Mondays with Martin From the Bondage of the Will, Section LXIV BUT, why it is, that some are touched by the law and some are not touched, why some receive the offered grace and some despise it, that is another question which is not here treated on by Ezekiel; because, he is speaking of THE PREACHED AND [...]

It was reported back in June that Community Church of Joy in Glendale, AZ was leaving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to join the association of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ. Today (09/27/09) the exodus was finalized by a unanimous vote. Here is the report from ELCA News Service: CHICAGO (ELCA) — Community [...]

WA to look for new ways to work with Lutheran CORE and LCMC by Steven King, WordAlone education director The WordAlone Network Board, in a conference call on Thurs., Sept. 17, expressed the Network’s commitment to work with its reform partners in Lutheran CORE and to work with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) [...]

INDIANAPOLIS — More than 1,200 Lutherans from throughout the United States and Canada took actions Saturday, Sept. 26, that they hope will lead to a reconfiguration of Lutheranism in North America. The Lutherans were in Indianapolis for a Convocation formally organizing the Lutheran Coalition for Renewal (Lutheran CORE). The event became even more significant when [...]

From Lutheran CORE, a guide to help those discerning what to do amidst the crisis of the ELCA: IMPORTANT DOCUMENT: “What do we do now?” Resources to help individuals and congregations make decisions about the best way forward given the Biblical and theological crisis in the ELCA. This resource was given to those who attended [...]

PREFACE TO THE PROPHETS 1545 (1532) To human reason the prophets seem of small account, and little of value is found in them. This is especially so when Master Know-it-all comes along. He knows the Scriptures by heart and has them at his finger-tips, and out of the riches of his spirit, he regards the [...]

Julia Duin writes on the Washington Times Belief Blog about the recent Lutheran CORE meeting, and an admonition (via youtube video) from Bishop Martyn Minns of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America:  I was just about to go to bed at 1 a.m. today when I saw that the Convocation of Anglicans in North [...]

Franz Friday The Witness of History for Scripture(Homologoumena and Antilegomena) FRANCIS PIEPER (From Christian Dogmatics, Vol. I [Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1950], pp. 330-38.) Besides Scripture’s own testimony as to its divine authority, we have, through the gracious providence of God, ample historical testimony to that effect. For the Scriptures of the Old Testament [...]

For Athena Thursday, here is an article by Dr. Peter M. Kurowski on “Wisdom Literature for the Family” (via LCMS Family Resources): Integral to any healthy family are clear boundaries.  Where there are too many boundaries, people suffocate, become emotionally stunted, and go through life seething with a lot of repressed anger.  Where there are [...]

Here is a hymn for today from southern hymn writer William Walker, who died on this day in 1875 (b. May 6 1809), and a bluegrass version of the hymn performed by Blue Highway: 1. What wondrous love is this, O my soul! That caused the Lord of bliss To bear the dreadful curse, for [...]

An announcement from the Concordia Historical Institute blog: The 200th anniversaries of the births of three individuals who played a very significant role in the beginnings of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod fall between 2008 and 2011. Wilhelm Loehe’s bicentennial was observed last year. Those of F. C. D. Wyneken (2010) and C. F. W. Walther [...]

Paull Spring, chair of the Lutheran CORE Steering Committee, reported in a Sept. 4th letter that the response to the Convocation in Fishers, Ind., was so overwhelming that the gathering would likely have to be moved to a larger church in the Indianapolis area. The convocation has since been moved to Holy Spirit Parish at [...]

by Jaynan L. Clark Lullabies are meant to soothe, to comfort and to help you go to sleep. Lullabies are by their very nature helpful and healthy tunes that are not only good for infants and small children but for all those in need of rest and security. I have been with elderly couples as [...]

The ELLC has updated their website to help connect people with liturgical services: Are you traveling this fall or want to visit other liturgical congregations in an area? The ELLC (Evangelical-Lutheran Liturgical Congregations) website has had a face-lift over the past few weeks, and now includes maps to help you locate congregations near a certain [...]

Wednesdays with Augustine A selection from Book I, Chapter 2 of On Christian Doctrine: All instruction is either about things or about signs; but things are learned by means of signs. I now use the word “thing” in a strict sense, to signify that which is never employed as a sign of anything else: for [...]

Tuesdays with Forde A selection from On Being a Theologian of the Cross (pp. 3-4): The word of the cross kills and makes alive. It crucifies the old being in anticipation of the resurrection of the new. “The cross alone is our theology,” Luther could say. And those oft-quoted words are to be taken literally. [...]

by James Arne Nestingen In its August assembly in Minneapolis, going by the definition set down in Augustana VII, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America effectively declared that it is no longer a church. Among those unchurched by this decision, a poignant question remains: What in the world do we do now? Consideration of this [...]

On this day (September 21) in the year 1452, Italian reformer and martyr Girolamo Savonarola was born in Ferrara, Italy (d. May 23 1498).  Here is a sermon on Savonarola written by Charles Spurgeon, originally published in the April 1869 edition of the Sword & Trowel. The Florentine Monk In the month of May this [...]

Martin Luther: Letter to the Archbishop of Mainz, 1517 Luther wrote to the Archbishop protesting the sale of indulgences to finance the building of a new cathedral. The Archbishop, of course, was one of the people who had authorized the sale of indulgences for that purpose. Note the objections Luther states towards indulgences and their [...]

Here is the handout from Bob and Cathy Mattson for the Seventh Sunday in Pentecost: Pentecost 17 (.doc) Pentecost 17 (.pdf) 09 Pentecost 17th Sunday

It’s time to unveil the last of our weekly columns, “Franz Friday,” featuring selections from the writings of Franz August Otto Pieper. We begin this week with one of his sermons, “Trembling at God’s Word,” given as an opening address for the new school term in 1930. Trembling at God’s Word We read in the [...]

If you’ve been following the lectionary texts of Holy Scripture, you’ve heard quite a lot lately about wisdom and the power of words. Much of what comes from within, from the heart, and defiles a person manifests itself in words as much as in deeds: malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, folly, etc. (Mark 7:20-23). [...]

Logia has made available (for free) a book examining the place of the Lord’s Supper in Chemnitz: The Lord’s Supper in the Theology of Martin Chemnitz by Bjarne Wollan Teigen. This book is yours free, provided that you do not reproduce or sell it. Instructions: right click and save to your computer) Download Now (PDF [...]

For our next weekly feature, “Wednesdays with Augustine,” we’ll be publishing select texts from the writings of Augustine of Hippo. Addressing the gravity of the task of engaging Holy Scripture, here is the Preface to Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine Showing that to teach rules for the interpretation of Scripture is not a superfluous task 1. [...]

The second of our weekly feature columns, “Tuesdays with Forde,” begins today with this brief selection from On Being a Theologian of the Cross, by Gerhard O. Forde. One of the most important parts of Forde’s work on Luther’s Heidelberg Disputation is his insistence on framing the issue of the theology of glory vs. the [...]

by Donavon Riley Although the Scriptures are clear about what preaching should be, and more importantly who preaching should be about, most of today’s preaching misses the mark. This has dire consequences for the church. Weak preaching leads to achurch that is Scripturally illterate and spiritually weak. If the churchtoday, whether Lutheran, Reformed or Roman [...]