Northwoods Seelsorger

The other day at a graveside committal service, an elderly woman confessed that she still had not found a church where she felt comfortable becoming a member. She has lived in the area now for over five years, yet remains as so many are out there - disconnected people who avoid church but claim to be committed Christians. This is not the first time I have talked with people who are quick to claim their status as believers while holding to their right to be private worshipers. Yet this begs a significant question in this culture of cafeteria-style faith shopping. Can one truly claim to be a Christian while still actively avoiding the fellowship of other believers? C.F.W. Walther, first president of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, commented that “it is certain that he who first neglects divine services and gatherings of the congregation has therefore already separated himself from the church.” Harsh words? Perhaps. But what is a person saying when they willingly avoid belonging to ...

The last time I brought up the topic of evolution, Northwoods Seelsorger set a record in the comments section. The debate that ensued, however, was more a reaction of committed evolutionists against Intelligent Design, and unfortunately did not deal as much with the real dilemma evolution poses to the Christian committed to high view of Scripture. Dr. Francis Collins , an acknowledged evangelical Christian and highly celebrated scientist in the area of genetics, has recently entered the evolution debate within the conservative Christian sector, and is aiming to get the Christian community to finally accept evolution. He has launched a new website called "The BioLogos Foundation," which endeavors to show that science and faith are not in conflict, and that it is possible to harmonize evolution with God as creator. The sticking point that Dr. Collins is going to ultimately experience when trying to get the evangelical church to be open to evolution, is the issue of biblica...

Having just written a blog post on "Close Communion and the Holidays," the recent DayStar articles for their online journal were disturbingly timely. I say that realizing they are once again vigorously opposing the official policy of the Synod regarding communion fellowship, yet may very well be 'on target' regarding their assessment of where the Synod is actually at in parctice. In one of the final footnotes of the first article, "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church," author Robert Schmidt writes: "It should be noted that even though “close(d)” communion is advocated by the current leadership of the synod, many pastors and congregations freely welcome Christians belonging to other denominations to commune at their altars." The author makes no effort to hide his contempt for the official practice of the Synod, and in the sentence to which the above footnote was attached calls the LCMS "one of the most exclusionary of denominations....

The act of crossing oneself to some Protestants, not to mention some Lutherans, seems disturbingly Catholic and out of place in worship. Yet, it is so indicative of our theology (cross-centered) and has unfortunately been lost from much of the general piety of our church. So too with many of the traditional gestures of worship. The other day while worshiping at a local pastor's conference I noticed that the pastor next to me was responding to the divine service with the same gestures I am accustomed to using: crossing, bowing, etc. It felt refreshing. But the question a Lutheran today may still ask: "Are such actions not mere empty ritualism?" "Isn't it more important to know what is in the heart?" Naturally anything done in rote fashion for the mere sake of doing it, without an understanding of its purpose and place in worship, can easily break down into empty ritualism. On the other hand, intentional gestures, understood and appropriately use...