Worship is Being Served By Jesus

What is worship? This is one of those questions wanting a clear answer from the Lord’s Church. Unfortunately answers are muddled. “Worship is my praise and thanks to God for who He is and what He’s done.” “Worship is the yearning of the heart to be close to God.” “Worship is our service of singing [...]

Love is a Mass Murderer, or “Happy Valentine’s Day”

When our Lord Jesus is raking the rich young ruler over the coals, He starts with a five-commandment combo: “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,  Honor your father and mother.” And then He finished him off with the right hook of love. [...]

Three Manifestations of the Curb of the Law

It is common in Reformation Theology to speak of the first use of the law as a curb; the law keeps a general order in society. “The first use of the law,” says one Todd Wilken (the Oprah of Lutheranism, “Toprah”), “is to keep us from killing and eating each other.” The first use of [...]

A Lutheran Theology of Evangelism, Some Theses

It a common misconception that “Lutherans don’t do Evangelism”. This is not true. What is true is that when Lutheran go about the business of evangelism, they often abandon their Lutheran doctrine. These theses are an attempt to begin with our Lutheran theology and paint a picture of what Evangelism is and is not. Your [...]

Hope Lutheran Church Food Pantry Opening

  The Hope Lutheran Church Food Pantry opened last Thursday, and will be open every other Thursdays. We served over thirty families (180+ people) with over 2,000 pounds of food. God be praised! And thanks to all the members and volunteers who helped make it happen.

Preaching Advice from a Doctor

“You know, Bryan,” he said, “preaching is like preforming surgery. You have to take out the scalpel and cut deep. Preaching, like surgery, is a violent act. This takes courage; you have to wound before you can heal. Most preachers,” he continued, “are trying to do heart surgery without breaking the skin. They are trying [...]

Three Broken Ladders

Remember the tower of Babel, humanity coming together to build a tower up to heaven? The project continues. Our sinful flesh is constantly working and striving up into heaven. Lutheran theologian Adolph Koberle talks about these attempts of man to ascend to heaven as the three ladders. These three ladders are moralism, mysticism, and speculation. [...]

Life as Game

More than anything I’ve read outside the Scriptures, the following passage from Kenneth Minogue has given me great joy and freedom. The phenomenon of ideology reveals to us that Western civilization is the site of conflict between two distinct ideas about the human condition. Each conception responds to very powerful impulses in our European world. [...]