The Two Natures of the Divine Call
The Church stands or falls on the article of justification. Ask any Lutheran about justification and it won’t be long before you’re hearing…
He is also the Associate Editor of Brothers of John the Steadfast, Bible Study editor for Around the Word, and teaches at Wittenberg Academy. You can read his sermons here.
The Church stands or falls on the article of justification. Ask any Lutheran about justification and it won’t be long before you’re hearing…
Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey (Matt 21:5). A donkey—it just doesn’t seem a fitting chariot for…
Thank God for the Gospel! As we celebrate this day of Thanksgiving, it is meet, right, and salutary to give thanks to…
The Bridegroom soon will call us, “Come to the wedding feast.” May slumber not befall us nor watchfulness decrease (LSB 514, st. 1). Ten…
I’ll lay my cards on the table right at the outset. As to the question about whether Jesus welcomes the mentally disabled to…
I was not a popular kid in junior high. If being in the school concert band wasn’t uncool enough, I also chose to…
I recently had the privilege of attending “In the World for Good”, a conference on Urban Ministry at Concordia Theological Seminary in…
It goes without saying that major festivals (e.g., Christmas and Easter) are important for the life of the Church. The Church year is…
In The Contemplative Pastor, Eugene Peterson makes the observation that our culture is “unwell in a new way.” In contrast to previous generations,…
Luther explains the Second Commandment, “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God”, as follows: We should fear and love…
(Luther, “The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector”) Sometimes the most simple and obvious things are also the most profound. We…
New ideas require new ways of speaking. Old terminology doesn’t cut it when it comes to modern conceptions of church, especially when those…
The prophet Habakkuk preaches to soldiers and royal counselors as a city is burned in the background. Though the fig tree should not…
Psalm 33, verses 1—11 The Seventh Sunday after Trinity 1 Shout for joy to Yahweh, O righteous ones, praise is fitting for the…
For the conservative scholar, modern Biblical studies have been something of a disappointment. Much of 20th century biblical scholarship was more concerned with…
When I was first learning the Biblical languages, I found a great deal of encouragement in Luther’s words: “In proportion then as we…
Not all questions are good questions. Godly curiosity has limitations. The serpent’s question, “Did God really say…?” (Genesis 3:1) resulted in the fall…
In “Dying to Live: The Power of Forgiveness”,[1] Harold Senkbeil makes the observation that when a Christian is baptized, Satan puts a target…
The present divisions within Christendom are surely the result of a great deal more than doctrinal divisions. Doctrinal divisions exist, to be sure,…
The author of Hebrews says, “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two edged sword,” (Hebrews 4:12). A sharp…
Good prayer books are hard to find. While good prayer books are available, [endnote 1] most people are after convenience. Just as many…
You wouldn’t think Satan would be able to use something as godly as prayer for his demonic purposes. When he can’t stop us…
The Divine Service is the main course of a wholesome, spiritually nutritious diet. There’s nothing quite like the gathering of the saints—past and…
Words matter. Luther once said, “And let us be sure of this: we will not long preserve the gospel without the languages [Hebrew,…
St. Paul teaches that the Church is the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12ff.). Christ is not divided (1 Cor 1:13), nor should…