By Cindy Koch –
Screaming, scolding, sobbing, shushing… Sunday morning church can be an emotional event for both parent and child. Just last Sunday I held a tired darling little baby girl in the Cry Room, sobbing through the scheduled silence of church. I was transported back to a few years earlier rocking my very own bawling baby, hearing only his angry cry (and not the prayers).
By Jaime Nava –
Voting on mustaches and hearing weirdos compare the benefit of a resolution to a bag of bacon might seem like a waste of time to some people. It’s not. I didn’t expect to laugh so hard from the convention floor this week. Coming to tears with laughter reveals something about our church body. Although we’re doing serious work, we’re not taking ourselves too seriously. I think it’s a reflection of knowing we’re sinners who are forgiven, and that’s pretty cool.
by Ross Engel –
“You had a hogwash of a Baptism. You need to get yourself saved!”
I clenched my fists in anger and my heart broke as I heard a youth recount how he was told by the “pastor” of his Christian school that his Baptism was “absolute hogwash.” This administrator of his school had recently told him that he was “bound for hell” because he was a member of “that Lutheran cult church.”
By Paul Koch –
I want to share with you a story about one of the most enjoyable times I have had since becoming aware of things like Synods, church voter’s meetings, and district conventions. Like many of the Jagged Mafia, I spent most of my days in wonderful bliss regarding the need or pervasiveness of politics within the Church. I simply went to church, received the gifts, and knew nothing of the bureaucratic procedures and policies that kept the lights on, the mortgage paid, or for that matter, provided insurance and retirement plans to church workers.
By Cindy Koch –
I know you think it’s a helpful and progressive thing. I’m guessing you know some pretty amazing gals. I’m sure you’re concerned about sounding like a jerk. But stop it, for the sake of our women.
A leader of the church is someone amazing, but not because there is something amazing about the person. One is amazing because God puts gifts in his hands and words in his mouth. God chooses and uses things and people to deliver his gifts.
By Joel A. Hess –
Rodney King famously exclaimed in the 1990s, “Why can’t we all just get along?” Recently, after witnessing the horrific shootings of the past week, a number of people have asked me the same question. Seems simple, right?
By Bob Hiller –
Don’t go to church for the pastor. It won’t end well. He is not a celebrity. He is not a spiritual guru with special insight into the workings of heaven. He is not a magical priest who alone has the power to save. He’s no one to put your faith in. He’s a sinful dude with a message he has to deliver. To be sure, that message is from God. And it is the most important message you will ever hear. That message is worth showing up for. But the guy who delivers it? As much as you might like him, as funny and handsome as he might be, he’s just not the one you should go to see.
By Ross Engel –
As a kid, summer family vacations almost always took us to the mountains. More often than not, we’d load up the station wagon and head for the Smoky Mountains, though there were a few summers when we made the long drive out to the Rockies. I’ve always enjoyed the thin air, hiking, and enjoying the beauty of God’s creation.
By Paul Koch –
I have been the pastor of exactly two congregations since taking my ordination vows. At both of these churches I was the sole pastor and neither of them were what we might call “large” on the buts-in-the-pew scale. They were very different congregations with very different histories and habits, and both of them I have learned to love more than I thought possible for a group of sinners crowded into one place. Though my 13 years of experience isn’t as grand or well-rounded as many of my colleagues, it has taught me some valuable lessons that are worthy to remember and hand on to others. One in particular is simply this
By Graham Glover –
I’d love it if more of you were Lutheran. Specifically, it would be great if you were a member of or in fellowship with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. It’s not that the LCMS has a monopoly on the truths of Christendom, but as I proclaimed in my ordination vows, I believe her confessions to be a correct exposition of the Holy Scriptures and a right exhibition of the Christian faith. This is why I am and will remain a loyal member of her communion.
By Joel A. Hess –
Surely, this 4th of July has been one of saddest for me. It’s hard to get excited about the freedoms our country was founded upon as they are speedily being stolen from us by the current administration, aristocratic courts, and big businesses. The current forced cultural revolution looks exactly like the one imposed by the Chinese tyrant Mao Zedong. Leaders who come in the name of progress almost always leave the people they say they are helping dead.
By Jaime Nava –
According to this 2011 report, 0.2 to 0.3 percent of Americans consider themselves transgender. As percentages go, that’s not a big number. Our country loves to lift up the strong minority for the sake of some cause or another. Since gay marriage has passed, folks are now clamoring to support a new and shiny minority. I’m not saying that transgender people don’t face their issues. These are people who feel what is tangible isn’t really real. Anorexics feel the same way, too. They have their struggles and need support as anyone who feels that their body isn’t their reality. Interestingly, many feminists are finding issues with the transgender movement, as well.
By Bob Hiller –
Dan Patrick had a pretty fascinating interview with the great Lenny Dykstra this past week. Dykstra was truly one of the great ball players back in the 1990s with the Philadelphia Phillies. Well, as he told Patrick, he “medicated” himself to being one of the great ball players. Dykstra is quite open about his steroid use in the ‘90s and really quite good at normalizing it. Dropping every “excuse-to-sin” cliché in the book, Dykstra demonstrated how “using” was standard. “The only [players] who weren’t using were stupid, unless they hate money.” There’s the old, “everyone else was doing it” line. “As weird as it may sound, I did it for the right reason, for my family and for my ability to stay on the field, because I am not physically built to withstand the 160 game season.” Yes, of course, we all know that “the ends justify the means,” and his family’s well-being is a worthy end, isn’t it?
By Jaime Nava –
When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. This quote, attributed to Mark Twain by many, sums me up so completely. In high school, I thought I had things nailed down. In undergrad, I found it difficult to think that I could learn any more than I already had. Even in my beginning years of seminary, I felt like I had a pretty good handle on knowing. This satirical article could have been me.
By Ross Engel –
In the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke, there is a scene where Luke (played by Paul Newman) is working on the chain gang and is belted unceremoniously down the side of a hill by the prison captain. As he lies in the dust, the Captain stands over him and exclaims, “What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”
This iconic quote has been used in a wide variety of places. It was quoted in the intro to a Guns N’ Roses song (Civil War) and even an episode of the cartoon show Darkwing Duck, just to name a few. I’ve had the quote in my head for the past few days as I was considering some of the conversations I’ve had recently about the faith.
By Paul Koch –
Small talk at a recent wedding reception:
Guest: “So you’re a pastor, huh? I enjoyed that sermon. What sort of pastor are you?”
Me: “I’m a Lutheran. Missouri Synod, if you know what that is.”
Guest: “Lutheran, no kidding. I used to go to a Lutheran church, grew up in a Lutheran church. Do you guys still do the traditional stuff, or do you have a band?”
(Why do they always want to know if we have a band?)
By Bob Hiller –
With the death of Muhammed Ali, 2016 has taken one of the most significant public figures in the last half century. Almost without argument, Ali is considered to be the greatest boxer of all time. He even, rightfully, self-glossed himself “The Greatest.” (Is it bragging if he’s right?) Not only did Ali dominate in the ring. He was a trailblazer outside of boxing, as well. In an era where athletes, let alone black athletes, were expected to be seen and not heard, Ali used his fame as a platform to stand up for what he thought was right. In the ‘60s, when the Civil Rights movement was in full swing, Ali provided a voice for the black community.
By Ross Engel –
Growing up in the greater Chicagoland area, one didn’t measure distance by miles. Distance was always measured in the amount of time it took to get somewhere. For example, when my wife and I were dating, I never would have said, “We live about 70 miles away from each other.” Instead, I would’ve said something like, “We live an hour away from each other.” Traffic and road types were always factored into the amount of time it took to get somewhere, since ten miles on one road might go by faster than five miles on another.
By Paul Koch –
Well, it’s that time of year again. The kids are finishing up school, families are beginning to look anxiously toward their planned vacations, and it seems like every other week someone you know is getting married. Summer doesn’t officially begin until the 20th, but all the signs are pointing to its early arrival. And of course, this year, if you are part of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, summertime is marked by that strangest of strange churchly functions: the Synod in Convention.
By Joel A. Hess –
Often times, my Roman Catholic friends enjoy mocking my reformation allegiances by pointing out all the different denominations. “Luther did that!” they quip. Perhaps the major criticism of the reformers from the Roman side is their introduction of individual interpretation over and against the official Church interpretation. Of course, if one were to actually read the confessions, there is no support of every man for himself interpretation. Also, having an official magisterium does not guarantee unity of teaching. There are as many ‘little’ church bodies within the Roman community as there are among protestants.
