In light of the recent encouragement of District President Linnemann of the Northwest District, to unseat President Matthew Harrison and replace him with David Maier, I thought it would be helpful to grade Harrison’s first term according to the standard he is accountable to – the LCMS Constitution and By-laws. As Jim Pierce and Scott Diekmann have shown in other posts, DP Linnemann used an unusual metric by which to measure President Harrison – his ability to engage the culture. That is an interesting measurement but really has nothing to do with the president’s stated duties. I give President Harrison   More…

The Brothers of John the Steadfast are joining up with Lutherans in Africa to support the building of a new Lutheran Center in Nairobi. The first public phase of this campaign begins tonight with a live-streamed prayer vigil from Bethany Lutheran Church in Naperville, Illinois and from the headquarters of Lutherans in Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. The vigil is hosted by Worldview Everlasting’s creator Rev. Jonathan Fisk. There will be an hour of liturgical prayer starting at 9 PM Central Time in the United States and then an hour break for a live interview from Nairobi of Rev. James May, Director of   More…

The Vigil for Africa will be a live, worldwide event involving as many congregations as possible in a single worship service. Join us in prayer for the future of Christianity in Africa through a live Youtube stream, and together hear from Pastor May in Nairobi on the current state of Lutherans in Africa. This event will stream live via Youtube from Bethany Lutheran Church in Naperville, IL where, for the first hour, where we will pray the same prayers, hear the same Bible texts. This will be followed by an hour long interview with James May, live from Nairobi, Africa   More…

Here are ten simple points to remember in the current raging debate in the LCMS over preaching sanctification. They are sort of a “Dummies’ Guide” for people like me who need it. 1. Can I end a sermon with an exhortation? Answer: Yes 2. Should I end a sermon with an exhortation? Answer: Since it is the law, if that is the last thing you want your people to hear then go ahead. Remember though, it is powerless to create any sanctification. 3. Then should we exhort at all? Answer: Yes. Just remember it is the law. It is the   More…

Pastor Ingo Dutzmann and his First Lutheran Congregation of Boston, MA will be on national TV tomorrow. They will be interviewed about the bombing in Boston. Their church is only four blocks away from the bombing and the explosion was heard at the church. The interviews are set for 7:17 and 7:45 Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday morning. See my post below for more details about the LCMS reaction to the Boston bombing.

Both BJS political commentators are on the road at confessional conferences. Charlie Henrickson is on the road to Minneapolis for the ACL conference and yours truly is down in the heart of Texas for the ACELC conference in Austin. I was walking up and down 6th Street looking for some good music to spend the night with when my buddy Pastor Roger Gallup emailed me to let me know that something good might be afoot in Boston. (The picture is of a street sign on 6th Street in Austin. I figured it was appropriate for this post.) So while I   More…

Our eighth grade teacher is retiring this year and so we are looking for prospects to call or hire and then colloquize. Bethany is a very happy and enjoyable place to serve the Lord. Church and School work seamlessly together. Male teachers are encouraged to serve on the Board of Elders. Our female principal is a non-voting member of the board of elders. Principal and church staff meet weekly for two hour staff meetings where they plan and administer the work of the parish. The parish is organized around Walther’s six duties of the church. The elders meet every few   More…

In just one week we raised $3,500 to help colloquize pastor Matt Richard into the LCMS. We only need $1,500 more to reach our goal of $5,000 for the Pastor Matt Richard Fund. In order to fully utilize the generous matching gift of $5,000 from a BJS supporter, we need to get just $3 a year for each of the years since the Reformation. That’s a fine way to see it since Pastor Richard is colloquizing out of a sort of pre-Reformation pietism and into the LCMS. There’s plenty of pietism to go around in the LCMS and what not   More…

One can imagine all sorts of interesting BJS headlines when one is sitting in his study on Good Friday waiting to hear confessions. Like the Maytag repairman, I am experiencing a bit of dead time. Each year we schedule time for members to come in for confession and absolution on Good Friday. We also hear confessions throughout the year. The number of people knowing the joy of hearing the pastor speak forgiveness into their ear personally is growing here at Bethany Lutheran but we still have a long way to go before it becomes routine. With a little bit of   More…

At BJS we are familiar with deep discussions about theology. Many conversations occur online between our authors and readers over the distinctives that we hold dear. Not all of our contributors come from an LCMS background but adhere steadfastly to the confessional Lutheran theology we profess. One of these such authors is Rev. Matthew Richard who has served in the Church of the Lutheran Brethren since 2004. As many of you know from Rev. Richard’s writings, he comes out of a theological context of Lutheran Pietism, Fundamentalism, and Revivalism. Furthermore, from Rev. Richard’s own admission he also implemented many Church   More…

The Rev. Tapani Simojoki has heart-warming news to report from Finland. A conservative Lutheran diocese has been born in Finland. It grew out of but is independent of  the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (the state sponsored liberal church). Rev. Simijoki, a pastor in the confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church of England reports this on his blog Simonpatamos. According to Simojoki’s translation of the official press release from the new diocese (in Finnish and on their website), the group’s history goes back to 1999 when conservative Finns grew tired of the liberal ways of the official church body and began to organize. It   More…

Over on Norm’s Good Stuff Found post on the cable television Bible series there is a nice comment left by “Poor Miserable Sinner” in which he/she thanks BJS and Issues, Etc. for excellent catechesis. It’s good to be loved by poor miserable sinners. Here is the quote: The Bible series is just another example of false teaching and the importance of knowing how to discern these things is crucial. Unfortunately, many will be led astray by this program. But how does one learn discernment? Proper teaching in the churches! There is such a great need for accurate Biblical teaching. Thank   More…

BJS contributing author Joshua Gale is featured in the most recent edition of For the Life of the World, (March, 2013, pp. 8-9) published by Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In this short piece Gale offers profound thoughts on his work, the role of the pastor, and the role of mercy work. The story highlights how much of the work Joshua does is on the streets of Philadelphia bringing the Gospel to the homeless. Josh makes the incredible but profound point that it is the theological and liturgical character of his education at the Fort Wayne seminary that   More…

The meaning of Pastor Morris’ apology on the synod’s WMLT blog is hard to decipher. His recent interview in the Newtown Bee sheds some light on it. Even though President Harrison calls his participation in the Vigil Service unionism and syncretism, which is a sin according to Scriptural teaching and forbidden according to the LCMS Constitution, Morris makes it clear that he did not apologize for his sinful participation in the event. Here is the first paragraph of the story. Rob Morris, the pastor of Christ the King Lutheran Church in Newtown, has apologized to those who were upset or   More…

The other day Norm posted a “Good Stuff Found” video of two little boys in Nebraska talking about baptism. It is so good it moved commenter Cynthia to sob and to post a moving quote. The video is so good that it deserves another post so that we can get the largest amount of our readers as possible to view it. You can see it here. Here is Cynthia’s comment. Thank you so much. This made me sob. And then pray. There is simply nothing else like two little boys waxing theologically to make this world seem a tiny bit   More…