Northwoods Seelsorger

With the recent passing of Oral Robert s (1918-2009), I was reminded of the significant personalities that once impacted the religious landscape in my younger years. Growing up my parents would reg ularly tune into the Billy Graham (b. 1918) televised crusade, and like thousands of Americans had good Southern Baptist theology conveniently taught in our own living rooms. Graham, bar none, certainly ranks as one of the most influential religious figures of the previous century. Oral Roberts, while recognized today as "a towering figure in 20th century American Christianity" (AP, Eric Gorski, 12-16-09), failed to make much of an impression on my still very Lutheran family. He may have made Pentecostalism mainstream even before the Charismatic movement came into being, but it remained over the top for the religious tastes of the more staid Lutherans of the Midwest. Other personalities, however, made greater and more positive impressions. Robert Schull er (b. 1926) and his...

Apparently the ELCA is far from unified when it comes to the recent denominational decision for full inclusion of active gay clergy. According to a report dated December 11, the bishop of the Northeastern Synod of the ELCA (the equivalent of the president of a district in the LCMS) has decided to pass on the new guidelines and stay with policies adopted in 1990 where "ordained ministers who are homosexual in their self-understanding are expected to abstain from homosexual relationships." Obviously the home office is none too pleased and openly wonders how a denominational leader such as a synod bishop can just choose to ignore the denomination's official policy. You can read the whole story here from the Worldwide Faith News archives.

According to Jesus First author David S. Luecke, the "worship wars" have now come to an end. Just like that. Really? In his November article he claims that they came to an end in the " eight theses on worship unanimously approved by the Council of Presidents in their September meeting." (The COP's "Theses on Worship" can be found here .) With the stroke of a pen all concerns regarding the fidelity and faithfulness of worship practices synod-wide came to a happy end. Well, maybe that's overstating the issue.... Still, to make a broad-brushed statement that the so-called "worship wars" of the Missouri Synod "are over" based simply on a series of theses by the Council of Presidents i s to overstate an issue itself. What Rev. Luecke fails to appreciate is that the situation that gives rise to conflicts over worship, both in the Synod-at-large, and in the parish, is not about appreciating our freedom to use differen...

As multiple deployments of military personnel continue to Iraq and Afghanistan, more and more reports filter back concerning the rise of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ( PTSD ) in our troops. It stands to reason that these men and woman cannot receive repeated trauma and not react both physically and emotionally. It all builds up over time. Given the title of this blog article I do not want to insinuate that much of the normal stress endured by pastors is comparable to the overwhelming stress of a battle environment. My point, however, does concern a difference between normal working stress and the kind of stress that is serious enough to eventually result in physical and emotional harm. With training in CISM I recognize that sometimes 'critical incidents' - incidents that are more intense than normal - can and will be life-changing and personally destructive if ignored and left unattended. Many outside of the immediate working of the pastoral ministry probably do not rea...

Having just taught a Bible class last night on the structure and teaching of the Catholic Church, I took a moment this morning to go over to the blog of Daniel Woodring , former LCMS pastor now turned Roman Catholic. His latest post concerns information about the clerical structure of the church as indicated by church father Ignatius of Antioch . The good father, in referencing the typical order of bishop-presbyter/priest-deacon claimed that "Without these three orders you cannot begin to speak of a church." Mr. Woodring (I assume he is no longer in the "orders" of which he writes) notes that if Ignatius was wrong, it is quite surprising, given his relationship to the apostolic church and his status, that no one corrected him. He then says: " You may reject the threefold office, but you cannot avoid the question, 'Why didn't the early Church reject it?'" I am well aware that for the Catholic church the outward structure defines and iden...

"The church is dying!" a concerned member declares. And who feels they can argue? Average attendance is down considerably from those past glory years. The Sunday School looks quite a bit smaller than it did a generation or so ago. It seems that there was more energy, more enthusiasm, more sense of mission in those 'old days.' Are these then the irrefutable signs that a church is on its way to closing the doors for good? In popular models of the church numbers are especially key. When attendance goes down along with general membership, so does the hope of any meaningful future. Other signs are rather subjective, and depend on one's definition of "exciting" or "enthusiastic." I am hesitant to even attempt to define what it means when a church is dying. For starters, can we impose a certain number of criteria apart from a reasonable view of the church's historical context? In others words, is it fair to nakedly assess a church's...

Christians often disagree in how they interpret Scripture. Sometimes these disagreements are minor and fail to rise to any level of concern. They can safely "agree to disagree" without compromising the integrity of their faith. On other occasions the disagreements set two interpretations against one another with the claim that those with whom they disagree are teaching "contrary to the Word of God." At this level it is impossible to "agree to disagree," for the integrity of the witness is at stake. Yet how do Lutherans resolve such differences? With our historic teaching that "scripture interprets scripture" does this not place us in a 'no win' position of having in the end to embrace both views? Roman Catholics can appeal to the magisterium of their bishops to resolve the differences as they in turn appeal to the ancient cannons of their teachings. But Lutherans do not appeal to anything 'above' the clear Word of God. G...

The most difficult aspect of the close(d) communion practice in our churches usually comes with the presence of a prospective communicant from another Lutheran denomination, especially the ELCA . Many people accept the fact that it is not appropriate for Catholics or Baptists to present themselves at our altar. But Lutherans from other denominations present a unique and thorny issue for the pastor. Where should the faithful pastor turn for support? Exegetes readily admit that Paul's words in 1 Corinthians do not directly address denominational membership as we currently understand it. How could they? The church, thankfully, was yet one. Unfortunately the temptation exists to brush away our need for faithful fellowship at the altar by utilizing the seeming silence of scripture as our escape clause. Furthermore, it is argued that membership in a congregation that happens to belong to another denomination does not automatically imply that the prospective communicant possesses ...

When debates rise about the fellowship policy of the LCMS with respect to participation in Holy Communion, inevitably we are subjected to the supposed semantic distinction of "close" vs. "closed." Often in synodical literature the word is merged into one with the "d" encased in parentheses, indicating that understood properly the words are synonymous. Try convincing anyone of this who is committed to a "functionally open" policy and you encounter a losing battle. Unfortunately language has changed and along with that the older word "close." Dr. Kurt Marquart in his article "Gold, Silver, and Bronze - and Close Communion," notes: Actually "close" is simply an older form of "closed"-as in "close carriage." So, despite the touching stories that have been made up about "close" communion-and why that is so much better than the "exclusive," and therefore politically incorrect ...

In recent discussions at my church on the subject of close communion, one thing has become increasing apparent to me. We have a crisis in our church body and the 'ground zero' of this crisis is in our ongoing failure of catechesis, the work of teaching and passing on to our people the faith once delivered to the saints. To that end I would like to commend to you a past article from the Concordia Theological Quarterly out of CTS-Ft. Wayne. It is an article from 1992, written by a then young pastor by the name of William E. Thompson, entitled "Catechesis: The Quiet Crisis."

11 days later they have reappeared. The website is back up and unchanged. What is kind of interesting to me is that in that week and a half of their absence I failed to find any indication at all that anyone noticed - or seemed to care, at least not openly. And I checked the areas where much of the Lutheran chatter occurs these days. Perhaps their disappearance and the apparent cyber-silence surrounding it sends a quiet message that their influence may be very small and on the decline in the Missouri Synod world. I can only hope. Since I began blogging three years ago I took it upon myself to monitor the sites of those pushing for liberal change in the LCMS (specificially Jesus First , DayStar , and Voices/Vision ). What is curious is the disproportionate amount of space and time confessional-conservative writers openly devote to the issues affecting us compared to those on the other side of the spectrum. I say "openly" because I suspect that there is a lot more ch...

Recently I heard about a question regarding one of the notes in the new Lutheran Study Bible that caused a bit of a stir. So, I looked it up to see for myself what it said. In Exodus 7:17 the Lord instructed Moses to tell Pharaoh that when he struck the Nile with his staff the water in it would "turn into blood" (ESV; NIV - "changed into blood"). The footnote referencing this verse in the LSB reads: "The same sense as Jl 2:31, where the moon is to be turned into blood; thus it was not a chemical change into real blood, but a change in appearance, possibly because of red algae. The Admonitions of an Egiptian Sage (late third millenium BC) refers to the Nile as being turned into blood." Now admittedly I have always believed that the water of the Nile did in fact turn into the substance of blood. This was new to me. I was curious, though, whether the idea presented here was new to biblical interpretation in the LCMS. Maybe I just missed this over...

KFUO-FM Sale “Frequently Asked Questions” October 9, 2009 The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s Board of Directors offers this “Frequently Asked Questions’’ document to provide additional information about the recent sale announcement of KFUO-FM to Joy FM. More questions may be added in the future if necessary. If, after reading this document, you have additional questions or concerns, please contact the LCMS Church Information Center at 888-THE-LCMS (843-5267) or at infocenter@lcms.org . Who is Joy FM? Joy FM is a station that currently broadcasts Christian contemporary music over two frequencies (97.7 FM and 94.1 FM) in the St. Louis area. What is the timetable to transition the station to Joy FM? On October 6, 2009, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) and Joy FM announced an “asset purchase agreement’’ to transfer ownership of KFUO-FM from the LCMS to Joy FM. However, no change will be in effect until the Federal Communications Commission approves the sale. We expect the appr...

October 9, 2009 Letters to the Editor St. Louis Post-Dispatch 900 N. Tucker Blvd. St. Louis, MO 63101 RE: “Missouri Synod agrees to sell KFUO” - Oct. 7, 2009 Dear Editor, The ongoing news coverage of the sale of KFUO-FM has been disappointing in its lack of completeness. There is significantly more to the story than has been reported. The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s (LCMS) Board of Directors is elected by convention delegates and is responsible—on behalf of the 2.4 million members of the church—for conscientiously evaluating the assets of the church to determine how best to use those assets to further the proclamation, mission, and ministry associated with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Synod’s board has been open about its intentions regarding the disposition of its FM station. Since as early as February 2008, this item has been on the board meeting agenda. Board minutes are made public by posting on the LCMS Web site and summaries are reported in the board’s insert “Board ...

Some reading this post may honestly wonder: Where is "Part 1"? - Especially if you have not followed this blog for very long. "Part 1," as such, was my original article on the Ben Stein film "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," posted on July 9, 2008. It received a surprising total of 23 comments, a record unmatched by subsequent posts on this blog. My suspicion is that it was more or less 'hijacked' at the time by some who were actively searching out blogs and sites that positively supported this film, defensive of its claims for Intelligent Design, and its critique of the modern scientific enterprise as it exists in mainstream academia today. At the time of the original posting over a year ago I had yet to see or view the film, as I willingly admitted. This evening, thanks to my son who secured a copy for us to see from an inter-library loan, I finally watched the entire DVD along with my son and wife. Indeed, it is a powerful and convi...

Jesus First , the political arm of the moderate and liberal wing of the LCMS , has posted two new articles for October. Same message, however. Interesting defense of what it means to do politics in Missouri. Do you suppose this defense applies to the more conservative part of the Synod? Also, do they ever critique the current administration? Do they ever honestly question any of the directions given from the International Center? Or is everything that comes out of St. Louis untouchable regarding debate? Oh, and I wonder what the thinking is these days regarding the rather clandestine sale of the Synod's venerable 60+ year old radio station KFUO by the Board of Directors? Sounds like Dr. Paul Maier certainly is not pleased. Think this will get any coverage at Jesus First? I'm not holding my breath.....

In my periodic check of the DayStar site (www.day-star.net) I was startled to see the site missing, and in its place the following message: "This domain is parked, pending renewal, or has expired. Please contact the domain provider with questions." Perhaps they simply forgot to send in the check. Or maybe they are moving on to something else. Seems unlikely. They would never go away that easily. We'll just wait to see what comes.....

In Hollywood sex is simply something to be used, abused, and exploited. Seeing it as a gift of God to be cherished and protected within the sacred bonds of marriage remains an entirely foreign and despised c0ncept. The circumstances under which one might scrutinize whether a particular sexual behavior is right and moral depends entirely on the personality in question. Enter Roman Polanski, the great film director who admitted to unlawful and inappropriate sex with a minor over 30 years ago who he drugged in the process. Who then fled the country to avoid punishment. And who now wonders why anyone feels a need to prosecute him all these years later. Along with 110 other Hollywood stars who recently signed a petition opposing his arrest and extradition back to the U.S. "Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by the decision," the petition reported. Their outrage was directed at the fact that authorities would have the ...

Over at the Crossings web site of Ed Schroeder an article is posted that demonstrates so well the differences between the ELCA and LCMS today. In "In Washington, Missouri too -- It's a Time for Confessing," Robin Morgan responds to an ad placed in a local newspaper by LCMS clergy wishing to clarrify the differences between the two denominations, especially in light of the recent decisions at their national assembly. The Missouri pastors specifically enumerate the doctrines they wish to confess, while the ELCA pastor wishes to counter with an "actions speak louder than words" approach by elevating their work among the poor and disadvantaged. Not once does she address the core issues that truly separate these two large Lutheran denominations. In fact, she even defends the "open communion" practice so prevelent in the ELCA. It is as is she says, "Those issues (such as gay clergy, abortion, higher critical approach to the scriptures, etc.) are i...

In the Catechism we learned about God and the story of salvation from a statement of faith as old as the church itself. Generation after generation it was passed down, each era adopting it in continuity with the one before. Of course the Baptists and like-minded Evangelicals balked at these so-called "man made" statements. They wanted Scripture alone. Never mind that the Creed merely presents a summary of what the Scriptures proclaim. They remained unconvinced. Then some years back the Lutheran church became infected with a strange tendency not so much to reject the Creed, but to alter it. Interestingly, this movement was born not of concerns with the theology within, but out of a need to be relevant, to have variety for the masses that bored of the same old thing Sunday after Sunday. Creative Worship , a worship tool used widely within the LCMS, once produced these creations with regularity. This past week I discovered again that the movement to produce new creeds r...

After it arose in an on-campus Bible study, my daughter suggested that I address the question here in a blog article. Since the Northwoods Seelsorger loves the opportunity to ruminate on deep theological issues, he couldn't resist the temptation to oblige. The question at hand - "Did God harden Pharaoh's heart?" - presents one of the classic dilemmas of biblical interpretation: the potential contradiction. I say 'potential' because it appears as such without taking into consideration the entire context of the passage in question, as well as what has historically been called the analogy of scripture (or analogy of faith), that is, the interpretive rule of allowing the entirety of scripture to interpret and inform itself. In the book of Exodus we read of how Pharaoh, supreme leader of Egypt, is progressively offered the mercy and grace of God through the ministry of Moses, only to spurn it in the end in confirmed unbelief. Specifically, it is said that...

If you enjoy keeping up with religious news around the country and world, you would do well to check out the Religious News Service blog . Especially noteworthy is the recent addition of their daily "religious round-up" which presents a quick summary of newsworthy items of interest through the world, along with links to the full stories. Of particular interest to me this week was Thursday's article "Is religion a dead beat?" Apparently major newspapers continue to drop religion beats as budgets suffer in this down economy: "Newspapers across the country have been eliminating their religion beats," Stern wrote Tuesday on his Journal News blog, called Blogging Religiously. "It seems that religion is seen as a ‘soft news' beat and a luxury at a time when newspapers are emphasizing breaking news on their websites."

As pastors we often complain about the burdens and dysfunctions of the church. Dealing with sinners in a sinful world presents untold challenges and frequent heartache to those who serve. Many a day we simply wish to quit and leave it all behind. Unfortunately the dark side of church life and the realities of our people's struggles too frequently predominates in our minds. It clouds over the joys and blessings that come from the Lord of the Church who has given us an incomparable privilege to labor in His vineyard as undershepherds of the Good Shepherd. So today I wanted to simply pause in my own journey to give thanks and reflect on the equal, if not surpassing, number of blessings overlooked in the process of slogging through the difficult labor of shepherding the church. This morning I made a visit to the local hospital to see a mother and her newborn child. It occurred to me in leaving that as a pastor I have the unique privilege of entering into the most private moments ...