Whenever a new pastor arrives at a parish, there is built-in change that just comes with the change in man. Then there are the changes that happen because the man doesn’t know all of the traditions of the congregation that … Continue reading
A friend of mine in the ELS let me know a few weeks ago about a conference which deserves attention. It is called the Emmaus Conference. On May 5-6th this year in Tacoma, Washington the Presidents of the three … Continue reading
I am not witty enough to write in his style (but it shouldn’t stop anyone from trying in the comments), but today (Mar 2) is his 107th birthday. In researching the man who wrote many of my kids favorite books, … Continue reading
This came to me from a dear friend who faithfully serves without a helper (yet) suitable for him. I post it here to help those who are single and those whom they serve. – Pastor Scheer The first preacher, the … Continue reading
This article is about an often neglected part of a congregation, the pastor’s wife. A man who is called to be a pastor has the first vocation of being a husband and then also a father (if God has blessed … Continue reading
Since BJS is dedicated to helping restore fatherhood, I thought I would share a moment from the BJS Conference this past weekend. While attending the first lecture on Witness, my wife and children accompanied me into the sanctuary of Bethany … Continue reading
Doing my future preparations the other day, I encountered something interesting with the Pre-Lent (Gesimas) Gospel lessons. For those of you wondering about Pre-Lent, it’s a part of the Historic One-Year Lectionary. [ Go here for a brief description. For … Continue reading
I recently got back from the 2011 Symposia at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. I was only able to attend the second half of the week, so I will not be able to give comment on the Exegetical lectures. The … Continue reading
Lutheran Hour Ministries has chosen Rev. Gregory Seltz to be their new Speaker. For their press release: http://www.lhm.org/newsroom/enewsstory.asp?ArticleID=16561 The Lutheran Hour link has some biographical information for Rev. Seltz. From that I have compiled some resources to help us get … Continue reading
I was heading back from Symposia in Fort Wayne (another post on that to come soon) and tuning through the radio (AM) when I came across an interview with a Roman Catholic Priest concerning marriage. He went through many “proofs” … Continue reading
I just returned from Fargo, ND attending the Joint North Theological Conference (Minnesota North and North Dakota Districts). While the weather barely cooperated (snow and ice), the conference was outstanding. The teacher for the conference was President Harrison, who taught … Continue reading
98 years ago on January 9th, one of our great fathers in the faith passed into the Church Triumphant: Karl George Stoeckhardt does not receive a lot of mention in LCMS circles nowadays (Sadly he is not one of the … Continue reading
Recently I read an article at the Reporter Online about the continued discussions between the ELCA and LCMS regarding their “Cooperation in Externals”. This concept largely has to do with disaster relief, taking care of refugees and immigrants, and so … Continue reading
One of the big problems being tolerated in our Synod is a wide variety of practices in communion fellowship. Some examples are blatant “open” communion, “real presence believer” communion, “agree to these five points” communion, and “I know I am … Continue reading
A Wish List in no particular order: Men and women would consider the Word of God once again as authoritative and efficacious Preachers would remain preachers, and hearers remain hearers (stop the spiritual abuse) Pastors take the Word seriously which … Continue reading
In another article here on BJS someone commented that because of the mess with ELCA/NALC/LCMC we should change our name. The frustration of the commenter is valid and as the alphabet soup of more liberal bodies expands, it is harder … Continue reading
It came to my attention not long ago that The Lutheran Hour has extended a call to Rev. Dr. Dean Nadasdy, the Senior Pastor of Woodbury Lutheran Church to be the next speaker (see here for proof). Dr. Nadasdy taught … Continue reading
Concordia Publishing House (CPH) has been publishing awesome Lutheran resources for a long time. They are by far one of the best Lutheran publishers out there. Northwestern Publishing House (NPH) has done a great job as well. But as with … Continue reading
Contemporary Christian music has evoked a lot of comments lately on this site. This poll is related to that. [poll id=”4″] Option 5 would be Abba The serpent was more subtle… (Gen 3:1) Feel free to comment with your rationale… … Continue reading
Many denominations practice calling someone from within the congregation to be their pastor. This “home-grown (SMP, DELTO, list your favorite acronym here)” is also in the LCMS. First, there are examples in the Scripture of men who are appointed as … Continue reading
by Rev. Joshua V. Scheer Many and various sources have said that the LCMS needs to return to the Word of God, especially in areas where we have division. Our Synod President has rightly said that every great movement of … Continue reading
By Rev. Joshua V. Scheer Just a few days ago Fox News published a story about Roman Catholic Bishops in the U.S. trying to recruit more exorcists who can discern when an exorcism is necessary and perform the rite. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/12/catholic-bishops-exorcists-needed/ … Continue reading
No, this is not a commentary on modern church architecture. It’s about the pulpit shortage and its effects in the LCMS and the many things to watch out for. One of the worst effects is that there are pastors with … Continue reading
Rev. Joshua Scheer of Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bagley, MN has this article available as a PDF file on his church website; we’ve posted several similar to this in the past, but wanted to make it available to any new … Continue reading
Martin Noland mentioned the LCMC in his article on What, Now, for the Moderate Lutherans?. Previous BJS poster Rev. Joshua V. Scheer (here and here) thought it would be informative for BJS readers to understand more about this group, so … Continue reading