Pastoral Meanderings

Is there a difference between a confessional church and a constitutional one? That was a question raised innocently enough yet with prof...

Just as we have often reminded that the Holy Spirit works through the means of grace, so it is good for us to be reminded that the Holy Sp...

You would have to have lived your life under a rock not to have heard of the scandal that took down evangelical giant Ted Haggard and left...

The seminary side of Lutheranism is undergoing some remodeling.  The ELCA with its formerly eight different seminaries is collapsing under...

It happened that the chalice caught in the distribution and spilled at the rail.  When I saw it, I got down on my knees and cleansed the f...

Sermon preached for Epiphany 5A, on Sunday, February 9, 2014.     We commonly talk of folks as being the salt of the earth people – pla...

That is the title of an article in TIME by Hanna Rosin.  Read it for yourself .  Or read this extended article on Underacheiving Boys an...

For Bart Gingerich, a fellow with the Institute on Religion and Democracy and a student at Reformed Episcopal Seminary, becoming Anglica...

Former LCMS President Gerald Kieschnick wrote in his blog a year ago or so (yeah, I am that far behind): During my days in office I had...

I will admit something probably uncharacteristic of a typical Lutheran -- I cringe just about every time I hear somebody speak of a person...

Thrivent Financial For Lutherans has again entered the news.  Some of you may recall when Thrivent's support of Plan...

It has been our temptation since Eden.  We domesticate God.  We fit Him into our minds, our hearts, and our lives.  We tame Him so He is n...

The UN Committee on the Rights of a Child has issued a scathing critique of the Roman Catholic Church 's handling of priests who had s...

I had someone ask me about the decoration in an Orthodox church -- idolatry or simply excessive ornamentation?  In the course of the conve...

What is the goal of preaching?  It is a straight forward enough question.  I am afraid the answers are all over the page -- even from thos...

I really do not know how I stumbled onto the link.  It was not by design.  Curiosity got the better of me and I read a few of the stories....

Sermon for the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord, preached on Sunday, February 2, 2014.     Ther...

So far this year my family and I have dealt with the serious illness of one parent and the decision that full-time nursing care can no lon...