Crazy Theological Thoughts

Not long ago in Bible Study we had a discussion on how birth, baptismal, and death records were kept on the prairie. As settlers moved west, they did not have established churches to keep such records. There were not court houses in order to hold such records, nor hospitals to keep track of specific certificats. I said the records were kept in their church records. Likewise, someone else indicated that they were kept in the family bible. This brings to mind a great problem with our understanding of Church. A congregation is a group of believers that gather together around word and Sacrament. A congregation is a family. For most settlers, their family was their congregation. Their family was the better part of their community. Nearby families would be able to get together and establish larger congregations. But often times unless you made sure to travel with like minded Christians. Your family may have been the only Lutheran, Reformed, or Catholic family. Your family bible became the ch...

"Hence from ancient times it has been called, in Greek, a “catechism”—that is, instruction for children. It contains what every Christian should know. Anyone who does not know it should not be numbered among Christians nor admitted to any sacrament, just as artisans who do not know the rules and practices of their craft are rejected and considered incompetent. For this reason young people should be thoroughly taught the parts of the catechism (that is, instruction for children) and diligently drilled in their practice." (Preface to the Large Catechism) Often times I struggle with getting people to sensibly understand what is confirmation. Most people think confirmation is some kind of Graduation within the Church. This is often perpetuated by the idea that it takes place in the spring, so some have moved it to Reformation Sunday in the Fall. Others have helped foster this idea because they no longer connect it with first communion. In the early church a catechumen was one lea...

I am a little confused of why this is the great issue. I don't think someone who is biologically a Male should use a female lockerrroom or changing room. But this is where I am very confused, and have been for a long time. Why when you go to a clothing store they have separate locations for men and women changing rooms, in addition they have separate stalls for each individual person, yet when you go to a locker room (where you are most likely removing all your clothing and showering) they have communal rooms (and sometimes communal showers). Whether you are attracted to women or attracted to men, it does not matter do I need to change in front of you? Whether you claim to be a man or a woman, do I need to change in front of you? Or in either case do I have to allow you to change in front of me? I don't care whether you support Transgender, Homosexuality, or even Pedaphilia, do we really need to have men and women Locker rooms? Why do we have these labels in the first place? I ...

Often times Bible translations will change this to something like “child,” or even “sons and daughters.” They do this to be more gender inclusive. But they are really diminishing who you really are. They lose sight of the theology behind terms like, Son of God, Son of Man, or Brothers in Christ. Most people simply view these terms as Masculine dominance within Scripture. But the truth is that it is connecting us with Jesus Christ. These terms are used in different ways throughout scripture but always in connection with Jesus. Jesus is the Son of the Father. He is the one who takes our place. He is the one with whom we die. He is the one with whom we rise. One of my favorite references in Ezekiel is that he is referred to as the Son of Man. Most commentators (I have read) say this is connected to his mortality. As the people are in Exile and the Angel shows him the Temple and the New Jerusalem, the Angel continues to emphasize his mortality. The fact that Ezekiel will die. So Jesus uses...

I have been informed that there is some kind of Transgender issue going on within our state. I also recognize people are continuing to struggle with Homosexual Marriage. Many people want to know what the Bible says. Other people want to claim the Bible to be heartless. Some even want to use the Bible to emphasize forgiveness and mercy, over what it clearly says to be wrong. I am not going to tell you how to set up your bathrooms, because I find it foolish to force anyone to watch another person change clothing, shower, or use the restroom (even if they are the same Biological Gender).  Rather I am going to turn to the broader topic. Does God declare you to be something? Or do You get to pick what you are going to be? Or does Science tell you what you are supposed to be? You can look at most people and determine what gender they are. You can look at most people and figure out whether they are good or evil by their words and deeds. But is this the truth? If we got to determine our ge...

I personally have no problem believing that the second person of the Trinity appeared in the Old Testament in the form of the Angel of the LORD. I also have no problem saying that Jesus was in the form of a man wrestling with Jacob and coming to Abraham (with two Angels). But for those who wish not to think such things. I want to make sure you don't throw everything out. Jesus was in the Old Testament. John 1 makes it fairly clear that Jesus was with God from the beginning. Some will connect the spoken Word in Genesis 1, as the work of Jesus, even as we confess "through whom all things were made." But there is yet a still more fundamental principle at play. In Ephesians 1 there is a great Prayer of St Paul. He attributes various activities to various persons of the Trinity. Yet, it takes great tact to parse out every distinction of the 3rd person Masculine Pronoun. Can we apply this tact to the entire Old Testament? Should we apply this to the entire Old Testament? I don...

How often do we over exemplify the faith of the Saints of old? We often want to ask God for faith like Peter or Paul. Some even want to have faith like Daniel, Elijah, or Jeremiah. There is part of me that has the knee jerk reaction, you don't want faith like them because look how much trouble it got them into, or look how much more God would put you through. The more sensible reaction is who is to say you don't have faith like them. Do you have the faith to call upon the LORD even when your King or Government tells you not to do so? Do you have the faith to tell your rulers they are listening to the wrong sources of information? Do you have the faith to flee from people trying to kill you on account of your faith? Do you have faith enough to do all the short sighted things St Peter did? You may have greater faith than Peter, Paul, Daniel, Jeremiah or even Elijah and Moses. You may have the greatest faith of them all. But you have not walked in their shoes. You will face differ...

I have been thinking about Matthew 23 for a while lately as I think about the struggles some have with a high view of the LORD's Supper. Some my find this difficult to think through, others may find it connecting to things unrelated. But in Matthew 23 Jesus says, "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, "if anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?" I find it very difficult to think of this text with anything greater than the way in which we view the sacraments. When Lutherans talk about the Means of Grace, there is the WORD and the sacraments. But often times today it h...