Beloved in Christ, In our day the floodgates of sexual immorality have opened wide. Within the dead culture there are no longer any restrictions. Those who manipulate culture have succeeded in turning the world away from Christian morality, which provided divine light to the western world (and beyond) for 17 centuries. What Melville pointed out in Moby Dick was true:the p...

The parting hymn at Christ Lutheran Church this Lord's Day was #548, "My Inmost Heart Now Raises." The hymn is written to be sung in the morning, and is a wonderful way to start day. I especially love the last two verses: 5. God shall do my advising,Whose might with wisdom blends;May He bless rest and rising,My efforts, means, and ends!To God, forever blest,Will I with mi...

The doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity is unquestioned by most of the world's Christians. That doesn't settle the matter, but it should cause Lutherans to examine both sides of it. Objectors give Matthew 1:24-25 as evidence against the possibility, "When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she...

"Marah was a fountain of most bitterwater: Moses cast wood into it and it became sweet. For water withoutthe preaching of the Cross of the Lord isof no avail for futuresalvation, but, after it has been consecrated by the mystery of thesaving cross, it is made suitable for the use of the spiritual laverand of the cup of salvation. As then, Moses, that is, the prophet,cast w...

Background:Much of St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians leads me to believe that it is not merely an abstract epistle, but that it has all the marks of a homily for those who are about to be baptized, and anointed (chrismated or confirmed) with the Holy Spirit. For this seems to be the church's earliest practice, that candidates were baptized, and upon emerging from the font...

This article nicely highlights the things Lutherans are in the midst of recovering, and so I commend it to you. There is one little gliltch in the last paragraph, however. Our worship is not a return to Eden and its tree of life. Rather those looked foward to the Cross and the Supper which do not look backward, butlook forwardinsteadto the New Heaven; where we will eat fro...

The Psalms have been an essential part of Christian worship from its inception. Today we find only traces of such usage in the Introit and Gradual. But in earlier times multiple Psalms were sung aloud to prepare God's people to rightly hear the reading of the Holy Scriptures. But why? What is the logic? According to St. Augustine, "in them the Lord Jesus Christ himself sp...

The Formula of Concord is one of our official Lutheran Confessions of Faith. Today someone reminded me of this beautiful passage, found in Article 7, concerning the consecration of the elements in Holy Communion. In it the 16th Century Reformers hearken back to St. John Chrysostom (born ca. 347 AD), one of the church's greatest theologians ever. May this beautiful theologi...

By now you are probably familiar with my remonstrations that Lutherans need to learn how to read / hear Scripture. That we must rid ourselves of the Fundamentalist,a-ecclesiastical, a-sacramental, a-liturgical reading / hearing of it. Should we be so blessed as to accomplish this high goal I think that many of our ecclesiastical ills might also dissolve. In preparation for...

As often as we hear the term "servant" in Scripture such as:Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins ... Psalm 19:13James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, James 1:1 And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. Luke 1:38 In such verses Servant = Worshiper. So that whe...