Posts from 2016

The Whole Truckful

There is an old story about a preacher who got up early on a snowy Sunday morning and went into church. Because it was so snowy outside, many people did not show up – in fact, there was only one person who did, an old farmer. The preacher waited the customary 5 minutes for any…

Despising Preaching

I don’t know if it’s all preachers that get sheepish around the recitation of the explanation of the 3rd commandment, but I sure do: What is the 3rd Commandment? Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and…

God’s Yearbook Picture

The second commandment will often get interpreted as the “Thou Shalt Not Use Four Letter Words” commandment. However, that may be a bit of a mistake. Except in the case of one particular American invective (the one where you call on God to banish something into eternal torment) the case that Paul makes in Ephesians…

Confessing the Catechism

You shall have no other gods. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust God above all things. This past Sunday we started something that we’re planning on doing all year long – in addition to our confession of the Creeds (the Nicene this Sunday), we recited or confessed a portion of Luther’s…

Prayer and the Lutheran pastor

This past Sunday I revealed in my sermon that I occasionally feel a little weird about people finding me praying. After all, who knows, maybe I could be napping. Of course, then I thought about how tough it is for someone whose vocation isn’t supposed to be religious. I mean, if I’m afraid of people…

Two Kingdoms and 15 year old drivers

Technically Lutherans don’t believe in a “separation” of church and state, at least in as much as we hear that term being used today. Lutheran theology when it comes to politics is called “Two Kingdoms” theology or “Two Realms” theology. Essentially these two “Kingdoms” are as follows: God’s rule which He maintains for Himself (often…

German Service 2016

It’s that time of year again! In a little less than a month, University  Lutheran will be hosting its annual German Christmas Service on NOVEMBER  30th, WEDNESDAY night at 7pm. We would love for you to be a part of it  this year. The German Christmas Service is an opportunity to celebrate “auf Deutsch”  with…

Fly the W

I’m not a Cubs fan. In fact, as a Cardinals fan, I was told that Cardinals fans cheer for the St. Louis Cardinals and whoever is playing the Cubs. But getting caught up in Christian empathy, I can’t help but smile as the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series in over 100 years (and…

Mind the Gap

As you’re reading this, I’m probably either up in the air or in St. Louis. The reason for that is that I have been invited to be a part of a think tank group that is addressing something that happened this past summer at the LCMS National Convention. Namely, that a resolution was passed that…