Gottesblog

The Christian faith is a both/and matter. It is neither spiritual to the detriment of the physical (as Gnostics, and as, to a lesser extent, sacramentarian Evangelicals confess), nor is it material to the detriment of the spiritual (as atheists and rationalists confess).

Here is the official position of the LCMS on Worship and the use of the ordo (the order and constituent parts of the Divine Service), from a resolution from the 2016 LCMS national Convention. Don't ditch the confession and absolution. Don't ditch the creeds. There is no right to rob the people of the ancient creeds which we wholeheartedly confess. Don't rob the people of the three readings of the lectionary. The Augsburg Confession says specifically we retain vestments and the lectionary. Don't mess with the LORD's Supper. There is great freedom to use various settings. Keep the ORDO. We are not evangelicals. We are Lutherans. — Matt Harrison

Why do some entrepreneurs and businessmen debase themselves? Why would a grown man put on a chicken suit, or go on late night TV waving his arms about ranting (yet again) that “everything must go”? Why do lawyers put up sleazy and lurid billboards?

Because it works!

I often hear the argument that musical style is neutral when it comes to appropriateness for worship, and that the reason we in the Gottesdienst Crowd reject “contemporary worship” is simply because we just happen to like the organ and classical music. In other words, if the words pass theological muster, any musical style may be used for the Divine Service, as Scripture doesn’t specify such things, thus making it a matter of adiaphora.

Note: The Rev. Dr. Jon Bruss, president of Concordia Theological Seminary, posted the following to his personal Facebook account. I think it needs to be widely read and forwarded. — Ed.

"For an instant even I was appalled - but only for an instant."

Caught between the pincers of the world and the church, I find myself so jaded these days as to rarely find the energy to even shrug my shoulders at what I see going on around me. But, in the case of the following published paper by the chairman of the Missions Department of Concordia University, Portland, the Rev. Dr. Herb Hoefer, who is, of course, an ordained minister of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, I have nothing else to do than to quote Sir Harry Flashman.

The theme of this podcast is really the “toxic masculinity” that plagues the Christian church - especially those churches that have a “glass ceiling” that limits the ability for women to take the lead in our churches.