Stand up and “testify”. The impact of ULC/CLC
Here is my attempt to allow others to see the widespread impact of God’s work through the University Lutheran Chapel in Minneapolis and…
Category: Pastor Joshua Scheer
Infant Communion and Open Communion
Disclaimer: This article is not against the practice of early communion, as it still can reflect faithful instruction, examination, and pastoral care. I…
Strategies and Tips for dealing with COHABITATION
Young and old, it is becoming common. Even on my Concordia Plan “Be Well, Serve Well” survey (courtesy of CareAllies) it talks about…
Life Together – Authority Abuse and Neglect
I presented the following for the congregation I serve during their annual Planning Council. I think it could be useful for discussion. Life…
I drove across the country to meet with my editor (Pastor Rossow)
No, seriously, it was a family vacation of sorts. Highlights: visiting friends in Nebraska and commiserating about parsonages, including the care congregations can…
Was the Church of the Old Testament “missional”?
This question came to mind because I was recently driving around Cheyenne and noticed a “New Testament Christian Church”. Simple question, hopefully will…
A call for pastors to keep watch over doctrine in all situations
Just last weekend numerous congregations in the LCMS used the prayers released by our Synod for the Prayer of the Church. This is…
One Final Result to Catering Ministry to the Unchurched: Removing Christ
From this article on Foxnews it seems Campus Crusade for Christ is changing its name. http://www.foxnews.com It appears like Campus Crusade for Christ…
Cooperation in Externals… see the corruption on display. Lutheran Child and Family Services now placing children in same-sex couple “homes”
I was alerted to this article just this evening from the Chicago Tribune. See it here. Here is what our continued experience with…
Continued Cooperation in Externals?
I recently read the Reporter article about continued LCMS-ELCA talks (see it here.) This post is a continued discussion based upon my previous…
A Laymen’s Confession, the Church’s Confession – Celebrating the Augsburg Confession
Today (at least out here in the Mountain Time Zone) it is still June 25th, the 481st anniversary of the Augsburg Confession. Some…
Church Growth Conference at Redeemer, Fort Wayne – Not the way you think.
Ok, it’s just a play on words, the good folks at Redeemer are not going off the deep end into the error-laden world…
A woman runs for President, is it Lutheran? With POLL. UPDATED
[poll id=”5″] I heard on my local talk radio tonight that Michelle Bachmann will be running for President this time around. Sarah Palin…
Law based Evangelism and “Missional Righteousness”
In my recent post about Rev. Curtis’ papers bringing election into the evangelism discussion there were many lively comments. I also noticed in…
Where is the Love? Introducing Innovation and Breaking Uniformity
I just finished re-reading one of my favorite papers on liturgy and indifferent matters written by our now Synod President. It can be…
Comfort and Praise for Rural Pastors, the two types of growth.
Many times at conferences and conventions certain congregations and pastors are paraded forward as fine examples for the rest of us to emulate. …
Best work on “Evangelism” in a long while – are you a functional Arminian?
Rev. Heath Curtis has rendered a great service to the Church. He has published his papers and audio recordings from his presentation to…
The Fruit of Doctrinal Indifference… a sad story.
I stumbled across this story on the ELCA and how the great turbulence after the 2009 Assembly has largely disappeared. Here is the…
Open Communion and the Assassination of Souls UPDATED
Update: A fellow pastor helped raise attention to the original article on some points that I needed to make more clear – thanks…
Synod and its real estate businesses.
Recently, there has been a lot of posts about the campus ministry situation in Minneapolis. If you look at all of the various…
The Confessions teach us to preach: Sin
Over the past years of my personal study of the Lutheran Confessions, I have noticed something that I think I have often experienced…
Pulpit Shortage and Prayer: UPDATED
One of the first postings I wrote on BJS had to do with the ongoing pulpit shortage in the LCMS (other Lutherans are…
Age of Accountability, Believer’s Baptism, and Abortion
Many erring church bodies accept the idea of believer’s baptism on the premise that there is a certain amount of innocence in children…
Avoiding Unnecesary Conflict in Congregations
Whenever a new pastor arrives at a parish, there is built-in change that just comes with the change in man. Then there are…
Can’t we just remove Illinois? Or maybe Iowa? LCMS, WELS, ELS
A friend of mine in the ELS let me know a few weeks ago about a conference which deserves attention. It is…