Pastor's Blog
A variety of articles will be posted here. Civil comments and conversation from members and visitors are welcome. Coarse or profane posts will not be posted. Scroll down for the full listing of blog posts. But first, a series of posts.
Proven of interest to many, a series of various posts on the popular yet highly unsound theology of the rapture can be read here. In my early Christian faith, I had been immersed in this belief system. After getting to know the Bible deeply, I was able to look beyond what I had been told and realize it wasn’t taught in the Scriptures. Here are the six main posts that build upon each other, with four more that expand on related topics.
1. The Rapture: A Belief Forced Upon the Bible
2. The Rapture: Not Developed from Careful Bible Study
3. The Rapture: Not in the Favorite Thessalonian Proof Verses
4. The Rapture Belief: A Few More Passages to Consider
5. The Rapture: Left Behind? Good or Bad?
6. As Did Darby, So Do Rapture Believers
7. A Secular Peace Treaty in Daniel 9:27 – Really?
8. Problems with a 1000 Earthly Reign of Christ
10. About 360-Day Prophetic Years
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Confessions of an (Ex) Evangelical Worship Leader
Pastor’s preface: Our LCMS strives to hold fast to the clear words of the Bible and thereby to the Apostolic and historically faithful church. When we are misunderstood by various churches, it almost always boils down to their misunderstanding of the Bible and incorrect theology. This difference often makes our teachings and worship practices unintelligible to many. I spent multiple years as a pastor in an Evangelical church body. I can relate to much in this following article. I also…
Ben Hur: Book, Movie, and a Reminder about Eternity
You may have seen the movie based on the old novel: Ben Hur. This was the best-selling novel of the 1800’s. The book’s full title is Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Ben-Hur was translated into at least 20 different languages, including Arabic, Portuguese, Thai, and Hebrew. It has never been out of print. It is a tale of love, betrayal, revenge, and forgiveness, culminating in the arrival of faith to Ben Hur. Veteran Civil War General Lew Wallace said that he…
Accusations of Fascism So Often So Wrong
Fascism is a word often used to villainize people or groups whose views and politics are essentially NON-Fascist. One of our retired scholars who has written extensively and quite predictively of modern cultural direction summarizes the fundamental wrongness exercised by many who shout “fascist” or “semi-fascist” about their political rivals. Following is Dr. Gene Edward Veith’s recent blog post on the subject. I would also note that Dr. Veith is not and was not a Trump supporter beyond acknowledging that…
Four Stumbling Blocks of American Culture
Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. An evangelist of recent years worked hard to explain how the Christian faith is truly the most reasonable, consistent, and adequate answer to man’s needs summarized modern western cultural fragmentation by highlighting four pervasive dynamics in our culture that arose from widespread rejection of God’s Word and authority. In the past generation, our nation has seen unprecedented shifts in the…
Great Tribulation – A Warning Note
Revelation 7:13-14 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. In verse 14 we find the words “great tribulation”. Tribulation is from Greek word for pressured, thlipsis. That which presses…
Faith and Worship: From Solid Rock to Shifting Sand
The historical, theological, and philosophical details of several massive shifts in Christianized religious belief and worship are too many to discuss in this article. However, a large part of what characterizes modern Christian worship and theology today flows from the work of a very intelligent man who provided an intellectual argument that shifted the focus of faith from fact to feeling. While Christians have always had powerful feelings that can be expressed in words, actions, and music, a saving faith…
Recent Research on the Year of Jesus’ Birth
Recent research, while not conclusive, points to 1 BC as the year of Jesus’ birth, not earlier as has been most commonly held. The following post is from Gene Edward Veith. “There have been many attempts throughout the centuries to ascertain exactly when Jesus was born. Researchers in Italy have offered a new approach to the question. Looking at the timing of Elizabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist, Jewish religious festivals, and some new astronomical data, they conclude that Jesus…
Two Strong Reasons for December 25 as the Date for Jesus’ Birth
Luke 2:8, we read: ”And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” You may have read or heard arguments that sheep are born in the spring, not the winter. But my own congregation members with sheep will strongly disagree with that notion. Here, January is the peak month. In Montana and some other places, late December is quite busy. The springtime lambing claim seems based on some European, American,…
Christmas Date Not Influenced by Pagan Worship
The most loudly touted theory about the origins of the Christmas date(s) is that it was borrowed from pagan celebrations. The Romans had their mid-winter Saturnalia festival in late December; barbarian peoples of northern and western Europe kept holidays at similar times. To top it off, in 274 C.E., the Roman emperor Aurelian established a feast of the birth of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun), on December 25. Christmas, the argument goes, is really a spin-off from these pagan solar…
Did the Exodus Pharaoh Drown in the Red Sea?
Many Christians think so. But a closer look at the Bible’s record may change that. The link below is a PDF format version of a slide presentation for download originally developed for another purpose but might be interesting to some as a blog post. The file is large, so it may download slowly. If you cannot download or view it, please use our contact page for an email copy sent to you. Click here to download file
About 360-day Prophetic Years
In several areas of Bible prophecy and chronology, some insist on using special 360-day years, that is, 12 months of 30 days. These are sometimes called prophetic years and are especially popular with many rapture theology adherents. Part of the concept is true and was common in much of the ancient world. Egypt, for example, used twelve 30-day months for the year. But this was not considered a completed year until additional religious days were observed at the end, bringing…
When Is a Wall Not a Wall?
According to Pre-Millennial (Rapture) theologians, when its a city! Daniel 9:25 is a vital verse for the popularized predictions of pre-Millennialist teachers. Many use highly impressive mathematical calculations to show that Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, on what we call Palm Sunday, is exactly Daniel’s predicted 483 years. Their math depends on four major assumptions: 1) special prophetic years of 360 days length, not standard solar years, 2) a preferred, but historically uncertain date for one of two major decrees…