A Gifted Body

Posted on April 20, 2012 by travis

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. …For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” –1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 12-13–

“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Luke 10:1-3

One of the tools in my toolbox God has given me to share with others is a gift of music. I play and sing the guitar. Currently, I use it to write songs and melodies for people. What usually ends up happening when I sit down to write a song, though, is something like this: Continue reading →

Should we keep going?

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Dan

Missional Lutherans (ML) began in November 2010 with an idea – maybe there are others out there who are Lutherans and also missional? It has been a long journey, but a fun one. I am speaking only for myself with the following comments (there are multiple authors on ML).

I started this journey sort of by jumping on a bandwagon. I knew this from the get-go. I knew that missional was just a buzzword that would fade in use over time, but my goal was to identify excited Lutherans who had been learning about what it meant to be “missional” and wanted to put this into action. And I haven’t found a better word yet Since then, several camps have emerged under the banner of “missional.” Some of those are really just church-as-usual, only with a new buzzword and programs implementing it (although not calling it a program). Many of them are church growth consultants who saw the business shifting and jumped on the next wave. Others are house church and small group ministry advocates who saw this as a return to old-fashioned discipleship. It became clear that being missional is primarily about ecclesiology (how we do church) for most. From the beginning, our vision has been to make “the mission of God an unavoidable issue for the Christian community by encouraging believers to lead Christ-centered and Gospel-driven lives by being incarnational, indigenous, and intentional in the communities they have been called by God to serve, keeping in mind that all believers are called to be full-time missionaries within their respective vocations.”

Continue reading →

What does your header image mean?

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Dan

The header image shows the deep rift in Lutheranism today. There are many divided denominations within Lutheranism and the divide continues to grow between various factions. Amidst all of the division, one central thing must remain pre-eminent: the proclamation of the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. The small shoot growing from within this rift signifies an organic movement of missional Lutherans uniting through the turmoil to focus on Christ and His mission, which is our commission.

Differences Between Lutherans

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Dan

I wrote a forum post in reply to a thread over at Lutherans.com on differences between various Lutheran church bodies that I thought I’d share here (because I put a lot of work into it and wanted it to be easily found). This is a quick rundown for your reference, keeping in mind that not every individual parish fully subscribes to everything their parent organization does (don’t judge a book by its cover, but be aware of the connotations each cover generally carries): Continue reading →

OWN: Thoughts on a Pro-Women’s Ordination Movement in the LCMS

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Dan

Missional Lutherans have no official stance on the role of women in ordained ministry. Authors on this site have differing opinions on this issue. The views expressed in this article are the opinion of the author alone and should not be construed to be the position of all those who identify themselves as Missional Lutherans.

Ordain Women Now (OWN) is a movement within the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod that thinks “the ordination of women should be publicly discussed in the LCMS.” Those within the LCMS who oppose female ordination have formed a Facebook page entitled Ordain Men Only (OMO). So far the debate has been confined mostly to texts dealing with women’s role in the church and nation, not with what I would say are the underlying issues. Below are some of my thoughts on issues that would need to be discussed prior to any meaningful discussion on the role of women in the Church. I will use the acronyms OWN (Ordain Women Now) to refer to the pro-women’s ordination crowd, and OMO (Ordain Men Only) to refer to those who oppose women’s ordination (the present official position of the LCMS). Here are four issues that must be addressed before any meaningful discussion can occur…. Continue reading →

Check out Lutherans.com!

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Dan

A new website has been launched: Lutherans.com (formerly Lutheran Chronicle). “Lutherans.com is built as a way to encourage fellow Lutherans of all branches of Lutheranism to interact, and to promote Lutherans on the web. All branches of Lutheranism are welcome! The most important sections of the web site are the Forums, Blog Feed, Lutheran Directory, Lutheranism Guide, and Lutheran Church Search Tool.” I’d encourage you to check it out! It’s a great resource for Lutherans of every flavor

Heads Stuck in the Sand

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Cassie

Don’t you sometimes wonder if we’ve gotten our heads so stuck in the sand that we’ll ever be able to pull them out?

As a teenager, I unwittingly stumbled across stories of my great-grandfathers, who came over from Germany as some of the first Lutheran pastors in America. They braved the unyielding wilderness of Michigan and Missouri and established the very first Lutheran churches and schools in this country.

What struck me with surprise is how they considered reaching out to the local Native Americans as one of their primary goals. Sharing the Gospel with these people who were considered “uncultured savages” by everyone else around them was of the utmost importance. Despite obvious language barriers and drastically different ways of life, the German Lutherans and the Native Americans established deep and meaningful friendships.

When did we lose this? Continue reading →

This is Crazy…

Posted on October 18, 2011 by travis

Howdy! My name is Travis. I’m a new contributor to ML and I want you to do something crazy. What’s that? Crazy doesn’t work for you? Crazy is too much? Well maybe it is, but Jesus said that even if one has the faith of a mustard seed one can move a mountain! (see Matt. 17:20 and context). Here is the challenge: I want you to start a mission. ”Come again?” I want YOU to start a mission. “How?”

Well, first pray. Like the man who came to Jesus with his demon-possessed son, pray, “Lord, I believe you can do all things. I believe you can use me to be missional. Please help my unbelief.” Then step out as Abraham did and answer the call. “But where? Where do I go?” How about right where you’re at?

To be missional, one does not have to travel across the sea to far away lands anymore. Your mission field is anywhere you find yourself on a daily basis. In traffic, at home, at work, at school, at the local restaurant–these are all places where you may confess your faith in thought, word, and deed.

To Pray: Lord, teach us to recognize opportunities to love others and share your Gospel whether it be with words or actions. Let us faithfully live out our vocation and help our unbelief during times when we’re not sure if it’s possible–for with You, O Lord, all things are possible. Amen.

Remembering 9/11…

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Dan

Here is a powerful video reminding us of the hope we have in Christ, despite worldly tragedies and suffering. Please pray for the families of those who lost loved ones on 9/11/01, soldiers serving overseas in war zones, and for the salvation of Muslims, including those who would commit terrorist attacks.

Ultimately, God does not want us to be at war with Muslim nations. He desires for us all to live in peace and follow Him in righteousness and purity. God was grieved over the death of Osama Bin Laden; He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11). “In Islam, it is still a virtue to slay an infidel… But in God’s sight, it is still a virtue to love our enemies…” (R.C. Sproul).

The “Gospel of Paul” isn’t opposed to the “Gospel of Jesus”

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Dan

I’ve heard this kind of thinking often, that Paul and Jesus are somehow opposed to one another. Try this on for size:

Jesus: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth, for he will speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:12-15).

Paul: “For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11-12).

H/T Kevin DeYoung