The First Pentecost What did God do at the first Pentecost and what was it really all about? How does what started then continue in the Church today? Dr. Arthur Just answers those questions and others pertaining to the day of Pentecost.

From Evangelicalism To Lutheranism This pick is nostalgic and informative as seminarians Dr. Leonard Payton, Brian Kachelmeier, Kenneth Mars, and Brian Wolfmueller join Pastor Wilken in a roundtable discussion of their journeys from Evangelicalism to Lutheranism.

The Athanasian Creed As we remember Athanasius of Alexandria, here is an interview with Dr. Kurt Marquart on the creed that bears his name and confesses the doctrinal orthodoxy he championed.  

One of These Things This week’s pick dovetails with Pr. Rossow’s post on the Lutheran’s in Africa Capital Campaign. It’s an old episode of Worldview Everlasting where Pr. Fisk reviews some of the work going on in Africa. My favorite part is at about the 2:30 mark where the old Sesame Street song “One of These Things is Not Like the Others” is used to contrast Lutheran worship styles.

Liturgical Re-Adjustments I found that the Symposia 2013 videos are available at Concordia Theological Seminary’s media site. The first presentation that caught my eye was by Dr. Paul Grime entitled, “Liturgical Re-Adjustments: Off Ramp to Apostasy?” Dr. Grime talks about how small accommodations in the liturgy can have dramatic effects on theology. This has always made sense to me from a common sense perspective, but having Dr. Grime walk through the example of how gender neutral language in the liturgy can lead to a rewriting of Scripture and a completely different understanding of Christ was eye opening.

Youth Ministry   I continue to watch the Lutheran Concerns Association videos and found Pr. Bryan Wolfmueller’s presentation on youth ministry. Pr. Wolfmueller diagnoses the problems of youth ministry through the lens of the Ten Commandments and then gives some suggestions for addressing these problems.  

SMP: Aerobatic Acronym?   The Lutheran Concerns Association has posted some of their conference videos. One that I found really interesting was Dr. Richard Nuffer’s presentation on the SMP program. Dr. Nuffer gives a short but detailed history of the program and how it got its support from the Council of Presidents. Dr. Nuffer suggests that while many would like to see the program eliminated, it may be entrenched in the same way that the 1969 decision on women’s suffrage could not be rolled back. If this is the case, Dr. Nuffer outlines some remedies that would make the program   More…

Ad Crucem BJS’s own Pr. Matt Richard is intervied on the Ad Crucem podcast. Pr. Richard discusses two books that were very influential for him, Luther’s “Heidelberg Disputation” and Walther’s “Law & Gospel.” He also talks about his reasearch project on exploring the journey of American Evangelicals into Confessional Lutheran thought. Bonus: Dr. Tom Baker’s series on the Heidelberg Disputation.

Palm Sunday Dr. Richard Stuckwisch discusses Palm Sunday from a historical perspective and also how it fits into the Church Year.

Liturgical Picks Pr. Weedon’s epic 24 part series on The Historic Liturgy wrapped up last week. [Issuesetc.org]. For those of you who are in withdrawal I have two additional liturgical series. One is on “The Liturgy of Holy Baptism” and the other is on “The Liturgy of Sickness, Death, and Dying.”   The Liturgy of Holy Baptism       The Liturgy of Sickness, Death, and Dying  

American Civil Religion Dr. David Adam and Dr. Ken Schurb discuss American Civil Religion. This is from the old Sunday night show so there are a couple of questions from non-Lutheran perspectives which actual make the discussion more interesting.

Liturgy of Holy Baptism If you enjoyed Pr. Weedon’s 22 part series on the historic liturgy, here’s a 5 parter on the liturgy of Holy Baptism. Pr. Weedon explains the exorcism, sign of the Cross, the Flood Prayer, renunciations, robes, candles, and even reads a recreation of an early church baptism.

Nagel on Lent 2 hours of Dr. Nagel discussing Lent. Enough said!

Digital Gospel I’ve watched too many bad presentations on how the church should use technology. However, Rev. William Johnson’s is different. Rev. Johnson discusses how technology and media affect congregational life and outreach and how not to use technology and evangelism programs as bait-and-switch tricks.

God Makes Babies Pr. Mark Preus presents a paper entitled “Be Fruitful and Multiply: Second Thoughts on Birth Control.” What I took away from this paper really didn’t have much to do with birth control. It was really that the self-centered understanding that man creates children logically leads us to a culture where children are an optional side effect of sex and women are objectified. Audio version: