A blog of the Evangelical Lutheran Liturgy
“How big is your church?” is often the first question a pastor gets. It usually isn’t “What confession does your church hold?” or “Is it interesting to serve as a pastor?” Rather, they want a number. And if you say, “A thousand,” you will get a nod of approval and raised eyebrows. But the reaction would be quite different if you were to say “twelve.”
Read MoreI have always described the confirmation rite as a rite of initiation. I still think this is the best understanding. A child becomes an adult in the eyes of the Church by confirming that he has examined and accepted for himself the faith into which he was baptized
Read MoreOfficially, we in the LCMS don’t practice selective fellowship. We view official fellowship as a matter of doctrinal agreement between church bodies. And this is a matter of our polity.
Read MoreThe Church (sic) of England has elected a dame to be the “archbishop” of Canturbury. While some naïfs within the Anglican Communion have expressed shock and surprise (aren’t they adorable?), it’s not like we couldn’t see this Canturbury Tailspin into Dante’s concentric circles of infernal excrement coming.
Read MoreThe Tenth Commandment drives a stake into the heart of feminism.
Read MoreBelow are recordings of the three presentations that I gave at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Union Grove, Wisconsin on The Greatness of Difficulty. I hope to get the audio and make it available as a special release on the podcast for those who would prefer to listen.
Read MoreI have often heard Confirmation and Confirmation instruction touted as the pride and joy of the Missouri Synod but I have always feared what Confirmation might be inadvertently confessing and my experience with the biblical and doctrinal literacy of our Church body has been very disappointing.
Read MoreIn a short article titled “Is the Law Eternal?” from the 2019 Eastertide LOGIA, Jack Kilcrease tries to steer a middle ground between two camps: “The Radical Lutherans” and the “Pro-nomians”. Kilcrease’s article raises a number of questions that this response article will explore.
Read MoreThe Michaelmas issue is on its way!
Read MoreThe Rev. Jason Braaten interviewed at On the Line
Read MoreIn the preceding part of our series, we dealt with several prominent medieval theologians on the subject of usury, spanning the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries. We will now back up in order to quote the canons of certain relevant church councils, as well as some papal decrees.
Second Lateran Council (1139), Canon 13: “Furthermore, we condemn that practice regarded as vile and reprehensible by both divine and human law, and denounced by Holy Scripture in both the Old and New Testaments, namely, the rapacious greed of usurers. We exclude them from every comfort of the church, forbidding any archbishop, bishop, abbot of any order, or anyone in clerical office whatsoever to dare to receive them, except with the utmost caution. Let them, moreover, be held infamous throughout the whole of their lives and, unless they repent, be deprived of Christian burial.”
Read MoreWe are seeking an artist to illustrate The Lutheran Missal. More details about the scope of the project can be found here. Please share this flyer with anyone who may have the necessary skills and desire to be part of this historic project. We ask applicants to submit a portfolio and bid to info@ludecuspress.com by October 31st.
Read MoreIn the story, the donkey is the postmodernist. He makes a subjective truth claim that is contrary to common sense and simple observation. The tiger, by contrast, states the obvious: what his senses - not to mention centuries of collective observation and wisdom have taught.
Read MoreWhen God gave Adam dominion over the world, He gave him the authority to name the animals. In every culture and for all of human history, parents have given the children under their authority a name. God sometimes gives certain people new names to recognize some kind of new authority or status of the person.
Read MoreIf you cannot look at the sum of Charlie’s confession and life and recognize a man hated for the sake of Christ and His gospel, then it seems apparent that you have been conditioned by Satan to believe that Christians must live out their faith in the privacy of their own hearts and homes, never applying the Word of God to life in this world.
Read MoreI have to admit that, when I came out of seminary, I was woefully unprepared to give pastoral counsel. I don’t blame the seminary in this because I’m not sure what course of study they could have offered that would have prepared me for it.
Read MoreThe Church of the Augsburg Confession is, historically speaking, very much a bilingual church. Well, there are rather more than two languages involved, but Lutheran worship is broadly unique for its embrace — from the beginning — of both the received Latin plainsong and choral repertoire as well as vernacular hymnody, whether that vernacular is German, Swedish, Hungarian, Slovak, or English. If you would like to claim that the Latin language has no place in Lutheran worship, I would direct you to Article XXIV of the Augustana:
Read More“You can’t mass produce pastors and theologians. They can only be produced one by one by the Holy Spirit in the agonizing school of experience, crunching with the Word of God and the Sacraments. They see that as a divine miracle that has life- and resurrection-bearing power.”
— The Rev. Professor Kurt Marquart, Concordia Theological Seminary
