A Word about this Site

 

It seems to me that every book should have an introduction, every text a context. It would be easy to misunderstand a phrase or a statement if you were unfamiliar with the environment from which it came. The same is also true in translation as some say the work is more of an art than a science. There are rules, to be sure, but those rules are only as perfect as the people who use the language.

 

In any event, I thought it necessary to say a few words about the purpose of this website before anyone is deemed heretical or any words fly.

 

In my eyes, the purpose of this website is to be informational. I would like to be able to present a variety of viewpoints (often dubbed "liberal," "conservative," etc.) so that we, as future pastors, are able to see them, to understand them, to pick them apart. Ignorance is the foundation of all too many problems in this world. I do not profess to say that everything you will read here or that all of the links will conform to the standards of "pure" LCMS doctrine, but I do not intend for it to be that way either. What you read will not necessarily be my view, nor will it necessarily conform to what the Synod deems to be kosher. But we cannot simply close our ears to those who disagree. While we can maintain that some people’s doctrine is good and others’ bad, we shouldn’t just let all other opinions lie out in an amorphous heap of dead theology. In the Formula of Concord, we get a picture of what happens in the theological realm when people are left to their own wiles. People have a lot of different views on doctrine and some go this way on this issue, that way on another issue, but until the different views are examined, they remain only opinions. The unexamined life is one that is a great tragedy. Take this time to examine your own opinions as well as the opinions of others. But don’t let this be about name-calling and trashing one side or the other.

 

 Conflict is a part of life and we all have many different views on a variety of subjects. We do not always have to agree on everything (Acts 15:38-40, Gal. 2:11), we still should be united in purpose. Indeed we do ourselves a lot of harm by not talking through some of our thoughts or by failing to grasp the signs of the times (Mat. 16:3).

 

It is my hope that this can be a jumping off point. A place where your eyes are opened to much (both good and bad) and where you are able to enter into a discussion with those around you to deal with the many things that go on in the big, scary world. You may not wish to have any part or knowledge of a lot that goes on because it is all too "political," but there will be many whom you meet that will drag you into such debacles. Then it is a matter of how you deal with the issue. Do you avoid the person? Preach the Law? Pray fervently? Or maybe you listen to that person, in order to try to understand the perspective that the person has taken, to try to learn not only what the person believes, but why the person believes. It is only then, when you love that person for who he is, that you will find an opportunity to speak Christ's words to him.

 

Above all else, remember the two greatest commandments: Love our God and Love our Neighbor. If faith is simple obedience to God’s call of discipleship to us all, we must be obedient in all circumstances.

 

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