A Short Break

It all started here, and now it ends for me in Little Rock. I’ll be off the computer for a week or so, until we get hooked back up again in St. Louis. Thanks for staying tuned to the Balaam’s Ass network…
Timotheos

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Inconsistency Kills

As this editorial proves, if churches such as the Church of England or the Episcopal Church think they can get away with ordaining men and women(!) who are not celibate, and then tell them they can’t get “married,” they will not long be able to survive with the inconsistency. It is either stand firm [...]

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Flags in the Nave (or Chancel, or Sanctuary)

Interesting article here on flags in church buildings. While I think that talk of “empire building” is rhetorical nonsense, the point about having the American flag (or a silly “Christian” flag; sorry!) in church buildings is well-taken. I understand that those flags can be sensitive issues, especially if they were provided by a [...]

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Sermon for Pentecost 11

Pentecost XI, July 31, 2005
“You Give Them Something to Eat”
Matthew 14:13-21
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
During this past year, I’ve had the opportunity to see what the daily life of a pastor is like. I have visited people in the hospital and people [...]

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Good Music Zwölf

[See some previous entries: 11, 7, 6, 2, 1 ]
What’s good recently? (Is that sentence grammatically correct?)
1. The new Starflyer 59 cd, Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice. Their last few cds do not differentiate themselves in my mind. This one sticks out. Strings? Horns? [...]

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Two Fears

The account in Holy Scripture concerning the crossing of the Red Sea provides an outlook on two types of fear. As the Israelites shook in their sandals as Pharaoh and the Egyptian army chased them to the water, Moses addresses God’s people: “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he [...]

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The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel: Thesis VI

“In the second place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the Law is not preached in its full sternness and the Gospel not in its full sweetness, when, on the contrary, Gospel elements are mingled with the Law and Law elements with the Gospel” (C.F.W Walther, The Proper Distinction Between Law and [...]

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The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel: Thesis V

“The first manner of confounding Law and Gospel is the one most easily recognized–and the grossest. It is adopted, for instance, by Papists, Socinians, and Rationalists and consists in this, that Christ is represented as a new Moses, or Lawgiver, and the Gospel turned into a doctrine of meritorious works, while at the same time [...]

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Black and White According to a Mormon Leader

Where did they come up with this stuff?
“There is a reason why one man is born black and with other disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient, more or less, to the laws that were given us [...]

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Three Hours Until…

Will President Bush leave a positive mark on the Supreme Court? Or will his pick be compromising and spineless? I can think of nothing better than another Scalia, but will politics trump conviction? We’ll find out at 9:00 EST tonight. The positive impact of the President’s nominee will undoubtedly be in [...]

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