In the last chapter of his letter to the Romans Paul says a very strange thing. “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.” (Romans 16:20) What makes this unusual is that it takes the idea of crushing Satan, which we know was accomplished by Christ on the cross, and it talks about it in the future as if it has yet to be accomplished. How can this be? The crushing of Satan happened once for all when Jesus died for us. This was in keeping with the   More…

(October 31 is Reformation Day)   Reformation is a great day for men. It is a festival for men to exhale with all the breath in their lungs the strong notes and vigorous rhythms of “A Mighty Fortress,” until they have to gasp for more air to sing the next measure even louder. It is a festival of blaring trumpets calling out our courage in Christ to stand firm on the edifice of his pure word.   Reformation is a remembrance decked out in the crimson blood of the martyrs who remained steadfast in the pure Gospel, some even to   More…

That is the subtitle of satirical southerner Frank Gillespie’s blog – “Putting Out the Fire“. The reason I am highlighting it this morning is not only because of the clever name but more importantly because of two posts by Frank that you ought to read. The first  post is Frank’s  testimony to the wonders of the new “Treasury of Daily Prayer” published by CPH. As with so much of the really great stuff coming out of CPH in the last few years, it was under the guidance of Rev. Paul McCain, the webmaster of our  favorite website and a must   More…

(This is one of our regular columns from the CLCC — Confessional Lutherans for Christ’s Commission) I have been thinking lately about why our faith is so difficult to keep pure in a truly confessional way. I think the Lutheran faith is absolutely the most unnatural faith there is. As sinful human beings, it’s natural to think we need to contribute something to our salvation. The devil always is ready to convince us you can’t get something for nothing. That’s the way the world works. That is generally true in the left hand kingdom, but needs to be completely rejected   More…

Six of our Concordia Chicago professors signed a petition supporting the person and educational theory of Marxist-anarchist William Ayers. We contacted the president’s office and in a part of his reply he stated that “there is nothing in the Limits of Academic Freedom statement that they sign…which would serve as a basis for ordering them to delete their names” from the petition. This response is confusing. Here is what the LCMS synodical handbook says about full-time members of the faculty of our Concordias (Section 3.8.3.8.3, p. 156). (a) The terms and conditions of every appointment shall be stated in writing   More…

I am back with an update on the attempt in Northern Virginia to fund the launch of a Cub Scout troop with Ablaze! funds. I am displeased to report that the attempt passed unanimously.

This isn’t the most Confessional Lutheran take on the Reformation, but it’s a must watch as you complete your Reformation Week celebrations!

There is a struggle going on in our synod over supervision. Dr. John Johnson, president of Concordia Chicago, has taken a weak position in this struggle. We have argued that it is wrong for the professors of our colleges to sign a petition that defends someone who is unrepentant about breaking the fifth commandment and more importantly, teaches a theory of education that is godless and pagan. We called the president’s office last week to alert him to this situation and he has been kind enough to respond. We thank him for that but quite frankly are appalled by his   More…

KLEMET PREUS author of the book The FIRE and the STAFF LUTHERAN THEOLOGY IN PRACTICE and frequent BJS commentator will be speaking in Missouri in Kansas City, Columbia, and St. Louis Thursday-Saturday, November 20-22 Rev. Preus will address such issues as: The Relationship of Doctrine and Practice; Uniformity in Worship; and The Influence of Evangelicalism among Lutherans. Thursday, November 20 7:00-9:00 p.m. Holy Cross Lutheran Church 2003 NE Englewood Rd Kansas City, MO 64118 Friday, November 21 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Country Kitchen (I-70 Exit 126) 1712 N Providence Rd Columbia, MO 65202 Saturday, November 22 9:30 a.m. –   More…

For forty nine  years I  have walked  the face of God’s green earth  and up until this last Sunday I had not had the pleasure of meeting Chuckie Cheese.  One of our god children  had his fifth birthday party with the lively rodent and my wife and I got invited to the party. Seeing the children following Chuckie the mouse around the emporium like he was some sort of pied piper made me  wonder  if there were not some way to combine the liturgy, cheap pizza and an oversized animated Luther character in order to get the children as excited   More…

We are in a political season and the posting of a petition in support of William Ayers was a political act. Our concern however is not political. Our concern is for the church. By their signatures the Concordia professors who signed the petition in support of William Ayers have signed on to a philosophy of education that contradicts what the Scriptures teach.   It would seem enough reason for a Christian to avoid a petition, if that petition supports a man who admits to helping organize fire-bombings of the Pentagon and individual homes amongst other radical actions and that even   More…

Amisdt all this discussion about Concordia Chicago professors wrongly signing a petiton in support of William Ayers, it is a joy to report that the Brothers have added a new chapter. As more and more chapters are added we are making the LCMS a stronger synod that is committed to being a denomination that confesses the truth of scripture against the whims and the rebellious nature  of the culture. Yesterday (Saturday) Zion Lutheran Church in Marshall, Michigan held its first Brothers of John the Steadfast chapter meeting. Ten laymen got together to study the Book of Concord with Pastor Roger   More…

One of the goals of the Brothers of John the Steadfast is the creation of reading groups whose intention is to get with a Pastor and read through the Book of Concord. For those people who do not have access to a reading group, it occurred to us that we might try creating an “online reading group” right here on the BJS site.

(One of the goals of Brothers of John the Steadfast is to train the Brothers in good practice and theology. This article is one in a series that teaches about the liturgy.

We broke the news on Wednesday that several professors from Concordia-Chicago (an LCMS university) signed a petition in support of William Ayers, known for his past life as a liberal activist involved in terrorist fire-bombings which still to this day he says he does not regret. More to the point, both he and the  petition, put forth  a questionable, even pagan philosophy of education. We have had some readers wonder if these professors should be cut some slack in the name of academic freedom. This is a good question that calls for an answer. Here are some excerpts from some   More…