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News & Events

Why Don’t Christians Care?

Via PowerLine “In a number of places around the world, it is open season on Christians. We read of Christians burned out of their homes and slaughtered in Pakistan. Most recently, at least 500 Christians were murdered in Nigeria. The attackers in all cases are Muslims, inspired by the warlike message of their Prophet. AFP reports on the Nigerian attacks: UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Washington led calls for restraint on Monday after the slaughter of more than 500 Christians in Nigeria, as survivors told how the killers chopped down their victims. Funerals took place for victims of the three-hour orgy of violence on Sunday in three Christian villages close to the northern city of Jos, blamed on members of the mainly Muslim Fulani ethnic group.... (more...)

ELCA Tries to Keep a Certain Congregation in Florida

As noted in an anonymous comment at Lutheran CORE, The ELCA congregational report says that this little church is on a 5.5 million property, and has very little debt. Do you suppose that influenced the synod council? The members of St. Peter Lutheran Church in Fort Pierce, Fla., voted unanimously in two required votes to end their affiliation with the ELCA. But their synod won’t let them go. The Florida-Bahamas Synod Council decided during its Feb. 26-27 meeting that it will not allow the 105-member congregation to leave the ELCA. St. Peter received notification of the decision on March 11. The synod is exercising its authority under a provision in ELCA constitutions that requires congregations which were affiliated with the Lutheran Church... (more...)

Child Abuse in the Roman Catholic Church

“Child Abuse Scandal Reaches Catholic Church, Pope” by The Associated Press The Associated Press – March 13, 2010 “It often starts as a voice in the wilderness, but can swell into an entire nation’s demand for truth. From Ireland to Germany, Europe’s many victims of child abuse in the Roman Catholic church are finally breaking social taboos and confronting the clergy to face its demons. Ireland was the first in Europe to confront the church’s worldwide custom of shielding pedophile priests from the law and public scandal. Now that legacy of suppressed childhood horror is being confronted in other parts of the Continent — nowhere more poignantly than in Germany, the homeland of Pope Benedict XVI. The... (more...)

CPH & Lutherans for Life

Via the Concordia Publishing House Facebook Page: Saint Louis, MO—Concordia Publishing House (CPH) and Lutherans For Life (LFL) recently signed an agreement whereby CPH will provide inventory management and order fulfillment services for LFL products. Both organizations offer products and services that are faithful to the Scriptures and Lutheran Confessions, and anticipate increased collaboration in communications and events. Orders for LFL products can still be placed directly through LFL, but now can also be placed through the CPH call center at 800-325-3040 or via Hyperlink to cph.org under the category of “Sanctity of Life Resources.” Concordia Publishing House will be responsible for fulfilling LFL orders to customers, which can... (more...)

It’s a New Day

The 2010 Annual WordAlone Convention will take place April 18-19th at Calvary Lutheran Church in Golden Valley, MN. Download the official brochure here (.pdf) Register online here And here are a couple of brief introductory videos with WordAlone President, Pastor Jaynan Clark and Vice President, Pastor Tom Walker. Featured Speakers The Rev. Dr. Gemechis D. Buba is currently serving as the director of African national ministries in the ELCA. Originally from Ethiopia, East Africa, Dr. Buba will address the convention about the critical need at this time to reach out with the word of Christ to North America. He brings a message of hope and encouragement that the Word of Christ, which brough faith to Africa, can now return to bring faith to... (more...)

Mapping Our DNA

The LCMC Leadership Conference will be held this year in Omaha, NE, at Lutheran Church of the Master. Speakers include Barry Anderson, David Householder, Bill Sullivan, Tim White, and Walt Sundberg. Here is the official announcement. Each year the LCMC Ministry Board sponsors a conference for pastors and congregational leaders that encourages, informs, and raises issues that help leaders move forward as God’s servants. This year the theme focuses on the DNA of our association and what makes us who we are. April 25-27, 2010 – Mapping our DNA Lutheran Church of the Master 2617 South 114th St Omaha, NE $60.00 per person, plus hotel, etc. Schedule | Lodging We are inviting LCMC leaders to discuss and learn from one another what it means... (more...)

Lutheran Songwriters Conference

LCMS Sponsors First Songwriters’ Conference: “Singing the Sacraments of God” The first ever Lutheran Songwriters’ Conference will be held at St. John Lutheran Church in Ellisville, Mo., April 22-23. This conference, underwritten by a generous grant from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, is being held in order to learn from and encourage LCMS songwriters to develop sacramental and Scripture-based songs for use within The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Please share this conference information with aspiring and established songwriters alike! Ideal participants are songwriters, lyricists, poets, and/or composers who: Are currently members in good standing of an LCMS congregation and actively writing Have a fervent desire... (more...)

Non-white Lutherans Share Concerns

Via LCMS e-News By Paula Schlueter Ross It was a telling moment when Rev. Eloy Gonzalez posed a question to more than 100 mostly non-white participants at the recent multi-ethnic symposium: “How many are delegates to the next [LCMS] convention?” Only one person, a Black woman, stood. “That’s the problem,” responded Gonzalez, senior pastor of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Irving, Texas. “The issue” he was trying to illustrate, Gonzalez said later, “is that people who serve in ethnic minority ministries have very few venues … to share their voice with the broader church.” How to share multi-ethnic perspectives with the church at-large — and encourage the Synod’s 95 percent... (more...)

Dutch Church Decides Not To Discipline Atheist Pastor

Image via ClintJCL [Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintjcl/ (ENI) — A self-proclaimed atheist can continue to serve as a local pastor of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, and no longer faces disciplinary action because of his controversial position on how to describe God. A special assembly of Zierikzee, a regional church body given the task of investigating the theological statements of Pastor Klaas Hendrikse, has said its work is, “completed.” The February 3 decision to allow Hendrikse to continue working as a pastor followed the advice of a regional supervisory panel that the statements by Hendrikse, “are not of sufficient weight to damage the foundations of the Church.” “The ideas of Hendrikse... (more...)

History

Luther on Preaching

Via Issues Etc., originally printed in The Lutheran Witness, vol. 117, no. 7, 1998. Martin Luther on Preaching: Promises and Problems of the Sermon as a Source of Reformation History and as an Instrument of the Reformation by Patrick Ferry The effort to disseminate the tenets of the Reformation to the common folk was no small task. Transmitting ideas so that they could be understood by the predominantly... (more...)

A Homily on the Passover

One of the few writings that have survived from the corpus of Melito (d. 190), overseer of the church in Sardis, is a sermon on Exodus 12 typologically connecting the Jewish Passover to the passion and crucifixion of Christ. In addition, Melito addresses the issue of Jewish-Christian relations, and the manner in which the Passover is essential for Christians, albeit celebrated in a different way. Melito... (more...)

Paul Gerhardt

Today (March 12) is the 203rd birthday of German Lutheran pastor and hymn writer Paul Gerhardt, born in 1607 at Graefenhaynichen, between Halle and Wittenberg (d. May 27 1676). Gerhardt is widely regarded as one of the greatest hymn writers in the German language, whose influence is still shown by inclusion of his music in the hymnals of almost every Christian denomination. Born near Wittenberg, Germany,... (more...)

Michelangelo

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor and architect, was born on this day in 1475 in Caprese, Italy (d. February 18 1564). While he is known most famously, of course, for his works of art, here are a couple of his poems. TO THE SUPREME BEING The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed, If Thou the spirit give by which I pray: My unassisted heart is barren clay, Which of its... (more...)

Pietism & Mission

Pietism and Mission: Lutheran Millennialismin the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries by Lawrence Rast Jr. Introduction A noted historian of Christianity in the United States assessed the influence of pietism in the following sweeping terms: “There is no area of American life which is free from our pietistic concern; none in which the pietistic attitude is not a significant factor.”1 Pietism... (more...)

Letter to Rome

Manichaean priests, writing at their desks (artist unknown) Julian of Eclanum’s Letter To Rome Edited By Rev. Daniel R. Jennings Synopsis: This letter was a defense against the doctrines of the established church and a statement of faith of the Pelagian Christians. It was sent to Rome, as a defense of sorts as well as a warning against what they understood to be Augustine’ s infusion of Manichaean... (more...)

Johnny Cash

We just recently posted one of the songs (Ain’t No Grave) from the new Johnny Cash album, but since today marks his birth in the year 1932, here are a few more from the Man in Black. Read More →

Death’s Duel

Pastor and poet John Donne (1572–1631) preached his final sermon on this day (Feb. 15) in 1631. It was delivered before the King at the beginning of Lent, 1630. Donne, at that time, was Dr. in Divinity, and Dean of Saint Paul’s, London. This sermon was preached not many days before his death; and the matter is of death–the occasion and subject of all funeral sermons. Death’s Duel Or... (more...)

Vehementer Nos

It was on this day (February 11) in 1905 Pope Pius X (1835–1914) published the encyclical Vehementer Nos, in which he denounces the idea of separation between the state and the Roman church, calling it “a thesis absolutely false, a most pernicious error.” Here is the full text of the encyclical (via Vatican.va): VEHEMENTER NOS ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS X ON THE FRENCH LAW OF SEPARATION To... (more...)

We Plow the Fields

Here is a hymn for today from Matthias Claudius, who died on this day (Jan 21) in 1815 (b. August 15 1740). The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. (Matthew 13:38) We plow the fields, and scatter the good seed on the land, But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand; He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain, The breezes and the sunshine,... (more...)

Albert Schweitzer

Theologian, musician, and philosopher Albert Schweitzer was born on this day (Jan 14) in 1875. Here is Schweitzer playing JS Bach’s Adagio BWV 564. And here are a few quotations. Read More →

On Christ’s Ascension Now I Build

Here is a hymn for today (Jan 11) from Joshua Wegelin, who was born in Augsburg on this day in 1604 (d. September 14 1640). On Christ’s ascension I now build The hope of my ascension; This hope alone has always stilled All doubt and apprehension; For where the head is, there as well I know his members are to dwell When Christ will come and call them. Since Christ returned to claim his throne, Great... (more...)

Olavus Petri

On the anniversary of Swedish reformer Olavus (Olaus) Petri’s birth in 1493, here is a note from the Lutheran calendar, along with ’s biography, Olavus Petri, Church Reformer of Sweden. Laurentius Petri, Archbishop of Uppsala Olavus Petri (born 1493) and his brother Laurentius (born 1499) were the principal leaders of the Lutheran movement in Sweden. Both studied at Wittenberg, where they... (more...)

The English Works of Wyclif

Today in 1384 English reformer John Wyclif (Wycliffe) died. Wycliffe's Bones Being Burnt in 1527 Here you can read The English Works of Wyclif. Read More →

Theology

Heretics & Grace

Wednesdays with Augustine Via Augustine’s Anti-Pelagian Writings Chapter 2.—Why Heretical Writings Must Be Answered. Augustine Refuting a Heretic For the new heretics, enemies of the grace of God which is given by Jesus Christ our Lord to small and great, although they are already shown more... (more...)

Not even a little bit?

Tuesdays with Forde Via On Being a Theologian of the Cross, pp. 56-58 Thesis 15. Nor could free will remain in a state of innocence, much less do good, in an active capacity, but only in its passive capacity. Although it may appear to be an obscure point, thesis 15 indicates clearly the kind of move... (more...)

Eight Lenten Sermons

Mondays with Martin Eight Sermons by Dr. Martin Luther Preached at Wittenberg in Lent, Treating Briefly of the Mass, Images, Both Kinds in the Sacrament, Eating of Meats, Private Confession, etc. THE FIRST SERMON INVOCAVIT SUNDAY Albrecht Dürer, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1498) THE... (more...)

God’s Own Time

Weekends with Bach Via J.S. Bach Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit BWV 106 Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit Actus Tragicus A Funeral (possibly of Bach’s uncle, Tobias Lämmerhirt, d. 10 August 1707). Poet unknown. 2a. Adaptation of Acts 17:28; 2b. Ps. 90:12; 2c. Is. 38:1; 2d. Ecclus. 14:17... (more...)

Sanctification

Franz Friday Via Pieper’s Church Dogmatics Volume 3 Masaccio, "The Baptism of the Neophytes" (1425) Also sanctification, the death of the old man and the resurrection to a new life, is not only typified by Baptism, but actually effected. In Rom. 6:1-11 Paul teaches that the Christians... (more...)

The Life-Thread of Faith

Thursdays with Iwand Via Iwand’s sermon “The Loincloth” James Tissot, "The Prophet Jeremiah" (1888) For when this thread, the life-thread of faith, breaks, when the nail on which everything hangs is loosened, then it is the same with everything else as well. Being able to... (more...)

The People of God

Wednesdays with Augustine Via Augustine, The Writings Against the Manichaeans and the Donatists Chapter 15.—23. For it is the Church that gives birth to all, either within her pale, of her own womb; or beyond it, of the seed of her bridegroom. Bertram of Minden, "Isaac asks Esau to hunt for venison"... (more...)

A Passive Capacity

Tuesdays with Forde Via On Being a Theologian of the Cross pp. 54-56 Thesis 14. Free will, after the fall, has power to do good only in a passive capacity, but it can always do evil in an active capacity. Peter Paul Rubens, "Raising of the Cross" (Antwerp Cathedral, 1610) What does this mean?... (more...)

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Mondays with Martin Via Luther’s Church Postil, this sermon appeared first in pamphlet form entitled: “A sermon on the Lost Sheep, by Dr. M. Luther, delivered at Wittenberg in the presence of of the Elector of Saxony, Duke John Fredrick, etc., 1533.” Taken from Volume IV:67-96 of The... (more...)

I Want to Acknowledge His Name

Weekends with Bach J.S. Bach BWV 200, ‘Bekennen will ich seinen Namen’ (I want to acknowledge His name) Giotto, "Presentation in the Temple" (1304-06) The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (The Presentation of Christ in the Temple). Poet unknown (fragmentary). After 1735,... (more...)

The Religion of Morality

Franz Friday Via Franz Pieper, Christian Dogmatics Vol. 3 Titian, "Abraham & Isaac" (1542-44) Thieme reports that the Lutheran doctrine that good works are not necessary for salvation has been given up by most modern Protestant theologians, including the so-called “positive”... (more...)

Evangelical Words

Thursdays with Iwand Via Hans Iwand, The Righteousness of Faith according to Luther Andrea Mantegna, "The Resurrection" (1457-59) We are today in a similar situation: grace, compassion, love, and mercy are words that we like to hear. They are “evangelical words.” But doesn’t... (more...)

The True God

Wednesday’s with Augustine Via Augustine’s City of God Adriaen van Stalbemt, "Paul & Barnabas at Lystra" Argument—In this book it is shown that eternal life is not obtained by the worship of Janus, Jupiter, Saturn, and the other “select gods” of the civil theology. Preface. It... (more...)

Law & Sexual Behavior

Tuesdays with Forde Masaccio, "Adam & Eve Expelled from Paradise" (1424-25) This is an essay about the function of law as it confronts sexual behavior. Therefore the first thing that needs saying is that it cannot be a paper about compassion. To be sure, Christians, not to say human beings... (more...)

Confession & the Lord’s Supper

Mondays with Martin A sermon by Martin Luther published in eight editions in 1524-1525. Via Volume II:193-214 of The Sermons of Martin Luther, published by Baker Book House (Grand Rapids, MI). It was originally published in 1906 in English by Lutherans in All Lands Press (Minneapolis, MN), as The Precious... (more...)

Where Shall I Refuge Find?

Chorus [S, A, T, B] Oboe I/II, Violino I/II, Viola, Tromba da tirarsi col Soprano, Continuo Johann Heinrich Schönfeld, "The Flood" (1634-35) Wo soll ich fliehen hin, Where should I flee Weil ich beschweret bin since I am weighed down Mit viel und großen Sünden? by my many grievious sins? Wo... (more...)