The Power of Touch
October 31, 2014 Daily Devotion from Lutheran Hour Ministries
Registration deadline extended for campus-ministry conference
The registration deadline is now Nov. 17 for the Jan. 5-7 conference in St. Louis that is geared toward college students, but open to anyone interested in campus ministry in the Synod.(Read more…)
Redeeming Holy Days from Pagan Lies: All Saints’ Day/Eve and Samhain
All Saints’ Eve, All Saints’ Day: Origins and Samhain-ization
Today it seems that everyone knows that Halloween is originally a Celtic pagan holy day named Samhain [pronounced: Sow-in] which the Christian Church supplanted for the sake of forcing pagans to convert to Christianity. Obviously, in this line of thought, Christianity has nothing of it self to offer and must co-opt, adopt, adapt, and use non-Christian sources for the sake of gaining converts from the world outside of Christianity.
A read through the Old Testament will show that the people of God have many times adopted religious practices and celebrations from the pagan nations around them: Sometimes in an effort to gain peace with those nations, sometimes to attract members, sometimes . . . Read All
Nearly 500 years after Luther’s 95 Theses, Pope Still Opposes Christ
It is interesting that as we approach the celebration of Martin Luther’s attempt to reform the Roman Church because it had set aside the clear teachings of the Holy Scriptures and usurped for itself the authority to teach contrary to God’s Word that we have such a brazen example that the head of the Roman Church remains opposed to Christ and His Word.
The definition of “antichrist” is “one who opposes Christ.” There are many “anti-Christs” who stand in opposition to Jesus and teach contrary to what He taught. And in his most recent comments concerning evolution and the origins of man, Pope Francis places himself into that category.
In his comments, Pope Francis claims that the creation went forward . . . Read All
Thy Strong Word – Ecclesiastes 3 “A Time for Everything”
Ecclesiastes 3 “A Time for Everything” with guest Rev. Dr. Victor Raj of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO.
Funny from Gerhard
Another benefit of the long form, multivolume dogmatics is that the author has the time to include funny stuff. Gerhard’s volume On the Church has a lot of great laughs, especially when examining Romanist “miracles.” And here’s a line from the volume I’m currently editing, On Repentance.
Most often they [the Romanists] pronounce the absolution in Latin, a language unknown to the people. Thus in his memoirs Johannes Gastius tells of a priest who absolved a noble who did not know Latin, was not repentant, and was not willing to abstain from sins in the future, with the following form in order to get a gold coin from him: “May our Lord, Jesus Christ, absolve you if He wills, and
. . . Read All
Luther on Ecclesiastes 3
Therefore let us not torment ourselves about future things, but enjoy present things.http://feeds.feedburner.com/WeedonsBlog. . . Read All
Market-Style Evangelism is Enthusiasm
A fellow author for BJS, Pastor Joe Abrahamson, brought to my attention this testimonial of a woman who apostatized after realizing that her life as a Christian was not much different than her job as a saleswoman. From listening to her story it hit me at how much happiness and fellowship she was enjoying during her short monologue. Her comrades of scoffers reacted with hearty laughter as she recounted to them, with her calm sense of humor, the events that led to her conversion to unbelief. You can take a listen if you would like. What her whole presentation reveals is how damaging market-style evangelism is for souls. And we should not be fooled.
The problem with market-style evangelism . . . Read All
Faith’n’Family – The State of the Synod, Marriage, and College Students
With guests Rev. Herb Mueller, Rev. Marcus Zill, and Rev. Tom Eckstein.
His Time – Lutheran Senior Services, Ministry of Light of Christ Church, Laborers in the Vineyard
(1) Jane Wilketalks about Lutheran Senior Services, (2) Becky Shaw talks about the Ministry at Light of Christ Church, and (3) Rev. Scott Snow looks at Matthew 20:1-16 and gives today’s sermonette.
Law and Gospel – Ruminations, Houston, Hate Speech
(1) Ruminations with Wes Reimnitz. (2) LCMS pastors need not be in agreement in all things. (3) Casuistry. (4) Houston demands sermons. (5) Caller: About hate speech. (6) Isaac and Esau.
Youth Corps Learnings: What I learned from a week of service with young adults
The Rev. Mark Kiessling shares three key learnings from Lutheran Youth Corps’ week of service for young adults .
(Read more…)
On the Dangers of Contextualization
Contextualization Level: Expert
In a generic sense, contextualization refers to considering the context, that is, the situation, environment, time, and culture in which an event takes place. Within the church, contextualization usually refers to the process of speaking God’s Word to a group of people in a way which considers and adapts to their context. A great example of comes from St. Jerome and Dr. Luther. Each saw that the Bible of his day was in a language that only few understood, so he produced a translation in the language of the people. In St. Jerome’s context, then, Latin was more appropriate than Greek as the language of Scripture being read to the people. Centuries later, Luther produced a . . . Read All
And Happy Birthday!
To Lydia Charlotte, my YOUNGEST granddaughter. Can’t believe it was a year ago I first held you.http://feeds.feedburner.com/WeedonsBlog. . . Read All
A Short Biography of Dr. Martin Luther
Martin Luther was born on November 10, 1483, in Eisleben, a little town in Saxony, northern Germany. His parents were ordinary middle class people,…
Jesus’ Church Doesn’t “Suck.” Period.
If you are gathered with people who first and foremost consider felt needs, personal desires and tastes; if more prominence is given to the style of the service than the substance; the flash and splash is more front and center than the Word and Sacrame…
Lutherans in Africa's Facebook Wall 2014-09-24 07:41:26
Timeline PhotosTook way longer than we had hoped but we finally got our solar panels installed. Electricity is VERY expensive in Kenya. Our bill is usually over $200 per month but that is for the entire mission center and several computers. The chapel is the center part of the building pictured and we have translation offices to the left as well as living spaces. On top of the second story is a solar water heater which provides warm showers from noon time on. Thank you to Rev @[1054402178:2048:Rob Wurst], Dr. @[1842292254:2048:Harold L. Senkbeil], and @[1222986122:2048:Stefan Adrian Wozny.Pops]. We still have a bit of wiring to do and will hope to get that done tomorrow. Good news is, we will be able to use more mission funds to train more evangelists and we will have electricity even if the city power is down which happens often.
No domino effect here. . .
“Incest between siblings appears to be very rare in Western societies according to the available data but those affected describe how difficult their situation is in light of the threat of punishment. They feel their fundamental freedoms have been violated and are forced into secrecy or to deny their love.The majority of the German Ethics Council is of the opinion that it is not appropriate for a criminal law to preserve a social taboo.In the case of consensual incest among adult siblings, neither the fear of negative consequences for the family, nor the possibility of the birth of children from such incestuous relationships can justify a criminal prohibition. The fundamental right of adult siblings to sexual self-determination has more weight . . . Read All
Growing acceptance of “post-birth abortion”
With the help of modern science, pro-lifers have pretty much won the argument that a baby in the womb is a human life, there being little difference between a child in the womb and a child outside the womb. But that doesn’t mean pro-abortion zealots are necessarily changing their beliefs. To an increasing number, this [Read More…]
. . . Read All
Ancient Polynesians had children with American Indians
Easter Island, known for its mysterious stone figures, is 2,300 miles from South America. And yet, DNA research has found that the ancient Polynesians had children with Native Americans. This happened between 1300 and 1500 A.D. Today, the residents of Easter Island are 10% American Indian. Meanwhile two skulls have been found in Brazil that [Read More…]
. . . Read All
Lutheran order of the divine service in isiZulu, seTswana and English.
The Lutheran Order of Service for Reformation Holiday is available here in isiZulu, seTswana and English. Today it comes with a sermon based on God’s word from Philippians 2:12-13 by Rev. Kurt Schnackenberg in English (WE1454141102 Reformationday) and translated as … Continue reading →. . . Read All
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Light for My Path Daily Devotion Bible Reading Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of…