freedom

Do You Hear Their Shouts?

By Paul Koch –

When you think of the arrival of our Lord on that first Christmas in the little town of Bethlehem, you have to admit that He arrived with quite a bang. I mean, sure, He was born in a manger and in the poorest of poor conditions, but the fanfare that surrounded this arrival is legendary. Shepherds tending their flocks are greeted by an angel proclaiming good news of a great joy. If that wasn’t enough, all of a sudden a whole multitude of heavenly creatures lit up the sky singing, “Glory to God in the highest!” Though we don’t know it yet, there are some wise men out in the East who are starting to pack their bags and head off to find the arrival of our great King. Yet, when I read about our Lord’s arrival into the city of Jerusalem humble and riding on a donkey, I think this moment is far more impressive than the angels in the night sky.

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Idle Temptation

By Paul Koch –

We have all heard at some time in our life, usually on the lips of a well-meaning grandmother, that famous saying, “Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.” This is a great saying and there is truth found in it. In fact, if you think about it, this saying focuses us on a central problem of mankind. The thing is, our hands don’t stay idle. To be idle is to be unproductive, to do nothing, but we are busy creatures always working in some way. So, this a cautionary saying that if our hands are not being employed toward something good, something faithful, or something beautiful then they will be employed towards something wicked – for they will not stay idle.

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After the Election: A Pastor’s Concern

By Bob Hiller –

Like you all, I’ve been sort of reeling in the wake of Tuesday’s election results. If I am being completely honest with you (and why would I have reason to be anything else), I truly don’t know how to feel about the president-elect. But like many of you, my blood pressure has risen and fallen at remarkable rates as I’ve scrolled through my social media feeds. I have a lot of personal and political concerns about our country and would have had them regardless of who got elected. In today’s blog, I don’t think I can contribute much to the conversation by way of political analysis or social criticism. Anything that I have to say on that front has likely been said already by people far more capable and intelligent than myself. However, as I read through my feed and reflect on my own personal actions and attitudes this past week, I do have a pastoral concern that is weighing on me.

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How You Should Vote

By Paul Koch –

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Allegiance. Allegiance to a republic that stands boldly as a great nation under God. Allegiance that binds us together as citizens of this great country. Left-wing, right-wing, Christian, Muslim, black, Hispanic, poor and rich we are all a part of the land of the free and the home of the brave. And this Tuesday we will once again take to the polls and the rest of the world will watch as we elect the next President of the United States. Once again, we are enduring a hotly contested race. Once again, we hear the charge that this is the nastiest year yet, most divisive, and most shameful all around. Perhaps it is. Perhaps this year really is the worst we’ve ever experienced. It is certainly the most expensive. Did you know that this year they’ve estimated that over 5 billion will be spent on the political campaigns?

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Why I’m Happy Being a College Dropout

By Caleb Keith –

*Written by my beautiful wife Erika, who is helping me through a busy week.

I met my husband, Caleb, just after finishing my sophomore year of College at Concordia University-Saint Paul. We were camp counselors together, and our relationship moved pretty quickly. We both knew within a few weeks of dating that we would marry. It was an exciting time, but we were going to school in different parts of the country. We made some difficult decisions pretty quickly; I would finish the fall semester at Concordia in Saint Paul and then transfer to his school, Concordia Irvine, in the spring.

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Guilty and Free

By Paul Koch –

Today in churches across this country, well at least in Lutheran churches (well, at least in some Lutheran churches), they are taking a moment to step aside from the normal flow of things to focus on an event in time 499 years ago in a little town in Germany. On All Hallows Eve in 1517, a young and energetic Augustinian monk and professor of theology named Martin Luther, nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg an invitation to debate on the topic of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences. An indulgence was a way to reduce the amount of punishment one must undergo for their sins. In Luther’s day the church would sell them to fill the its coffers. So, Luther invites discussion on this issue by putting forward 95 theses that ought to be considered. Little did he know or expect at the time, but this simple act, this honest attempt to resolve a problem that had robbed so many of the sweet assurance of the Gospel, would prove to be the beginning of the great Reformation of the church.

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A Church of Cowards?

By Paul Koch –

For the first six years after I was ordained, I gathered every summer with an incredible group of friends for what we called the Conviviumm Theologicum. It was, for all intents and purposes, the best possible pastors conference ever created. We only invited pastors we liked hanging out with and their wives. Then we brought out a professor from one of the seminaries along with his wife for a few days of teaching, drinking, eating, and great conversation. We did everything from swimming in the freezing waters of the Hood Canal in Washington to taking a tour of the Okefenokee Swamp in Southern Georgia. The tagline for our adventures each year was the same. We gathered to “worry the bureaucrats and annoy the pietists.”

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The Pure Gospel – Absolution

By Jonathan Holmes –

We live in a world where a person who admits their sins and weaknesses is considered cowardly. To actually say one is wrong is often viewed as a sign of frailty and feebleness. Why? Much of it is pride; and for those who are proud they see themselves as strong and ambitious and are willing to trample over anyone in their path for the sake of progressing oneself for any number reasons. Because of this public opinion, popularity, and the so-called “career” are the very things by which we find ourselves being defined. We think we must be strong candidates in these three classifications to show signs that we are winning at the “game of life.” These “successes” are how we show the family, friends, the world, even God that we are worth something. Everything hinges on what people think of us, how well they like us, and how good we are at our jobs – or at least that it appears that we are performing our professions well.

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The Lion’s Mouth

By Paul Koch –

Today we heard some of St. Paul’s closing remarks to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18. We usually don’t spend much time pondering these final sentences of Paul’s letters. After all, the main arguments for the letter have already been made. This part of the letter is like the end of a lecture. For that matter, it’s like most sermons you’ve heard where you already have a good idea of how it is all going to go, so you begin to shift your focus to something else: to the next part of the service, or where you going to go for lunch this afternoon, or when you’re going to find time to go shopping. But, maybe you don’t know that the ending is usually the hardest part to write, and it is usually the most difficult part of any speech or letter. Because you want it to leave an impression, you want it to be that final thing that you leave with your reader or hearer. If they remember anything at all, you will want to put it at the end.

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Guns, Beer, and Biblical Translation

By Paul Koch –­­

Every Tuesday morning, I meet up with three other pastors from my circuit to translate the lessons for the upcoming Sunday. Now, this may seem like a simple task, but I assure you it is not. This habit has had a profound impact on my vocation; it has challenged me, caused me to focus, and even helped me to stay out of trouble a few times. Ideas are batted back and forth between texts as we revel in that great mixture of insults and encouragement that men of almost any age seem to naturally excel at.

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Sticks and Stones

By Jonathan Holmes –

I’ve been struggling lately. I’m tired. I feel weird. Is there something wrong with me? Yes… I can only read so much in a day. My brain will just stop, and I can’t continue, as much as I would like to. Yes, there is something wrong with me… I’m a sinner, and that means I’m affected by sin, original sin – and there is nothing I can do about it.

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Remember Why You Started

By Ross Engel –

I fell in love with weight training the first time I walked into the gym. I was a scrawny 14-year-old kid who barely weighed in at 115 pounds. I was so weak that I could barely lift the 45-pound Olympic bar. I had played soccer and basketball for years, so I was pretty quick on my feet. I had just started doing gymnastics, and I wanted to get stronger and faster. My introduction to weight training was a great awakening to a new world, one that I have now spent the better part of 22 years enjoying. That scrawny, wide-eyed kid who stepped through the doors of the gym those years ago is not recognizable when people see me now, but he’s still there in my mind. He (along with a fair share of life’s tormentors) is the unseen motivation behind every set, rep, and training journal entry.

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Spread Some Cheer and Ring the Bell!

By Ross Engel –

Well, I managed to survive another successful week at the Concordia Seminary Symposium in St. Louis last week! In the midst of continuing education and a topic that was focused on life-long catechesis, the authors of The Jagged Word managed to enjoy some time for fellowship and deep conversation with each other. We hosted the fourth-year class at a local Irish pub, and it was great! We bought them a few rounds, hired an Irish band, and conversed with these young seminarians who are just a few months away from receiving their first calls into the Office of the Holy Ministry. It was a tremendous time of brotherly dialogue and even a few laughs!

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Unsafe Theology

By Paul Koch –

Do you remember drinking from the garden hose as a child? I do. In fact when I’m working in the yard these days I will still get a quick drink from time to time from the hose. I like it. I like the taste; compared to the water that comes from the dispenser on the door of my fridge you would almost think they were from a different source. The water in the house passes through our water softener system, then through a filtration system in the fridge while it is chilled down a bit before it reaches my glass. In my front yard the water takes a more direct route off the main water line through a tired old hose with a slightly corroded metal spigot and directly into my mouth. It may not be as healthy or safe as the filtered option inside, but there is something simple and enjoyable about it.

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Religious Liberty: The Coming American Battle

By Graham Glover –

Social conservatives in America have been on the losing end of two epic battles over the past 43 years. The first occurred in 1973 with the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade to legalize the innocent slaughter of unborn children. The second occurred in 2015 when the Court fundamentally altered the legal and historical definition of marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges.

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