On this Labor Day weekend it is appropriate to highlight the early labors of the Harrison team in St. Louis. Their chosen work setting and approach in the LCMS International Center (IC) prior to Harrison taking office last week is quite revealing. Rev. Harrison was elected on July 11, he officially became president on September 1 and the installation takes place a week from today. Prior to taking office he and his team made some choices for their work environment that provide an insight into the nature of what will be his on-going leadership style and also provides hope for healing for some of the divisions in the synod.   More…

A while back we promoted a book of essays that detail the experience of folks who have converted to Confessional Lutheranism. The professions of faith in the book are called “Wittenberg Confessions,” referring to the home of the Reformation and the place where Luther nailed the ninety five theses to the castle church door. Just this morning we got another example of a “Wittenberg Confession” here on the website. It appeared on an old post by our favorite Calvin expert Bethany Kilcrease (formerly Bethany Tanis). It is written by Warren Brown (see comment #4). Thanks for sharing Warren. We are glad you are aboard   More…

The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) President, Mark Schroeder, dropped a fun little comment on our site this week. He said: I suggested to President-elect Harrison that, if I brush up on my guitar, the two presidents could tape a YouTube video entitled, “Dueling Confessional Banjos.” (see comment #5 on this post by Norm) We are very honored to have President Schroeder visit our site. His work and leadership in the WELS is consistent with what we are doing here at BJS to uphold Biblical, traditional, historic, liturgical Confessional Lutheranism. President Schroeder has been no stranger to the BJS site. (Use   More…

Today at Bethany Lutheran – Naperville, Illinois (pardon the construction work as we transition to a new website) we are rallying the children and adults back to Sunday School and Bible Class and celebrating with our annual church and school picnic. We have all of the standard Rally Day fare including Bibles and hymnals being given away to children, a new adult Bible class, a visit from a fire truck at the picnic, hot dogs, hamburgers and of course the decapitation of John the Baptist. The last item is not exactly standard fare but since August 29th is the Feast   More…

Over on the Ohio District website there is a blog (PDF) (since this was posted the blog has been taken down – see the note at the end of this post) that leaves a bad taste in the Confessional Lutheran reader’s mouth. It is written by Rev. Kevin Wilson of the Ohio district staff. He uses the marketing technique of Chipotle Mexican restaurants as a key for marketing the church. The distaste is not in the Chipotle – I’ve eaten there a few times and it is tasty - but in the fact that Rev. Wilson proposes that we base the philosophy of   More…

Over on an old post on the NALC (North American Lutheran Church) we just recieved this comment from Darrell. The North American Lutheran Church has been born. The constitution was just adopted by a resounding voice vote by the 1100+ in attendance at the meeting in Columbus, OH. Thanks Darrell for keeping us posted. We will have further news and commentary on this monumental event in days to come. (Pastor Rossow, BJS Editor)

In what appears to be the final edition of his Perspectives, a weekly internet letter that Gerald Kieschnick has been writing for nearly a year now, the LCMS president shares some final thoughts on his service. We highlight it here not to talk about the person of Jerry Kieschnick but to use it as an opportunity to talk about the approach to church that he represents. This is a helpful exercise because it alerts us to the different ways to “do church” that are out there and to compare them to the doctrine and practice revealed in Holy Scripture. Rev.   More…

Our BJS website is very blessed to have a truthful, revealing and Scriptural profession of a man who struggles with the sin of homosexuality. His words are instructive for all of us as to what homosexuality is and how it is to be addressed. His name is Andrew and he has become a regular commenter on the site. The specific comment I am referring to was made on a post from August 15th. It is actually two comments. They were given in response to two telling liberal comments in defense of the ELCA’s position on sexuality. Before getting to Andrew’s   More…

We recently had a request for a review of the work of PLI – Pastoral Leadership Institute. I am not aware of any reviews that we have done here on BJS. Does anyone know of any written review/critique of  PLI? If so please drop a note and a link on the comment section below. PLI is a group that trains LCMS pastors in the “things that they do not learn” at the seminary. It is training in practical leadership for pastors. I look forward to your comments below on the matter but also offer my two cents on the matter. When it   More…

Earlier this week we ran a post about a federation of congregations called the LCMC (Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ). This coming week another group of Lutherans is organizing only this time it is resulting in an actual denomination. The Lutheran CORE group is heading up the effort to constitute this new denomination, the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). Here is the report from their recent newsletter. More than 1,000 Lutherans from throughout North America will gather Aug. 26-27 in suburban Columbus, Ohio, to form a new church body for confessional Lutherans in North America. The annual Convocation of   More…

One of our LCMS historians sent me an e-mail this afternoon to remind that today is the anniversary of the death of John the Steadfast. He died on August 16, 1532. Like John, who risked his head for the sake of Confessional Lutheranism, we at the Brothers of John the Steadfast are committed to promoting the Scriptural theology of the Lutheran Confessions. (You can read about our goals by clicking here on the Organization Page of the website.) This website has drawn as much if not more attention than our efforts to start chapters and Confessions reading groups around the globe.   More…

Whenever a saint day falls on a Sunday we at Bethany – Naperville, Illinois celebrate it with the propers for the day. I have learned that while some churches chase after all sorts of trends for liturgical and pericopal variety (40 Days of Purpose, emergent moods with dark and candles, the bouncing ball on drop down screens, etc.), we find sufficient variety in the various liturgies and feast days of the Lutheran Service Book We were treated to a wonderful sermon by Associate Pastor Stephen Schumacher that focused on how Mary knew her place before God as a sinner and   More…

Here is an interesting video that came our way via LCMS Rev. John Day from Houston, Texas who found it on the web. It is from the Wretched Network. Here is how the Wretched Network is described in a press release on the NRB Network. Apparently this little show has been recently added to thier network. Wretched with Todd Friel comes to the NRB Network Late night viewers will soon tune in to find a new program that will both challenge their thinking and bring them levity.  Wretched, a nightly variety show hosted by Todd Friel, makes its NRB Network debut on Monday,   More…

I hope you will take me up on this offer to complete the above sentence. I make this invitation not so much to instruct President Harrison, although he could do worse than paying attention to the amassed confessional wisdom of BJS readers. He is going to do what he deems best and overall there is no doubt his decisions will be a blessing for Lutheranism. Rather, I offer this question to help us all continue to fine tune our sense of what is best for the LCMS and to facilitate this important discussion amongst our BJS readers. Pastor Wilken got   More…

Enough of the worship wars and the convention scene for a while. Here’s a little stream of consciousness type post to give us something else to think about… So I pull into the hospital parking lot today to make a call and one of the three clergy spots is filled with a brand new BMW. I didn’t look that close. It was probably a 5 Series (starting at 45k) but could have been a 7 series (starting at 70k), I am not sure. I am not that much into cars. Our church is in a fairly well to do area (Naperville,   More…