Preachrblog

"Right on" again, Dr. Veith poses some interesting questions about Lutheran Invisibility over at his Cranach blog . Here's the money quote: Don't they know there is a church that has the best of Catholicism (sacramental spirituality, liturgy, a rigorously worked-out theology), of Calvinism (grace alone), of Arminianism (Christ died for all), of the Baptists (the inerrancy of Scripture), of Charismatics (tangible supernatural manifestations, which we call Sacraments), all with a non-legalistic, non-pietist church culture that emphasizes Christian freedom.

1st Sunday in Advent, November 27th, 2005 “Eagerly Waiting ” 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Introduction- I can’t believe December is almost here. Thanksgiving is done, and we are finishing up the left-overs. The shopping season has begun, and the malls are packed. Christmas decorations are up or going up soon, and Holiday parties are filling up the calendar. It’s that time of year again. Yes, it’s Advent. While the world celebrates Christmas beginning as early as September (I even saw some displays going up in August), in the Church, it is the season of Advent. Advent means, “coming”. And you might think that it means “Christmas is coming”. And it does. But it also reminds us that Christ is coming, or returning, as he has promised. While the world is awash in red and green, the church wears blue – which reminds us of the sky, and the promise that Christ would return the same way he left – he will come “with clouds descending”. The halls of the world are decked with strings of lights and depictio...

Grace Ev. Lutheran Church, Racine, Wisconsin Thanksgiving (Eve) Day- 2005 Luke 17:11-19 “Thanks – Why and to Whom?” I. Introduction A blessed Thanksgiving holiday to you all. Thanksgiving is that national holiday in which we do just that – give thanks. As I observe the way our culture celebrates this holiday, somehow the thanking seems to get lost in the mix. Behind all the food and family and cooking and cleaning and traveling and planning and shopping and football and whatever else we do… sometimes the thanks-giving is limited, it seems, to a prayer before the big meal. We should be giving thanks more and better. But “why?” and “to whom?” These are the questions I want to wrestle with today. Why give thanks? And give thanks to whom? In our country, most holidays, or “holy days”, have their origins in the Christian church. Christmas, Easter, even St. Patrick’s and St. Valentine’s day are church festivals which have been secularized, at least to some extent. Halloween was a su...

Does your church use one of these to decorate for Thanksgiving? We did. Even had one up in the chancel. Not anymore though. The below from Wikipedia : The cornucopia, (Latin Cornu Copiae), also known in English as the Horn of Plenty, is a symbol of prosperity and affluence, dating back to the 5th century BC. In Greek mythology, Amalthea raised Zeus on the milk of a goat. In return Zeus gave her the goat's horn. It had the power to give to the person in possession of it whatever he or she wished for. This gave rise to the legend of the cornucopia. The original depictions were of the goat's horn filled with fruits and flowers: deities, especially Fortuna, would be depicted with the horn of plenty. More modern images, such as those used in Thanksgiving murals, depict a horn-shaped wicker basket filled with fruits and vegetables. In modern depiction, the cornucopia is basically a hollow, curved cone with no bottom. The cone is typically filed with various kinds of festive plasti...

Back in July, I posted on, "Lutheran Clergy, Politics, and Blogging". Since then I have been thinking about my little rule of thumb: When it comes to moral issues on which the Bible clearly directs a right and wrong (i.e. abortion, capital punishment), the church and the pastor may (must) take a stand. But where scripture is silent, so too should the pastor remain. Should our taxes be lower, or higher? Should we pass NAFTA or not? Issues like these. But here's the rub. What about an issue which one sees as clear, but another does not see a scriptural application. Perhaps the whole gun-control debate is one of these. Opponents of gun control might argue that scripture makes no prohibition about the use of guns. Supporters of gun control might uses certain passages to build a case (Jesus commanded Peter, 'Put your sword away!'). Remember, even with the issue of abortion, the Bible never says, "Thou Shalt Not Abort". Rather, we draw conclusions bas...

The State of Wisconsin has been debating a provision to allow citizens to carry concealed guns. The arguments have raged in the local paper here, and my eyes perked up quickly when I saw Lutherans joining the fight. What follows are two opinion pieces printed recently. The first, but Rev. Sue Moline Larson, a full-time lobbyist for the ELCA. She is for gun control. The second, from Keith Deschler a local Libertarian and an ELCA member, who is against gun control. Whether you are for or against this particular measure, hopefully you agree with me that Mr. Deschler nails Larson with a wonderful understanding of Lutheran two-kingdom theology, and the proper role of Christian clergy. Particularly good are Mr. Deschler's last three paragraphs. Enjoy! ______________________ Can legislators be educated about gun violence in U.S.? By the Rev. Sue Moline Larson A generation ago, religious educator Morton Kelsey authored a book, "Can Christians Be Educated?" Thirty years late...

Just ran across an interesting blog by a retired ELCA pastor. I enjoyed his latest post, "The Ugly Fundamentalist". Hope you do too.

Wow. Good question, Thaddeus. Might I ask what faith tradition you are coming FROM? Just curious... I think you have a pretty good handle on what Lutherans actually teach. Probably better than most Lutherans. Your question is also very articluate and multi-faceted. I will do my best to answer, but I am perhaps not the most authoritative source for an answer. I would also suggest posting your question to a forum such as Lutherquest.org, or asking the LCMS information center (go to LCMS.org and look for FAQs). ANyway... here goes (my responses in italics) : TJ G wrote: Hi Rev. Chryst, Thank you for writing back. I wanted to start our conversation by asking about the relation of faith and baptism. I don't fully understand the Lutheran teaching in this area. Do Lutherans hold that all Trinitarian baptisms (due to God's promise attached to the water) automatically bring about regeneration, and saving faith in the person baptized? We speak of baptism as a "means of gr...

Christ alone, Scripture alone, Grace alone, Faith alone, through the Means alone! This has been rolling around in my brain since a recent frustrating conversation I had with a Baptist. What do you think?

Thanks to Amor et Labor for this interesting quiz. What follows are my answers... Put an E next to those issues (whatever your position) for which you would Die . Put a BE next to those items for which you would Divide . Put an A next to those items that are okay to disagree about . Add other issues to the list as necessary. Post on your blog and let me know . Trinity E Divinity of Jesus E Literal Resurrection E Full Humanity of Jesus E Nature of the Lords Supper E Common Cup A Justification E Sanctification E Intinction A Disposable Cups at Communion A Nature of Baptism E Age of Baptism E Mode of Baptism (sprinkling or dunking) A Necessity of Holy Spirit Baptism E Ordination of Women E Ordination of Homosexual people E Sacramental Marriage E (DEFINE) Virgin birth E Perpetual virginity of Mary A Authority of Scripture E Authority of Tradition E Inerrancy of Scripture E Use of Images in worship BE (HOW?) Contemporary music in ...

The LCMS E-NEWS communique' I received today states the following: 'Headcount' at Synod colleges hits new record... Total enrollment at the Synod's 10 Concordia University System (CUS) schools continues to climb, and this fall's 18,569 for both undergraduate and graduate programs sets a new record high, with nearly 1,000 more students than last fall. Sounds great, right? Now for the bad news (much later in the email): * The number of students studying for church careers is down by 137, or 5 percent, since fall 2004, continuing a four-year trend. This year's 2,613 church-work students include 1,439 teachers, 426 pre-seminary, 404 directors of Christian education, 182 lay ministers, 57 directors of family life ministry, 38 directors of parish music, 34 directors of Christian outreach, and 33 deaconesses. Meyer cites the shrinking pool of high-school students in general, combined with a reluctance on the part of today's young people to choose what are typically...

While digging around for some information on All Saints' Day, I ran across this post from fellow Lutheran Blogger, Rev. Borghardt: "Precious in the Lord's sight is the death of His Saints" (Ps. 116:15) He mentions that the RC church declared John Paul II a martyr, which is, after all, kind of strange. He also mentions some of the saints (martyrs) who are also remembered for how they died. Which got me to thinking.... Isn't there something a little morbid about the fascination with various methods of death for the martyrs? It almost reminds me of The Ghastlycrumb Tinies (which is morbidly funny - but means to be). Then there's the whole "patron saint" thing, which to me, is just another permutation of poly-theism. Check out THIS ridiculous list. My answer to such nonsense is that I have only one patron - the LORD. Call upon HIM in the day of trouble.... where did I read that... oh yeah... Psalm 50:15