family

The New Celibacy of our Secular Monastery

By Joel A. Hess –

In the sixteenth century, the time of the Reformation, the Church held celibacy as of greater value than marriage in terms of holiness before God. They required their priests to take vows of celibacy. Men and women were considered holy as they left the domestic life and pursued all church all the time. That was the religious life. On paper, I suppose it makes sense. Who wouldn’t admire someone if all they did was churchy stuff? Also, Paul encourages people not to get married if they are blessed with the ability not to want sex or the desire to cuddle while watching Downton Abbey (1 Corinthians 7).

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Sex in America: We can’t have our cake and eat it too

By Joel A. Hess –

Every day, another sex scandal. For the past decade, we have been shocked by teacher sex scandals. Before that, it was priests. We have become used to politician sex scandals, the honorable Roy Moore and Anthony Wiener notwithstanding. Now, we are enjoying a flurry of Hollywood sexual assault tales. Of course, little do they know that most of America assumed sexual assault was how you got into Tinseltown in the first place.

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Force Majeure

By Tim Winterstein –

Want to start a war between husbands and wives or friends of opposite sexes? Watch Force Majeure together. My wife went to sleep, so we didn’t get to have the discussion. But this is a film that raises questions of the differences between men and women, fathers and mothers. I suspect that, like the characters in the film, the reactions of men and women will match the reactions of Ebba and Tomas, Swedes on vacation at a French skiing resort.

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Men are Not Defective Women, and Dads are Not Defective Moms

By Scott Keith –

(Warning: this blog represents a return to my cantankerous Jagged Word roots.)

I have been beating the drum of the loss of masculinity for years now. Writing Being Dad – Father as a Picture of God’s Grace and publishing The Jagged Word Field Guide to Being a Man have both been attempts to push back against the groundswell that has been rolling over men for years. I could again harp on the media and its tiresome portals of men as daft, inept, bumbling fools who know little and do even less. The fact is, it’s still bad. Commercial after commercial fails to show positive portraits of men and dads for our boys and young men to emulate. But I’m not going to put you through that again. I think that you get the point. I hope. I pray.

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The Enduring Importance of Friendship

By Graham Glover –

This past weekend, I spent an evening with two of my closest friends from childhood. I’ve known these men since I was in sixth grade. One was my best friend and high school debate partner. The other is married to my wife’s best friend and is the father of our godchild (who is my daughter’s best friend). I was in both of their weddings and baptized all their children. I haven’t lived in the same town as these guys for nine and a half years, but every time we get together, it’s as though little has changed. Life has taken us in somewhat different directions—one is an insurance agent, another is a lawyer, and I am a clergyman—but there remains a bond of friendship between us that will never break.

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The Reformation Brings “Good Works” to the Marriage Bed

By Scott Keith –

*This week, I have given my spot over to my good friend and mentor Johan Hinderlie. Besides putting up with me as a friend, Johan has served as a radio preacher, Bible camp director, parish pastor, and tour leader. But he gets most of his fun pretending he is Martin Luther. Sometimes his wife acts alongside him as Katy von Bora. They live in Minnesota enjoying their three married sons and six grandchildren. Enjoy!*

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Longing for the Robot Apocalypse

By Paul Koch –

Last taco Tuesday, I sat next to my buddy Tim at our usual spot. Televisions surrounded us above the bar and throughout the whole cantina. Almost all of them had some sort of sports on display from the LA Dodgers to the beginning of NFL training camps to just about anything you might find amusement in (even the terrible game of soccer). But every once and a while, a particular TV will stream the daily news that exists outside of the sports world as a sort of reprieve from the rest of the familiar storylines.

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The Journey of One Flesh

By Paul Koch –

According to Genesis chapter 2, after man awakes from his slumber, he is greeted with a sight that changes everything. The creature that the Lord God presents to Adam is unlike any other creature God had made. Drawn from the very side of man, this is the perfect helpmate, the ultimate companion, the one thing that would complete the creation of humanity. He leaps to his feet and crafts the first poem, as the one given to name all the creatures says,

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Mine

By Ross Engel –

“But now, this is what the Lord says— He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

In one of his hit songs, the late artist, actor, poet, and musician Tupac Shakur (whose work is certainly not appropriate for young ears) asked the question, “Is it a crime to fight for what is mine?”

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The Best Father’s Day Present

By Paul Koch –

This Sunday is Father’s Day. Unfortunately, it’s not so much a day to honor our fathers and highlight their unique qualities. No, this sad little day hiding in the shadow of Mother’s Day has been engulfed by cheap gifts, tacky ties, and “Word’s Best Dad” mugs. So, do I show my dad how thankful I am for a lifetime of sacrifice and hard work by getting him some new golf balls? Or perhaps a new wallet would better demonstrate my appreciation for all he has done. Fortunately, just as there are gift buying guides for Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, so also there are guides for Father’s Day. So, I can rest assured that I will pick the perfect thing that has the most cleverly devised marketing strategy for my demographic to finally be able to say to my dad, “I love you.”

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God Makes A People

By Paul Koch –

Today is Pentecost. Perhaps you didn’t hear me; it is Pentecost! Aren’t you excited? Haven’t you been looking forward to this day ever since the celebration of Easter? The church marks this day on its calendar every year. It is the day we get out the red colors and tell the story of the tongues of fire and rushing wind as the Apostles began to preach in different languages to those in Jerusalem. It is a big celebration in the church. In fact, historically there were services for Pentecost Eve, Pentecost Day, Pentecost Monday and Pentecost Tuesday. It’s almost like another Christmas! But if you’re like me, you probably don’t see what the big deal is. I mean, you may know the story but why is Pentecost such a celebration? Or at least, why should it be?

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The Church Has Built a Building

By Paul Koch –

Over the past ten years or so of listening to the experts at pastors’ conferences talk in hushed tones about the slow and sure decline of the mainline denominations or speak brashly about intergenerational ministry and our failure to engage the millennials, the common encouragement of their fears and worries has not gone unnoticed. Quite simply, we are reminded over and again that the way things used to work just doesn’t work anymore. If we are to live and thrive, we need to change. We need to adapt and perhaps even mimic the techniques of those we disagree with theologically so that we remain relevant.

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Call Day Extravaganza!

By Ross Engel –

This is an exciting week in the lives of the future pastors of the LCMS. Both of our synod’s seminaries hosted their annual call and vicarage placement services. These are anxious moments as fourth-year seminarians patiently wait through an evening Vespers service to find out where they will serve for their first Divine Call. Second-year students get to find out where they will be placed for their one year of vicarage (like a pastoral internship). The running joke has always been that calls and vicarage assignments are determined by the throw of a dart at a map of the USA, but I’ve been told that there is much more to the process.

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Revolt! Start a Family

By Joel A. Hess –

Want to start a revolution? A coup? Overthrow the world? Raise your fist to the man? Get married and start a family!

This past week, I was so excited for this recently engaged couple sitting in my office that I charged them to do exactly that. We were talking about having kids. Of course, they expressed the typical desire to wait for a little bit. Oh, they had their little mundane dreams of going to the casino and not getting a babysitter, I guess.

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Nothing is Free

By Cindy Koch –

The boy held tightly to his father’s hand as the noise increased. Scared, he looked up past the tangled beard above into those fiery eyes of which he was already afraid. That face he saw above was frozen and hot, launching an invisible attack across the counter. The receiving enemy’s eyes darted to the right and left, unsure of how to escape. This young man on the other side of the counter nervously shifted his weight while feeling around blindly for something on which to hold on. This conversation was going very badly, and they all knew it.

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It’s not Good for the Man to be Alone

By Joel A. Hess –

“It’s not good for the man to be alone”

Those words rang in Jesus’ red, fleshy brain. He said them, after all. Or His Father did. It didn’t matter. He had never really been alone. His Father had always been with him. Even in Mary’s womb or those quiet moments He stole away before those ragged mobs desperately called out his name from the bottom of the hill, He always felt His father’s face, like the warm spring sun, looking upon him.  

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