Pastor Rick Stuckwisch
“It is because the Lord Himself, who has become the flesh and blood of Rahab and of us all, has suffered the divine judgment and destruction of Jericho, wholly dedicated to His God and Father. He is the new and greater Joshua, the great High Priest, the Ram whose horn is mercy and compassion, whose blood poured out is the New Covenant of forgiveness. He dies the death demanded by the Law, that we might live by the grace of the Gospel. Neither the gates of Hades nor the walls of Jericho can prevail against His shout of victory; nor against the confession of faith in His Cross. Thus are we consecrated as vessels for the sanctuary of God, precious and valuable to Him. For He has brought us out of Egypt and through the Jordan into Canaan; out of Jericho into the courts of His new Jerusalem; out of our own little hole in the wall, to become a living stone in His holy Temple. All of our adultery and worse is forgiven, and we are spared, freely granted to live by the mercies of God in the midst of His people, Israel.”
And Pastor Stuckwisch
again:
“The goal of evangelism is the worship of the Holy Trinity.
Not the other way around.”
Natalie Baughman Whan on
her Facebook page:
“In Holy Communion, God reverses what happened so long ago. In the Garden, our earthly parents were given a promise – “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17) – God’s Word, attached to ordinary and earthly means. They ate in disobedience and died. The fruit of the tree in the garden was barred by a command of the law, whereas the fruit of the cross is an invitation to the Gospel that grants forgiveness and life eternal for those who eat in faith. Our Heavenly Father has given us this promise - His Word again is attached to ordinary and earthly means. When we eat and drink and receive in faith, salvation is ours.”
Laughing MartinI. M. Abaldy II
“Pastors are not called and sent to be salesmen of salvation, public relations consultants for Christ, or corporate builders of His Church. Christ does not need or want that—thank you very much. Salvation is not for sale. Christ’s image doesn’t need sprucing or spicing up. The Holy Spirit is a capable builder of Christ’s Church.”
The Brothers of John the Steadfast
Anonymous, in a discussion on the Transforming Churches Network
“One might come away with the impression that LCMS, Inc. has a low view of the Office of the Holy Ministry:
Recall many full-time pastors from foreign missions
No Ordained staff at KFUO
Expand Distance Education (DELTO/SMP)
Require a pastor to resign his Divine Call if he doesn’t “perform” according to man’s expectations
Overemphasize pastoral leadership among other qualities of the man, the office, and the congregation
Anything else?”
-And the reply of Johannes in the same discussion:
“’Anonymous’–of course, there’s more: How about closing the seminaries and doing pastoral education via “Divinity Schools” within our Concordia system?
We’ll save a lot of money, and perhaps an occasional soul.
The Brothers of John the SteadfastOne person’s reply to the debate on whether or not the LCMS should work with the ELCA to fight malaria:
“Why not? The ELCA has proven more than capable of working to stamp out things for quite some time.
The authority and inerrancy of Holy Scripture, for example.”
Four and Twenty+ BlackbirdsPastor John Frahm
“In many ways chant serves as a ‘vestment’ for the voice. Chant, as a kind of combination between singing and speaking, serves to de-emphasize the idiosyncrasies of the person conducting the liturgy or assisting and helps to emphasize the mystical and sacramental unity and communion between Christ and His Bride, the Church. In this way also, chant serves as a kind of vocal "uniform" like the basic liturgical vestments or even the clerical shirt and collar. Theologically speaking, personality doesn't then matter much from one pastor to another so long as the Gospel is preached purely and the sacraments are administered according to Christ's institution (Acts 2:42; Augsburg Confession VII). Chant helps convey this uniformity in office and the transparochial nature of the church's ministerium. This means that it points to the continuity of the church beyond simply our own local congregation and beyond the moment and century that we live in now.”
Four and Twenty+ BlackbirdsPastor Larry Beane
“I just got an e-mail from the District Office (
here all may genuflect)…”
Abide in My WordPastor Thomas Messer
“Another common thread among those Lutherans who celebrate the Divine Service is a common confession of the faith and a shared theology of worship. The Lutheran Divine Service is Christ-centered and Cross-focused. It is reverent. It is holy. It is other-worldly. It doesn't look like the world. It looks like the Church. It has no interest in relevance (as that term is often used in describing "worship" today) or political correctness. It is focused on the Lord and His Gifts. It is built upon the belief and confession that Christ is there present with those gathered around Word and Sacrament; that Christ is REALLY there. In the Lutheran Divine Service, we are in the Lord's House, not our house. We are the guests, He is the host. We come to receive that which He desires to give. In response to the Gifts we receive, we offer Him our thanks and praise. The movement in the Lutheran Divine Service is from our Lord to us, not the other way around.”
Lutheran Hymn RevivalOne verse of a hymn written and posted by Amberg:
“There! I see it red and pouring,
Hear! I sing its gracious flood,
Shed beneath the righteous anger
Of our good and jealous God.
For salvation and forgiveness
We are baptized in this blood.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah!”
CyberbrethrenPastor Paul McCain
“Recently a pastor friend of mine opined on his blog that too many Lutheran pastors think that they can increase sanctification by preaching the Law. He is of course correct in his concern but ultimately goes wrong in that he fails adequately to understand that it is our task to teach and preach sanctification, the ongoing struggle against sin and the life of good works, in light of justification. Too many of our pastors think that by preaching against sin and preaching justification, they have preached sufficiently about Christ. But they have not. Preaching Good Friday and Easter, without the preaching of Pentecost is to offer a truncated Gospel.”
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Summary only...
I was listening to Pastor Wil Weedon during Part 3 of the five-part series on the Nicene Creed on Issues, Etc. (October 7). In Pastor Weedon’s Weedonish way he was jumping back and forth from one language to another. First Greek, then Latin, then German and back to Greek again. After all of that came Hebrew too! All flawlessly pronounced and inflected. I wish I could do that! And then, IT HAPPENED! He mispronounced a word! A weak spot in the Weedon armor. He wandered a little too far off the path and related the Latin carnis resurrectio (the resurrection of the flesh) to the Spanish word “con,” as in “chili con carne” (chili with meat). But he pronounced the “o” in con with an “ah” sound instead of a long “o” – a grave mispronunciation of the Spanish. Was it schadenfreude? Was I secretly happy that Pastor Weedon had mispronounced a word. Nah, not really. If I was secretly happy about it I wouldn’t be telling you about it now would I. I’m publically happy about it because there’s a word somewhere in the wide wide world that I can pronounce that Pastor Weedon can’t. So yeah, I guess it is a case of schadenfreude!
Lutheran Theology Doesn't Mix
Confessing the Faith
Spirit Tracker?
What Is a Confessional Lutheran?
Not A Critical Event
Ablaze! Numbers With Honor
When Business and Church Merge
The Liturgy is God’s Leiturgia
Given the Left Foot of Fellowship
Look Who’s Been Moonlighting!
Emotions and Praise Worship
Be Wise as Serpents and Innocent as Doves
The Pastor vs. The Clinical Ethicist
Wilhelm Loehe and Evangelism
Shock and Awe Redux
This Isn’t Working Out
Terms You Must Use - Bureaucrat Style
Terms You Must Use
A Third Seminary In the LCMS?
The Top Ten List of Things You’ll Never Hear Scott Diekmann Say
WWJOD (What Would Joel Osteen Do?)
A Book Review of “Testing the Claims of Church Growth,” by Rev. Rodney E. Zwonitzer
What This Blog Isn’t
Holy Week In Mexico City and The Theology of the Cross
What Threat?
What’s It All About?