“The Amazing, Astonishing Authority of Jesus” (Mark 1:21-28) Authority. What is your reaction when you hear that word, “authority”? I’m guessing that many…
Here is a suggested overture that your district pastor’s conference can pass and submit to the CTCR well before the 2016 convention. To…
I found the note in the picture on my chair when I got to church the other day. It is from my Principal…
In honor of Rev. James May, the Director of Lutherans in Africa (LIA) coming to the BJS conference this year, at one of…
(Rev. Otten has written several articles over the years under the category “Steadfast Lessons from the Past.”) DE JA VU or SAFE IN…
In the constant conflicts over worship in our synod, it seems that too often the level of discourse quickly devolves to snide caricatures…
It’s time . . . to start submitting overtures regarding the issues confronting the LCMS. The following are four overtures that address, in…
Mark’s gospel account is packed tight with Jesus. Every verse is full to the brim and spilling over into the heart and it’s all about Jesus. Even when it’s about John the Baptist it’s all about Jesus. Mark starts his gospel account in the wilderness with John, but John is there to introduce and baptize Jesus. Then Jesus is driven out by the Spirit. “Out there” Jesus is tempted by the Devil.
I have always found it puzzling that we have been quick to remove pastors from office for immoral conduct but slow to rebuke false…
We have already spoken about words and deeds, so here is a post about thoughts, my thoughts… President Harrison has done a good…
Dear BJS readers, The following is found here, where you can give what you are able to help this congregation that serves as a…
There are three things that I see need to be done to move forward with the Matthew Becker case and in the following…
Here is another re-post .. this one from October, 2014: “We have a relationship with Jesus. We are not interested in doctrine.”…
Yesterday, Reverend President Dr. Matthew Harrison posted a fantastic response to the inability of a panel of judges to carry out the charges…
The Gordian Knot is an interesting tale. Alexander the Great’s solution is also interesting. The LCMS Handbook lays out a Gordian Knot called…
Found over on WMLTblog.org: Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House January 26-28, 2015 The Regional Directors, representing Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin…
In 2008, the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod canceled Issues, Etc. That single event galvanized an entire generation of do-nothings like me to sit up…
This is a re-post from October 2014 that reflects Luther’s teaching on how to deal with false doctrine and its teachers. “Doctrine…
2.15 Expulsion of a District President or Officer from Membership in the Synod 2.15.1 The action to commence expulsion of a district president or…
“When a public teacher on the roster of Synod can without consequence publicly advocate the ordination of women (even participate vested in the…
Sermon Text: Matthew 17:1-9,
Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, Historic Lectionary for Transfiguration
Pastor Abrahamson of Clearwater Lutheran Parish, NW, Minnesota. January 25, 2015.
Sermon Text: Mark 1:14-20 [3rd Sunday after Epiphany, Series B] After five years of autumn in Evansville, I have learned not to procrastinate…
“Repent, Believe, and Follow” (Mark 1:14-20) In the early chapters of the gospels, we track Jesus’ early ministry, as he goes about Galilee,…
Progress is not the sole property of free-thinkers unteathered to Scripture like Matthew Becker or out of the traitional/liturgical box church planners like…
There is something people are passing around on FaceBook that is a bit befuddling. It sounds fantastic, but, really….It is not news or…