“Church Growthers, release your home spun creeds and liturgies, your felt needs, your sermons on ten keys to do this or that and your missional minded leader or we will unleash one million comments from a Confessionally Lutheran blog on … Continue reading
The brotherhood of our Lord’s shepherds has lost a beloved comrade. Rev. Klemet Preus died in the Lord today. He will be greatly missed by those of us still waiting for Jesus to take us home to heaven. In the … Continue reading
The morning news shows will often feature military bands on patriotic holidays. This weekend the U.S. Army is celebrating a birthday and true to form the morning show on Fox News featured a military band. Only it wasn’t a marching band, … Continue reading
Dr. Daniel Gard has accepted the call to be president of Concordia University, Chicago. We are very pleased with this outcome here at BJS. You can read our earlier commentary here. For more on the decision click here. … Continue reading
Dr. Daniel Gard, Professor of Exegesis at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana, is the new president of Concordia University Chicago in River Forest, Illinois. This is a wonderful blessing that is very positive for the proliferation of our Lord’s … Continue reading
Several pastors, evangelists, deaconesses and laymen have released a video of their protest outside of the headquarters of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya (ELCK) over the alleged dictatorial leadership of Rev. Walter Obare (video shown below). Click here … Continue reading
Bill Donohue (you might recognize him as one of the talking heads from Fox News) and The Catholic League have put together a petition to boycott Guinness Beer. I just signed it and I invite you to give it some … Continue reading
The marine layer from Lake Michigan, the dunes and the sandy soil make Southwest Michigan a cornucopia of various fruits: apples, peaches, raspberries and most importantly Riesling grapes that are turned into that delicious German wine. It was also a … Continue reading
I just finished signing about 30 of the most beautiful and meaningful confirmation certificates I have ever seen. They are from Agnus Dei Printing. I have always used CPH products and have been pleased but there are some great little shops … Continue reading
Is anybody else “mercied” out? I know I am. I and the parish I serve embraced the three-fold ministry emphasis of synod (witness/mercy/life) when it was introduced and still do although we have a different take on mercy as I … Continue reading
I recently got an email from an older member who asked me why our commitment to the synod in our annual budget is shrinking. I wrote him the following response. (It is edited a bit for sake of clarity for … Continue reading
We have all heard it from our protestant friends and sometimes even from our Lutheran acquaintances – “Why do you have Jesus on the cross, that is so Catholic? That is so negative. We believe in the resurrected Jesus so … Continue reading
The pastors and elders of the congregation I serve, Bethany Lutheran Church in Naperville, Illinois, are interested enough in joining the ACELC as a congregation that we are hosting Rev. Daniel Bremer (Grace, Grand Island, NE) from their speakers bureau … Continue reading
We here at BJS have obtained the attached still photo that shows the rock star pastor ascending into heaven just after breaking ground on the new youth and music building at Bethany Lutheran Church and School, Naperville, Illinois. Actually it … Continue reading
The Concordia University System (CUS) is a mess from the standpoint of hiring faculty, program expansion and confessing the faith to the world. Money and growth have been placed above confessional integrity. As we reported last week, an internship at … Continue reading
On Tuesday and Wednesday of next week, February 18-19, Pastor James May and I will be traversing the southern Michigan, northern Indiana and northwest Ohio terrain to spread the message of Lutherans in Africa. If you have a few minutes … Continue reading
We are taking a break from our national conference this year and helping to underwrite two regional conferences. One is next week in Corpus Christi, Texas and the other is the following week in Fairview Heights, Illinois, across the river … Continue reading
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis Professor Jeffrey Kloha delivered a paper last year to a theological conference in Germany concerning the status of the original Greek text of the New Testament and it left many people scratching their heads as to … Continue reading
In place of our annual conference, BJS is helping to underwrite a couple of one day conferences across the country in Fairview Heights, Illinois and Corpus Christi, Texas. These conferences will highlight BJS speakers and interests. In both locations Rev. … Continue reading
One of my hobbies is watching college football and basketball (Go Hawkeyes!). A few years ago I saw a clever poster at a bowl game. It was at the Oklahoma/Boise State bowl game. A fan in the Oklahoma student section, … Continue reading
The capital campaign for Lutherans In Africa (LIA) new Lutheran Center in Nairobi, Kenya continues to raise funds all around the world and from mission-minded folks who want to see Lutheranism thrive all across the continent. The most recent gifts are coming from … Continue reading
Is this pastor appreciation month? (Don’t you just love Hallmark invented holidays?) I used to know these things years ago before the parish I serve became more confessional because each year about this time I would get a few gift … Continue reading
I had my own conversion from Church Growth psychology to genuine Confessional Lutheran theology and so I am glad to hear of a new book written by LCMS Pastor Lucas Woodford which outlines a similar journey. We also share a … Continue reading
Most would agree that there are at least two “camps” in the LCMS: 1) the confessional group that sees the Lutheran Confessions as a norm for doctrine and practice and 2) the church-growthers who put sociology, psychology, felt needs and the … Continue reading
In light of the recent encouragement of District President Linnemann of the Northwest District, to unseat President Matthew Harrison and replace him with David Maier, I thought it would be helpful to grade Harrison’s first term according to the standard … Continue reading