The astounding silliness accompanying the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin reaches its fever pitch today. Among the humorous aspects of this celebration is that they are observing the birth of a man who was obsessed with the ‘value’ to be derived from mass death. There’s simply no escaping the fact that Darwinism…
Recently, Deacon Ahonen, Pastor Rutowicz and I had the opportunity , in conjunction with our recent trip to Finland, for a ‘day trip’ to Tallinn, Estonia. It would be hard to do justice here to the beauty of the Old City area of Tallinn. But among the chief wonders of that city is the Holy…
It is our great joy to welcome Rev. Anthony Oncken of Grayslake, Illinois as Salem’s second deacon, as of his installation on April 6. In addition to his occasional service at Salem Lutheran Church, Rev. Oncken will be serving as home missionary in Northern Illinois. We welcome those interested in attending a confessional Lutheran congregation…
Apparently deacons haven’t gotten a lot more popular with some people since the time of St. Stephen Protomartyr. (Hmm… and while we’re on that point: it’s worth remembering that what got St. Stephen in such trouble was preaching the Word after the apostles had prayed, and laid hands on him. [Acts 6:6]) The first ordination…
There are days when I begin to wonder whether some folks can read. Or perhaps I should phrase that in the question of St. Philip the Deacon, who asked the Ethiopian eunuch: “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30) On the one hand, we hear the shrill voices which shout about “sacerdotalism” when…
“Chrysostom says that the priest stands daily at the altar, inviting some to the Communion and keeping back others.” (AC XXIV:36) There seems to be a great deal of confusion these days about “Church Fellowship” and “Church membership.” Many laymen will describe themselves as “members” of the LC—MS, etc. Actually, according to the polity of…
St. Paul wrote to St. Timothy: “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.” (1 Tim. 3:1 NKJV) Now, I would submit that these words aren’t really all that hard to understand—unless someone has made up their mind to reject them in advance. St….
