’s evils.
Read MoreThe hymns of the Lutheran Church teach us how to be martyrs for Christ. Martyrs are witnesses. The most extreme form of witness is shedding our blood to seal our testimony to Christ, but before a Christian can do that, he must (usually) learn to be a faithful witness in smaller things.
Read MoreThis is the list of hymns Fr. Karl Hess compiled for the podcast episode on hymns for training martyrs for the prize TGC 352…
Read MoreOur aim with all sinners, including those struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts, is to point them to the hope we have in Christ, and the encouragement that He never leaves us as we fight the good fight of faith – a fight we should never give up.
Read MoreFind yourself sowing in the spirit. Find yourself, receiving His word with joy. Even in the midst of terrible, evil, wicked things. There is still joy. Because Jesus Christ reigns. The church sings, “What God ordains is always good: This truth remains unshaken. Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, I shall not be forsaken. I fear no harm, For with His arm He shall embrace and shield me; So to my God I yield me.” (LSB 760:6)
Read MoreIn light of the Gospel reading from the One-Year Lectionary for the Ninth Sunday after Trinity on the parable of the Unjust Steward, I offer a few paragraphs from John Schaller’s “The Battle for the Christian School as a Battle for the Christian Worldview,” published in Theologische Quartelschrift, Vol 7, 1910, 204—221.
Read MoreI’m not naive to think that there are only those who support. My point is that people are looking to the church to speak to these things in public not just in the pulpit or behind closed doors. People are looking for pastors to have some skin in the game. So, my encouragement is to demonstrate what you stand for by reaching out in public ways to let those who feel cornered, that there is still a prophet in Israel.
Read MoreIf the leaders will not lead with the truth, why should the people take a stand on the truth?
Read MoreAfter putting forward 8 Theses on Women Teaching in the Church, there have been helpful comments on a number of them, especially how they could be improved, modified, and some cases removed.
Read MoreSamuel Johnson, known especially for his contribution to the standardization of the English language by producing A Dictionary of the English Language in 1755, was a devout Anglican and struggled against slothfulness his whole life. Below are a couple of his prayers against this.
Read MoreGiven the current climate that Christians face in this world—a world that has lost its mind—here is a little sanity. It is a good reminder of what the task of the church in general, and her ministers specifically, are charged, yes, commanded, to be, do, and say. “In the world you will have trouble, but take heart (have courage, be bold, speak plainly and forthrightly), for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). And “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:4—5)? We have overcome the world. Let us act like it!
Read MoreThere is no peace in a state church - only what is outward, false, and forced, a conformity that knows no peace, only sheer compliance.
Read MoreNo one wants to hear about enduring hardship until hardship comes. Now we face hardship all the more boldly because we are being rooted and renewed in Christ in ways we did not imagine three years ago.
Read MoreYour conscience must be ruled by God’s Word regardless of how many vaccines you’ve received or masks you wear.
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