As mentioned on other posts, my wife and I received the ministrations of the Lord from the mouth of Pastor  Ernie Lassman, Messiah Lutheran Church in Seattle on Thanksgiving Day. In place of our usual weekly liturgy notes let me share a few thoughts on the liturgical practice of Matins at Messiah in hopes of  exemplifying for the Brothers  good  liturgical practice. Indeed, there were many good things practiced at Messiah. Since it was not a church festival or ordinary Sunday but  the day of national thanksgiving, there was no sacrament and  we sang the daily office of Matins. I   More…

I wish you could all have the experiences I am having meeting  confessional Lutherans around the country.  There are some wonderful confessional  pastors and laymen out there. This week my wife and I are out in the Pacific Northwest visiting family and I am using it as an opportunity to spend some time with the confessional folks  around Seattle. Earlier this week I introduced you to Scott Diekmann from Puyallup, Washington. Today I would like to introduce you to a pair of Messiah Lutheran Churches and their pastors: Messiah, Seattle and her pastor Ernie Lassman and also  Messiah, Marysville and   More…

It is now possible to register online for the national conference coming up in February, just click here. For details on the conference, including a link to the promotional brochure click here. The previously advertised deal on a combination conference registration and one year dues in the organization has been adjusted. We wrongly advertised it at $65 but it actually is $60. There is also another special described on the online registration form.  If members bring two or more guests they are welcome to register their guests at the member price. The conference speakers are Pastor Todd Wilken, the host   More…

(This is the final post in a seven part series on Christology.)   If you have read my last six blogs you may be asking. What if I have never heard of Ulrich Zwingli, was born in 1960 and never really knew what Seminex was all about, have never read anything in the old CTM and certainly nothing about secularization theology, believe that Kent Hunter is a radical and does not represent the church growth movement in Missouri, attend a church which practices closed communion and have always believed that Christ’s body and blood are received and consumed by all   More…

(Pr. Niehus is one of our regular columnists. His column is titled “Church News Watch and Commentary.” His beat is the Chicago area, the Northern Illinois District and the church at large. His posts can be found on the Regular Columns page.)   Some of you may have heard that on Reformation Sunday yet another LCMS congregation has closed their doors.   As reported in a news release by the Northern Illinois District, on 28 October 2008.   Hope Lutheran Church, Park Forest Illinois has conducted their last worship service as Hope Lutheran Church.   The article goes on to   More…

“Restructuring the Synod: Evaluating the Proposals of the Blue Ribbon Task Force” will be the topic for the Circuit Convocation of the Iron Mountain Circuit, Missouri District, on Sunday, November 30, 2:30-4:30, at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Crystal City (221 N Brierton Ln, Crystal City, MO 63019).   The guest speaker will be Southern Illinois District President Herbert Mueller.   All are welcome to attend.   For more information, contact program coordinator Rev. Charles Henrickson, henricksonc@yahoo.com , (314) 779-8108.

I checked out the “Treasury of Prayer” this morning for devotional material for a day of national thanksgiving. Even though it is not a “church” commemoration I thought I might find something. The best I could find is a prayer of thanksgiving to God in the intercessions section (p. 1,316). What caught my eye however, is the prayer just above it “for steadfast faith.”   Ever since the inception of the Brothers of John the Steadfast last spring, Cantor Magness and I have been noticing how often the word “steadfast” shows up in scripture and liturgy, and this is another   More…

Ok, here is where I get into big trouble…   In the 1970′s a Lutheran Synod that bears the name of a Midwestern state, that has a unit concept of fellowship and teaches that the pastoral office is only one form of the divinely instituted public ministry, opened a high school in a western suburb of Detroit. There was great pride and happiness that God had blessed the families of the local congregations of this Synod with a Lutheran high school where they could send their children.   At the same time there was another Lutheran high school about 10   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. Sorry this posting is late! Hopefully you can catch up on it.

(This is number six in a seven part series on Christology) Recently I wrote a series of Blogs which showed that the LCMS is hopelessly divided on the question of who should commune at the altar of our congregations. Some pastors commune only those who are members of congregations which are in fellowship with us. Others commune those who believe in the real presence. Unfortunately there is a second aspect of the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper which seems to divide us. Precisely how do we express and confess our belief in the “real presence of Christ” in the Sacrament?

After the Conference! Recordings from the conference, and comments after it Updated Information: NID District President Dan Gilbert is the preacher at our Vespers service; Pastor Ben Ball is the preacher at the Divine service. Bulletin insert to help advertise the conference Register for the conference here Register for one of the parties here Here is a pdf of the flyer announcing the details of the BJS National Conference coming up in February. We are very pleased to have both Pastor Wilken and Chris Rosebrough as our featured speakers. Take a look at the flyer and make your plans to   More…

My wife Phyllis and I are out in the Pacific Northwest for a few days to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 90th birthday on Sunday. We are taking advantage of the trip to connect withsome of the Brothers of John the Steadfast out in Seattle. Particularly we are meeting with Scott Diekman and Jim Pierce. Yesterday we had lunch with Scott Diekmann from Puyallup, Washington a suburb about forty-five minutes south of Seattle. Scott is known to many of you as the editor and writer of Standfirm. Scott is a wonderful example of an LCMS layman who takes doctrine seriously. His area   More…

So we noted that Bob Roegner resigned suddenly from the LCMS Board for Mission Services. That board has been a disaster for some time so it will be interesting to see what Kieschnick and the leadership of the board have in store for it. Well, the cash-strapped Synod had all of its boards meet in Palm Springs last week and the BMS appointed Tom Zehnder as the interim executive director. The press release announcing the appointment made note that Zehnder “is a great supporter of the Synod’s Ablaze! movement and the Fan Into Flame campaign to support it.” A bit   More…

(Editor’s Note: We thank Brian Thomas for submitting this comment today and thought it deserved a broader audience than our comments page.) Pr. Rossow, We on the left coast have just experienced (unfortunately) what these men from Water’s Edge have to offer by way of preaching as their “Missions Pastor” (Travis Hartjen) led the Pacific Southwest Distric Youth Gathering this past weekend in San Diego. I can say that it doesn’t seem much different than what our friends in Texas are dealing with. Here are a few of my take-aways: 1. There was a clear and unecessary wedge driven between   More…

Is there anyone out there amongst our  readers that is going to the Texas Lutheran Youth Gathereing and culd give us a report? If so please e-mail me at trossow@steadfastlutherans.org. Some of the things to look for include: 1) listening to hear if Kari Jobe says anything. We are told that she is going to be like an organist and so we have nothing to worry about but my guess is that she won’t be able to keep her mouth shut in between songs as is usually the case with contemproary musicians – they think they are preachers; 2) speaking   More…