In General Douglas MacArthur’s retirement speech before the West Point corps of cadets on May 12, 1962 he famously ended with these words: “Today marks my final roll call with you. But I want you to know that when I cross the river, my last conscious thoughts will be of the Corps, and the Corps, and the Corps” (https://bit.ly/Macarthur-speech).[i] I think Luther’s last words could’ve been, but they weren’t, “The Word, the Word, the Word.” What here follows will be familiar to you if not downright repetitious to you if you were in my Bible class or Confirmation, but I write it down lest I forget. Continue reading
The Word, The Word, The Word
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What Every Confessional Lutheran Pastor Should Know
Master of Divinity trained pastors are going to become as rare as hen’s teeth. With upwards of 9 ‘alternate’ and much easier, quicker, and funner ways to ordination, the educated way is going to go by the wayside. So how do you find them? Moreover, even some of the MDiv educated are wonky if not woke. Continue reading
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You just Thought the Plastic Raft in the Pacific was Bad
Posted in Big Tech Big Lie or Promise?, Families
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Knowledge Falsely So Called
1 Timothy 6:20, in the KJV, reads, “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:” The Greek word translated ‘science’ is gnōsis. The basis for our word ‘knowledge’. Frankly, I am surprised that 7 of the 62 English translations retain ‘science’. Puts a whole other spin on appeals to ‘science’ today, doesn’t it? Continue reading
Posted in Big Tech Big Lie or Promise?, Missouri Megatrends
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Synods Make for Strange Bedfellows
Having been blessedly free of the Lutheran Church Misery Synod overall and its Texas District for 6 years now, I have no standing with either. Truth be told, even for the 36 years I belonged to the former and the 28 years I belonged to the latter, I did not. But something drew me in my superannuation (Okay, I had to look this synonym up.) or perhaps in my dotage to the Texas District 2025 convention. It might have been that the first district convention I ever attended was the 1985 Texas one where my pregnant wife, myself, a pastor friend, and his pregnant wife shared a room at the Hotel Galvez (This was Airbnb-ing on a whole ‘nother level.). It might have been because those two were killed this year in a motorcycle accident. Continue reading
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Reconnect the 6th and 7th Petitions
The Pope made quite a stir when in 2019 he deemed, dared to, correct the Lord who said, “When you pray say…Lead us not into temptation” into “Do not let us fall into temptation”. I have preached a lot on the Lord’s Prayer every 4 years from 1990 to 2023. That in itself doesn’t make me an expert. It does make be experienced in dealing with this petition. Luther’s strong quoting of James 1:13 right off the bat notwithstanding, “God tempts no one”, I have stumbled at times in thinking, teaching and preaching. Ergo, I’ve concluded, that we need to connect the 6th, “Lead us not into temptation” with the 7th, “Deliver us from evil.” Continue reading
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This Seems Just Plain Wrong
Go here to view the age of consent for sexual relations in 1880 America, and prepare to be shocked: https://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/24.html . I first found this out from Marvin Olasky’s 2023 book The Story of Abortion in America: A Street-Level History, 1652–2022. And I’m still puzzling over it if not downright bothered by it! Continue reading
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Go Ask Alice
Everything/Nothing/Someone is the 2023 memoir of 39 year old Alice Carriere whose only claim to fame is that she was the only child of a famous artist and actor. One review said, “At 35 she has quite a lot to tell.” She thinks she does, but does not. But like Jefferson Airplane taught us: “Go ask Alice.” Continue reading
Posted in For Anyone who dares, Psychology - Knowledge Falsely So Called?
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Just Too Good To Pass Up – “The Push for an American Baby Boom”
My blogs are usually 30 to 40 weeks in the “hopper” before being published. It doesn’t ensure quality as much as assure against “poison pen” posts. (And poison pen letter is another expression that will have to be defined for anyone under 20 or mayhaps even older.) Continue reading
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Lady Godiva
This 1861 statue is in England is the oldest known statue of the most famous nude.
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