By Rev. Dr. Curtis Leins Many contemporary Christian worship services have no Confession of Sins and no Service of Holy Communion? Why? Obviously, someone has decided that these things are less important than other things. What are the other things that are so important that they take the place of confessing sins and receiving God’s […]
By Rev. Dr. Curtis Leins, That is what my friends said as they looked for a church in their neighborhood. “It’s an epidemic! Poor theology, false theology, no theology: It is everywhere!” I asked my friends to explain what they were seeing. They said that at least three messages seemed to be in churches all […]
“There is no point in repeating words every week that have no meaning to me.” That’s a sentiment often heard surrounding the use of liturgy in the church service. In a way, the statement is correct. Jesus criticized the Pharisees for using lengthy prayers to somehow gain favor with God, because their heart was not […]
Because I have an interest in Patristic studies, I have occasionally been asked why I’m Lutheran rather than Eastern Orthodox; it is claimed that the Eastern church is consistent with the Patristic tradition, but the Lutheran church is not. Well, there are various reasons why I wouldn’t join the Orthodox church including a denial of […]
Lent has been formally observed by Christians since the 4th century, but the practice of fasting, repentance, and prayer before Easter has been observed since at least the 2nd century according to the testimony of St. Irenaeus. Easter has always been a time of celebration for the church. On Easter we remember the victory that […]
I have noticed in certain strains of Evangelical Catholicism some tendencies which tend toward some of the same errors as American Evangelicalism. I don’t mean that we have suddenly started singing 7-11 choruses or having our Pastors preach on the latest popular movie in his “Jesus is my homeboy” t-shirt. However, I have noticed a […]
One of the things that initially scared me away from Lutheran churches was the crucifix placed in the front of the sanctuary behind the preacher. Doesn’t that violate the second commandment? Do Lutherans venerate icons?This is a common apprehension Reformed Christians have about Lutheran worship. I would look to clear up a few misconceptions. Lutherans do […]
