Dr. Ferry Knows What’s to Blame for Everyone Else’s Membership Loss

By nearly every measure, Christianity is in decline in America.

Synod, PolityJason BraatenJanuary 13, 20232023, LCMS Convention, LCMS Presidential Election Comments

Aphorisms on Church and Office, Old and New

The debt which confessional Lutherans owe to Dr. John R. Stephenson just continues to climb.

William WeedonJanuary 12, 2023Comment

Same Old, Same Old: Continuing the Look at the 2023 Convention

It has been eerily quiet from the “Never Harrison-ers” corner of the Synod. By the time we were this close to convention last time around, shiny postcards had already filled personal and church mailboxes several times over.

John BussmanJanuary 12, 2023 Comments

Gottesdienst Events in Ft. Wayne Jan 16-19, 2023

A description of Gottesdienst activities during the week of January 16-18 in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

First Look at the LCMS Presidential Election 2023

So the 2023 election is shaping up a lot like the 2019 election in this regard: the Coalition of the Dissatisfied is once again afraid and/or unable to make the election about anything overtly theological. They will not campaign on reinstating Wichita 1989. They will not openly state a desire to overturn closed communion or a male-only clergy roster. They can’t: their coalition is too theologically diverse. Instead, they will stick to platitudes about being “evangelical” and “loving” and trust that each faction of their coalition will interpret those words according to their own lights.

Polity, SynodJason BraatenJanuary 11, 20232023, LCMS Presidential Election, LCMS Convention Comments

We Have Found the One!

And he’s not even from Texas!

Larry BeaneJanuary 8, 2023 Comments

This is my day, and these are my kind.

In perhaps my favorite novel by Evelyn Waugh, Helena, he imagines the life of the mother of Constantine, culminating in her journey to Jerusalem. In the below excerpt, she travels to Bethlehem for the feast of the Epiphany.

Stefan GramenzJanuary 6, 2023 Comment

On Leadership

The Progressive Wing of the LCMS loves the word “leadership.” Get ready to hear that word a lot more as the LCMS political season heats up in anticipation of our convention and election.

Larry BeaneJanuary 6, 2023 Comments

The Rolling of the Years

One of my granddaughters was stricken with great sadness as she said goodbye to all her cousins and relatives when the Christmas vacation was over and it was time to return home to everyday life again.

Burnell EckardtJanuary 3, 2023 Comments

“Do it again” by G.K. Chesterton

A few paragraphs from Chesterton recognizing the Divine goodness and joy of repetition against the temptation to novelty.

Joseph Aloysius Ratzinger RIP

In his entrance into and departure from this transitory world Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI displayed exquisite sensitivity to liturgical time.

John StephensonDecember 31, 2022 Comments

Year End Love Mail Round Up!

Not all comments get published on the blog. Most of them do, but many are just no-value added. Some of them are really funny, though. So I wanted to share with you some of the “love mail” we receive.

Larry BeaneDecember 31, 2022 Comments

C.F.W. Walther On Church Ceremonies

“We do not deny that we are geared up to retain the external worship service as it has long been retained for centuries by the ancient Lutheran Church…”

Fr. Mark BradenDecember 29, 2022 Comments

The Lord Is for You and for Your Children

As before in the history of God’s people, another Joseph now brings his Father’s family into Egypt, lest they perish, in order to preserve the world from death. But as this story is unfolding, in the middle of the night, St. Joseph has no way of knowing what the outcome of these events will be. He has nothing to guide him or go by except the Word of the Lord, His warnings and His promises. With that, he goes in faith, and everything ensues and is fulfilled according to the Scriptures. Which is really to say that his situation then was not so very different from your own.

Blessed Are Those Who Hear and Receive this Word

What St. John and his fellow Apostles saw and heard and even touched and handled — the only-begotten God, the Word-made-Flesh, the incarnate Son of the Father, your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ — no less than He is manifested and communicated to you in the apostolic Scriptures, as these have been written and as they are proclaimed within the Church. As the Father has spoken His Word to us in the Person of His Son, so is He now spoken to you in the apostolic preaching of the Gospel, whereby you have entered into the joyous friendship and glorious company of the holy Apostles, and into the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ, His Father, and His Holy Spirit.

After the Pattern of Christ Jesus

Stephen knew and trusted that he had a dwelling place with God, because God had made His dwelling place with Stephen in Christ Jesus. The holy martyr knew that he would be with Christ, with the Father in heaven, because the same Lord Jesus Christ was with him in his suffering and death. He knew that heaven was his home, and that heaven had been fully opened to him by the Cross and Resurrection of the incarnate Son of God. The Lord has just as surely done the same for you, as well. He has become Flesh for you. He has given Himself for you, even unto death. He has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven for you, also. And yet, He also remains with you here in His Church on earth, in His very own Flesh and Blood, with His Word and Holy Spirit. Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with you here.

On St. Thomas's Confession

On this Feast of St. Thomas, I remembered an incident that happened a few years ago.

Larry BeaneDecember 21, 2022 Comments

What If You Didn't Believe?

Let’s do a thought experiment. Let’s say you didn’t believe in the Bible and/or the Book of Concord. What would your life look like? What would worship look like?

Larry BeaneDecember 17, 2022 Comments

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