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 purpose of this essay is to strive for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, so that we might together humbly accept the Word of God on this matter, submit to it, and encourage each other to apply it to our congregations and synod, speaking the truth in love, lest the devil divide us by seducing us from the clear word of God.
Read MoreIf the leaders will not lead with the truth, why should the people take a stand on the truth?
Read MoreWhere ballet is able to bring fairy tales to life, this Liturgy of the Gospel brings the real Life of God from heaven down to earth in the Word and Flesh of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son. And where ballroom dancing celebrates the couple in the midst of the crowd, the Liturgy embodies and enlivens the Church as the Bride of Christ and celebrates that Holy Communion with Him in holy faith and holy love.
Read MoreThe pastors and confessors of Christ Jesus bear and suffer His Cross in their body and life, as surely as they proclaim His Cross in their preaching and distribute the fruits of His Sacrifice by the Ministry of His Gospel. And they are content with the food and drink, the clothing and shelter that God provides through His people — just as the Lord also feeds His people and quenches their thirst with His Holy Supper, clothes them with His righteousness in Holy Baptism, and shelters them within His Church on earth through the labors of His called and ordained servants.
Read MoreThe dethronement of theology in the church is the attempted dethronement of God in the church. The church speaks definitely because it understands God’s revelation in Holy Scripture to be definitive in its source and in its relevance.
Read More“It is a very rare blessing for godly priests to have a safe and quiet place where they may teach. It is an extraordinary gift, which the devil, the most malevolent enemy of God and the salvation of man, often obstructs and disturbs. But where there is such harmony that the princes of a land honor, protect, and support ministers for spreading abroad spiritual things, one may truly say that a paradise of the world is there. But if ministers are despised, ridiculed, and treated with contempt, as happened to Isaiah and other Prophets, although they were most excellent and faithful teachers, it is the surest evidence of God’s wrath and of impending disasters; for contempt of so great a blessing as is tendered to men by godly ministers has never gone unpunished.”
Read MoreSince we have this Ministry, and as we have received mercy, let us not lose heart. Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day; and this momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Therefore, do not consider the things which are seen, but those things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Read MoreDogma is an expression of the faith, a confession of what is believed. It is not the personal act of believing that forms the unity [of the Church] but what is believed. This is true for all Christians. It is true in a special way for bishops. Unless he is contradicted, a bishop may regard himself as united in the faith with his own congregation. Since he has the office of teacher, he represents what is taught both within and without. For this he does not need to be professor. Dogma is the basic stuff of the whole Divine Service.
Read MoreFor those who are presently constrained and prevented from many (perhaps all) of your regular duties, the temptation to despair is poignant. But do not be afraid! The Lord is with you and for you, He loves you, and His plans and purposes for you have neither gone awry nor been abandoned. It is for Him to know what He is even now preparing for you. And to you it is given to watch and pray, to wait upon His mercy, and to live by His grace through faith in His Word and promise.
Read MoreI praise you because you hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you. But if any one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God. (1 Corinthians 11:2, 16)
Read MorePastors, you can either conduct church services, or you can be entertainers. If you try to combine them, you will fail at both.
Read More“In other words, “since by divine authority the grades of bishop and pastor are not diverse,” but comprise one apostolic office, “ordination administered by a pastor in his own church is valid by divine law.” When and where this is done—even according to Rome’s contemporary theologians, and contrary to her popular polemicists and apologists—“what we have is apostolic succession.” — Rev. Dr. Korey D. Maas
Read MoreIn a private discussion group for pastors, an LCMS pastor made the following statement:
"Our role as pastor is not to do the work of the ministry but to equip the saints for the work of the ministry Eph 4:11-12"
Think about that.
"Our role as pastor is not to do the work of the ministry" - because Ephesians 4.
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