It’s been a long time since I’ve uploaded my sermons online, so here is a list of sermons from the past couple months that are now available: The Transfiguration A Sermon on Martyrdom Mark 1:21-28 (The healing of a demoniac) What is the Gospel? Mark 1:14-20 Midweek Lenten Service 1 The Baptism of Jesus Sanctity of Life Sunday Read more
On today’s program I was joined again by Rev. Lewis Polzin of Trinity Lutheran Church in Bemidji, MN. We continued to work our way through Henry Eyster Jacobs’ A Summary of the Christian faith. We discussed chapter 8 on the doctrine of sin. Here is the program. Read more
One of the most freeing aspects of Lutheran theology is gaining an understanding of the proper distinction between law and gospel. This emphasis is one of the distinctive characteristics of the Lutheran reformation as opposed to other reformation movements. The law and the gospel each have a distinct role to play in the salvation of man. The law demonstrates man’s inability before God, and failure to obey. The gospel grants the forgiveness of sins through the proclamation of Christ’s work... Read more
It’s only been a few years that I’ve been publishing books and articles, and have been active in podcasting. In fact, I’m still working toward my PhD at this point. However, even though I’ve been doing this for only a short time, there are some things that I’ve learned, and that everyone going into any public theological teaching (whether writing, blogging, or podcasting) should be prepared for. Here are five things that every aspiring theologian needs to know. 1. Not... Read more
In some theological traditions, justification is seen as simply an “entrance term,” or an event that happens at the beginning of the ordo salutis (order of salvation). Sanctification then arises after justification, and it is sanctification, rather than justification, which defines the Christian life. It is better, however, not to view justification simply as a one time occurrence in the beginning of the life of faith, which is then forgotten or fades into the background to make way for sanctification.... Read more
I’ve recently been reading up on the history of Pietism, the forgotten aspect of Lutheran history. The most recent work I read on this subject is An Introduction to German Pietism: Protestant Renewal at the Dawn of Modern Europe by Douglas Shantz. This 500 page tome is a very detailed and comprehensive history of Pietism within Germany, stretching from the “proto Pietists” through the development of radical Pietism in the New World. The author also includes some great primary-source material... Read more
Former evangelical leader Rob Bell recently stirred up some controversy (again) with his appearance on Oprah wherein he argued that Christians are soon going to be accepting of homosexual relationships. Such a move, according to Bell, is necessary for the church to retain its relevance in contemporary society. Rather than expounding upon a particular passage of Scripture, or explaining how Romans 1 and other texts on homosexuality have been misinterpreted, Bell dismissed the Scriptural evidence on the issue, claiming that... Read more
On today’s program, I discussed the role of politics in the Christian pulpit. I discussed different approaches to the relationship between the church and state, and explained a Lutheran view. I then played a sermon that I preached on Sanctity of Life Sunday. Here is the program Read more
Among the varied groups that arose from the Protestant reformation, there are different practices regarding the utilization of the church calender, and subsequently, of the observance of the season of Lent. The Anglican and Lutheran traditions retained the traditional church calender with some modifications, and Reformed and Anabaptist groups rejected the observance of Lent. Every year, just before Ash Wednesday, a series of blog posts from different authors crop up against the observance of Lent, usually from a Reformed perspective.... Read more
There are certain people and groups online who seem to exist only for the purpose of causing a stir about one issue or another. Usually, these groups are not worth responding to, as one can simply ignore these types of writings and find something worthwhile to interact with. However, the recent post at Pulpit and Pen (found here), is too offensive to ignore. Unfortunately, I’ve already seen this post shared quite a bit. This post is a criticism of Russel... Read more
Just and Sinner
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