“It’s the End or Is It Something Else?

R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe may have been onto something when he wrote the lyrics to the song “It’s The End of the World and I Feel Fine…”, but it would have been interesting if he wrote that after the death of Jesus of Nazareth who was suffered, crucified, buried, and after three days arose from the dead. All this weirdness of airplanes crashing in odd situations are they pure coincidence or is God telling us something different? The other thing that is odd is the weather phenomenon this year has been really odd too. This has been an unusual winter.

 Today I ask everyone friends and family to begin to take seriously the events around you and love your family, friends, and those who dislike you. I know it’s hard to think that we are to “love your neighbor as yourself.” But that is what Jesus would want us to do. We are called upon to care for those around us. I have been busy doing odd things at work out of my scope to ask customers how their meals are and did a little tinkering to figure why the dishwasher was acting agoof and it worked. Is it because I am a good mechanic? No, I thank God for giving me the mechanical aptitude to fix small problems and yet I am thankful for two employers that care for people who care for one another. If you are able, I ask you to find a time to either offer prayer, praise, and thanksgiving to God for what He has done for you and more. Worship Him and Him alone. Reach out to your fellow man. Yesterday I shared an interesting quote from Bonhoeffer to a fellow friend and he was amazed. Mind you he has a Baptist background, but it doesn’t matter one can reach out to anyone regardless of their gender, religion, political views, socioeconomic backgrounds. That my friends is what Jesus would do and more. Bonhoeffer said it best in his book “The Cost of Discipeship.” 

Quote: “What does Jesus require of the Christian? He requires a Christian to love His neighbor and die.” Or was that C.S. Lewis in “Mere Christianity?”

When speaking to your pastor, do you address them as Pastor James or Pastor Smith? First name or last name? I’m Eastern Orthodox and am inquiring into the Lutheran faith, and in our church we always address the priest by his first name since that is the name of the saint he was named after, whereas the last name is secular.

R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe may have been onto something when he wrote the lyrics to the song “It’s The End of the World and I Feel Fine…”, but it would have been interesting if he wrote that after the death of Jesus of Nazareth who was suffered, crucified, buried, and after three days arose from the dead. All this weirdness of airplanes crashing in odd situations are they pure coincidence or is God telling us something different? The other thing that is odd is the weather phenomenon this year has been really odd too. This has been an unusual winter.

 Today I ask everyone friends and family to begin to take seriously the events around you and love your family, friends, and those who dislike you. I know it’s hard to think that we are to “love your neighbor as yourself.” But that is what Jesus would want us to do. We are called upon to care for those around us. I have been busy doing odd things at work out of my scope to ask customers how their meals are and did a little tinkering to figure why the dishwasher was acting agoof and it worked. Is it because I am a good mechanic? No, I thank God for giving me the mechanical aptitude to fix small problems and yet I am thankful for two employers that care for people who care for one another. If you are able, I ask you to find a time to either offer prayer, praise, and thanksgiving to God for what He has done for you and more. Worship Him and Him alone. Reach out to your fellow man. Yesterday I shared an interesting quote from Bonhoeffer to a fellow friend and he was amazed. Mind you he has a Baptist background, but it doesn’t matter one can reach out to anyone regardless of their gender, religion, political views, socioeconomic backgrounds. That my friends is what Jesus would do and more. Bonhoeffer said it best in his book “The Cost of Discipeship.” Quote:

“What does Jesus require of the Christian? He requires a Christian to love His neighbor and die.” Or was that C.S. Lewis in “Mere Christianity?”

I find myself posting links alot and I just wanted to make a post with many online resources in one spot. If you have more to add please post them in the comments.

LCMS church locator: https://locator.lcms.org/church

LCMS alter fellowship: https://www.lcms.org/how-we-serve/international/partner-church-bodies

International Confessional Lutheran body: https://ilc-online.org/members/

LCMS FAQ: https://www.lcms.org/about/beliefs/faqs

Book of Concord: https://bookofconcord.org/

Lutheran small catechism: https://catechism.cph.org/

CPH bible app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.cph.tlsb

CPH small catechism app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.cph.catechism

Portals of prayer app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.cph.portals_of_prayer

YouTube channels:

Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller https://youtube.com/@pastorbryanwolfmueller?si=i1Uv5QguHL8nAVfr

Pastor Jordan Cooper https://youtube.com/@drjordanbcooper?si=1Tvl2tYbnZTXk8Yy

Higher Things https://youtube.com/@htgospel4all?si=4i-lyrNoyLSXPW1I

I am writing this post because I’m curious if any of you have a good perspective or thoughts of the Fatima miracle.

I have been an LCMS Christian my whole life (I’m 24). I have been thinking deeply about Roman Catholic arguments for them being the one true church for maybe two years now. I’m still fairly confident that Lutheranism is the truest expression of the Gospel. This is where my confusion on Fatima is.

I want to preface that I’m not an expert in any of this stuff.

So from what I’ve seen from people talking about the incident online there are three different points that seem important to me.

First the being that claimed to be Mary told the children to pray the Rosary every day. Now I’m not well versed in the Rosary but even if a Lutheran may not have any immediate objections to the Rosary prayers it is certainly known as a Roman Catholic item. As well as the fact that it was specifically Mary who appeared and the Roman Catholic Church has seemingly fully embraced the miracle points to this as a specifically Roman Catholic miracle.

I have seen Lutherans and Protestants respond to Fatima by pointing out that the apparition expected the children to hurt themselves for various reasons. As well as pointing out that while people did see something happening with the sun there were differing and conflicting accounts of what happened as well as the fact that the sun didn’t actually do anything that day. So both the treatment of the children and the sun illusions seem to point that the being that appeared was not from God.

Roman Catholics have responded by saying those points are Protestants grasping at straws. They point out that the prayers given by Mary are all good prayers that point to God. So if the the apparition was malicious why would it give theologically sound prayers.

So those are my three thoughts bumping around my head about the whole situation. I take these claims seriously because if Mary truly came to Fatima then it seems I should be Roman Catholic, but if the being that appeared wasn’t Mary then I ought not be Roman Catholic. If I ignored the Fatima incident then I would be pretty confident in Lutheranism, but I’m afraid that by just disregarding the incident it may be my sin making me run from the truth. For me it is the fact that the prayers don’t appear to be heretical in any way that gives me pause about the whole situation.

So I hope I can hear your thoughts on this issue. If you think I’m wrong about something or looking at something the wrong way please let me know. Again I look forward to seeing your thoughts and/or advice.

In order to streamline posts that users are submitting when they are in search of answers, I have created a monthly 'Ask A Pastor' thread! Feel free to post any general questions you have about the Lutheran (LCMS) faith, questions about specific wording of LCMS text, or anything else along those lines.

Pastors, Vicars, Seminarians, Lay People: If you see a question that you can help answer, please jump in try your best to help out! It is my goal to help use this to foster a healthy online community where anyone can come to learn and grow in their walk with Christ. Also, stop by the sidebar and add your user flair if you have not done so already. This will help newcomers distinguish who they are receiving answers from.

Disclaimer: The LCMS Offices have a pretty strict Doctrinal Review process that we do not participate in as we are not an official outlet for the Synod. It is always recommended that you talk to your Pastor (or find a local LCMS Pastor if you do not have a church home) if you have questions about your faith or the beliefs of the LCMS.

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Ss02Fc2oI

Gospel According to Luke, 2:33–40 (ESV):

And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

The Return to Nazareth

And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.

Outline

Point one: Two parades

Point two: Song of life

Point three: Ears to hear

References

Gospel According to Luke, 7:1–17 (ESV):

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Gospel According to Luke, 2:15–32 (ESV):

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Gospel According to Matthew, 1:18–25 (ESV):

The Birth of Jesus Christ

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Gospel According to Luke, 1:26–45 (ESV):

Birth of Jesus Foretold

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth

In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Gospel According to Matthew, 2:1–12 (ESV):

The Visit of the Wise Men

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQisOBNcFKQ

Letter to the Hebrews, 2:14–18 (ESV):

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Outline

Introduction: Gregory (St. Gregory of Nazianzus)

Point one: Identified with you

Point two: Tempted like you

Point three: The power of death

Conclusion: Apollinaris

References

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Apollinaris The Younger." Encyclopedia Britannica, February 13, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Apollinaris-the-Younger:

Apollinaris The Younger (born c. 310—died c. 390) was a bishop of Laodicea who developed the heretical position concerning the nature of Christ called Apollinarianism.

Hardy, E. R.. "St. Gregory of Nazianzus." Encyclopedia Britannica, June 30, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Gregory-of-Nazianzus:

For the rest of his life Gregory lived quietly on the family property at Arianzus near Nazianzus, except for a brief period as administrator of the Church of Nazianzus during a vacancy. He continued his interest in church affairs through correspondence, even during one year when he took a vow of silence for Lent. He wrote to his successor, the amiable but ineffective Nectarius, and others against the heresy of Apollinaris, who denied the existence of a human soul in Christ.

I intend to read and follow the Small Catechism as an LCMS Lutheran. However, I would like to understand how often I should read my Bible *as well as* my Catechism.

Y’all are going to be sick of me and all my questions but I’m really struggling to deconstruct my Calvinistic upbringing. I’m wondering if you could recommend a book, messages or podcasts that would help me. I’ve never been able to grasp that a God who is merciful and just would damn people to hell? I feel like I was never brave enough to speak up about my doubts when I was in a reformed church even though it never sat well with me. Now that I am out of that, I feel like I have so many questions but also now the freedom to ask them. Thanks for the scripture texts you’ve sent my way. I’ve read them and will continue to study them.

What is the difference between justification and salvation? They seem to be used interchangeably.

“For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” Romans 3:28

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so none may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

“We also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law.” Galatians 2:16

“Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for 'The righteous shall live by faith’” Galatians 3:11

My Catholics friends are quick to quote James as a defense against the solas. They’ll say “the only place in scripture that says ‘faith alone’ and prefaces by ‘not’ in James 2:24” or they’ll mention how justification in those other verses is not salvation.

How does one defend against this? Is salvation the same as justification? Their answer is always “you’re cherry picking those other verses” when it seems they cherry pick James. Are there any good books or lecture series on this?

Does anyone know why the four year undergraduate degree is necessary for most men entering the seminary? It seems strange that there is no requirement for a specific undergrad degree if it is so important. For example one could get a degree in chemistry even though it doesn't apply to ministry. It would at least make more sense if the bachelor's degree had required courses like philosophy or Latin.

I see people advocating for all sorts of alternative routes to ministry, such as online seminary, that I see as more drastic and could have potentially more unintended effects. To me at least, it seems like relaxing the requirement of an extraneous bachelor's degree would be a better option first.

Edit: Thank you all for your thoughts. I will have to ponder them. My worries are that we have become a bit short sighted with the past. There was a time in the synod where a high school diploma wasn't even required to enter seminary. It wasn't until 1941 when a high school diploma was needed to enter the seminary and 1973 when the bachelor was required. My worry is that sometimes we defend the status quo for the sake of defending the status quo.

Edit 2: Several people seem to have gotten the impression that I am suggesting that seminary is easy. I have not said or implied this anywhere. This is more a critique of the American post-secondary educational system as a whole. I.e. a bachelor's degree today doesn't have the same requirements nor is it an indicator success the same way it was 50 years ago when the requirement of a bachelor's was made.

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Galatians 5:19-21: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

If someone commits one of these sins or even something like gluttony where they eat too much are they not saved even if they believe? If would seem as if that’s what the verses are saying, but it scares me because I get angry, eat more than I should more than I would like to admit, I struggle with lust, and I probably have more sins than I even know about.

Hello,

I'm continuing going down the rabbit hole of trying to understand statistics in the LCMS. For anyone curious and would like to follow along you can find my resources here https://files.lcms.org/folder/~search-results you will just need to type Annual Report in the search bar.

The earliest published Annual Report I can find on the LCMS website reporting numbers is 2019. The latest is 2023.

The 2019 Annual Report reported 1,911,187 baptized members and 9,668 Pastors

The 2023 annual Report reported 1,708,125 baptized members and 5,574 Pastors.

Can someone please give me insight on how the synod report is losing almost half of it's pastors in such a short tiemframe? Is this purely due to retirement?

A while back someone posted inquiring about Confession within the LCMS. I found another similar thread where a Catholic appeared to be curious about it's "limits".

This individual seemed shocked that a few LCMS Pastors would indeed disclose a confession to police say.....by Ted Bundy.

I want to share with you all my background which is Catholic but now I attend an LCMS Church. I want to assure not only that poster but anyone who read the thread that the disclosure of confessions are indeed not only possible, but have happened for trivial reasons within Catholicism.

It is not accurate to imagine something magical or miraculous keeps Catholics safe in confession, but not Lutherans.

Not only has the Catholic Church historically disclosed confessions before, but even Patrick Madrid a popular Catholic Apologist admits that he has heard directly a Priest disclose what was said in a Confessional.

And did he disclose as the Police were about to take his life? No! The priest was literally drinking a beer and just talking about it in a nonchalant fashion!

So please, don't for a second think that Pastors of the LCMS may not have valid holy orders if the measuring stick is "when someone would disclose a confession".

I would post the podcast episode of when this conversation occurred however please be advised that his radio program is built around apologetics for Catholicism and he has a pretty low view of Lutheranism 😆

Still a great radio program but not edifying. if the Pastors are ok with it here I will post the "proof" if you wish.

Being brought up in a reformed background, I have been taught the TULIP acronym, but have always struggled with the teaching that God created mankind - some for redemption and most for damnation (I believe it is the ‘L’ in TULIP). How does this show God’s character of mercy and grace? Are there scriptures (besides John 3:16) that talk about Christ coming for all mankind?

I’m talking about personal prayer. I understand prayers relating to yourself (forgiveness, thanksgiving, discernment, etc).

But I don’t understand praying for others. Is it a means of praying on their behalf? (Whether they are praying for themselves or not).

From what I understand god answers our prayers (not always how we want it but what his will is for us). But isn’t god also sovereign? As in his will be done whether it’s prayed for or not?

Am I misunderstanding something here?

ELI5 would be greatly appreciated!

The WELS has an article on their official site on DND (I'm AALC myself, but the WELS thing was the only Lutheran-specific thing I could find) that takes a negative opinion on the game. However, the only problem is that it cites source materials for things that are all heavily sensationalized.

For instance, it's quite possible that many if not all of the deaths the game was linked to in the 80's by anti-DND campaigners were not due to the game DND at all, and for at least a couple of the prominent cases, there's really good evidence to suggest this is the case. For things like the game "being a gateway to the occult" again, those claims seem to be greatly exaggerated.

Not saying that there's no issue with this here, but since a DND game is whatever the players make it essentially, a sort of co-operative choose-your-own ending story so this is obviously something that doesn't seem to necessarily have to be the case. This is one of the primary flaws in the anti-DND campaigning that I see pretty easily - that the game is always talked about as if it's this ironclad set of rules that always directs the players towards some negative moral or spiritual outcome.

This is one of those topics where there's a lot of nuance and there could be real dangers, but from the research I've been able to do, the dangers associated with DND seem to be more in the camp of any hobby getting out of hand and becoming an addiction kind of dangerous and not necessarily the occult kind of dangerous if that makes any sense. To be completely and brutally honest I think many of the regular abuses of doctrine that go on in charismatic churches are probably potentially quite a bit more spiritually dangerous than DND. Hope the charismatic wing of my family doesn't find my reddit account lol.

I've never played the game before so I could be totally naive, but I've been trying to look into a balanced overview on it from a Christian (preferably Lutheran) persepective but most of the Christian stuff seems hyper-fundie sensationalistic or close to antinomian and it's been a real pain trying to find anything actually balanced on this.

To be clear, I am NOT asking for a source that validates my pre-conceived opinion that I want to hear, the source could be positive or negative. I'm asking for something that doesn't rely on sensationalism.

Hello, I stumbled upon this ecclesiastical body that apparently broke off from LCMS around 2005 by former LCMS pastors.

They declare themselves as confessional Lutherans, have very few congregations under their name in the USA and some sparse affiliations worldwide. They claim to be "in talk" with LCMS in regards to fellowship.
Although they have a bishop and seem to follow threefold ministry, they don't have "apostolic succession", their bishop was elected among the presbyters a la Nicolau von Amsdorf manner.
It seems they lean to the traditionalist side of things.

The most interesting aspect is that they have an online program to serve as education for seminarians and those who wish to be ordained to serve in a confessional Lutheran congregation, be it under they name or not. It seems they are very focused in missionary context/revitalization of churches. The bibliography of their program seems to be very in line with what we have on our seminaries, as all their "What we believe" document.

Does anyone know why they have split from LCMS, more about their bishop etc?

Edit: Link to their website https://www.ild.one

Is there a level of contrition or amount of fruit bearing with repentance one needs to have to know they aren’t deceiving themselves? I’m worried that I deceiving myself.

So, I am struggling with not having any close friends. This is not due to a lack of trying. At my church, there are quite a few people near my age, and that demographic is very robust and vibrant. With that, I have not found my "people" within that larger group.

I have attempted to reach out to people around my age. I have attempted to invite people out to do stuff, grab a meal, talk, etc. There are a handful of things that I have tried to do to help develop friendships where I am currently at. However, I am not really receiving much reciprocation. It definitely seems like I am an outsider, and I can go literally weeks or months without someone from my church reaching out to me in a social/personal manner. Really, the only person who has reached out is someone who is asked me if he could mentor me. His wife, and very lively kids are definitely a priority in his life (as they should), and I am not trying to force him to be my main source of social interaction (I am not sure if that would be appropriate or not).

Any advice would be appreciated on how to develop a close friendship or two within a church context. I am not trying to be sappy, I just see the need for close friends and this is a time in life that is weighing on me.

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Today was the first time I'd gone to an event like this. In addition to the small group of 20ish from local LCMS congregations, there were many Catholics and Mormons there. While we have significant theological differences, it was nice to be reminded that we do have common ground on some things.

As you'd expect at an event like this, the speakers mentioned Planned Parenthood numerous times and it's made me think about a situation from ten years ago. There's a lot of backstory and I'm prone to rambling in late night posts, but I feel the need to get this out, even if just to strangers on the internet.

I was 18 and in my senior year of high school. Some of my friends at the time were admittedly not the best for me to be hanging around with, but I basically only ever saw them at school and was therefore not involved in the partying, drinking, and drugs I knew some of them got up to on weekends, and I didn't have a new boyfriend every other week. As a result, I was the token innocent friend of the group. Let's call the main two friends involved K and M.

With the innocent friend, things seem to go one of two ways: they are protected at all costs, or the group attempts to corrupt them as they are. For a while, they protected my "innocence." Enter my high school boyfriend, a member of the same LCMS church and also involved with a large group of Mormons through both boyscouts and the homeschool co-op his mom had him in.

Looking back, I can see it was a bit of a perfect storm I found myself in. My boyfriend was 15 when we started dating. For those that aren't aware, Mormons aren't allowed to start "officially" dating until 16. With his large involvement with Mormon teens, I was a source of bragging rights, especially with me being older than him by a little over a year. Once the two of us started playing jump rope with the boundary for what we were comfortable with physically pre-marriage, and K (ironically, she was Catholic at the time) almost having sex with some guy at one of the aforementioned parties, it became a race for M to see if it would be me or K to lose their virginity first. (M had been with a few guys already at this point.)

So began planning with both my boyfriend and my so-called friends. Boundary jump rope had made it to if we "couldn't wait" to have sex until marriage, we'd at least wait until we were engaged, and what other "activities" we could do in the mean time. Again, I'm 18 at this point, and he wasn't quite 17 yet. Eventually, the boundary line goes out the window entirely, and K and M are all for it.

A fake school project with K and M was created to cover for me not going straight home from school one day. What really happened is an 18 year old and two 17 year old girls go over to the local Planned Parenthood for the barely legally an adult 18 year old to get on birth control. I couldn't give them any insurance information and I didn't know my SSN at the time, so all I had for identification purposes was my driver's license and I'm not sure if they even wanted that.

What I remember was being applauded for "being smart" and getting protection before becoming "active." I wasn't too keen on the idea of being on the hook for remembering to take a pill at the same time every day, so other options were explored. With pretty much no questions asked, I could have left that day with an arm implant or an IUD, both of which would later need to be removed at a doctor's office of some form and heaven forbid I had any major complications with them shortly after getting either one. Nervous me decided on NuvaRing instead of the others mentioned.

A week later, I won the race. I have reason to believe the birth control failed, despite two negative tests. I'm still haunted to this day by my choice and what the consequences could have been. As I've gotten older, I've grown more horrified by the lack of questions a group of teenage girls received. What else do they not question a teenage girl over?

I really can’t see anything wrong with what she said per se although I know her theology and her views on sexuality and abortion are all almost certainly wrong and there shouldn’t be women in the pulpit. And the sermon wasn’t about Jesus. OK, but we expect that from a lot of churches.

Still, she said it with quiet clarity and grace asking for mercy from the president for a lot of people who are afraid. Even LCMS pastors exhort people from the pulpit sometimes so I’m not sure why asking people to behave a certain way that seems to comport with the way Jesus asked us to treat others should be a problem.

But there does seem to be a pretty big outcry against her for daring to quietly say what many of us think needed to be said. And even though I do not believe she should be a pastor I have yet to see very many male pastors, willing to speak out against the evil attitudes toward other sinners that are being given free rein in the church.

URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hi64eY9x4zg

Gospel According to Luke, 4:16–30 (ESV):

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘“Physician, heal yourself.” What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.’” And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away.

Outline

Introduction: Maybe tomorrow

Point one: Right now

Point two: Today

Point three: Living without power

Conclusion: Today is the day

References

Gospel According to Luke, 2:8–12 (ESV):

The Shepherds and the Angels

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Gospel According to Luke, 23:39–43 (ESV):

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

https://cyclopedia.lcms.org/definitions?definition=D5A6DF84-B266-EE11-9148-0050563F0205:

Pentateuch. (Gk. “five scrolls”). Title for the 5 Books of Moses: Gn, Ex, Lv, Nm, Dt.

https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Haftarah&oldid=82118323#English:

Haftarah. (Judaism) A selection from the books of Nevi'im and Ketuvim of the Tanach, usually corresponding to the week's parashah, publicly read in synagogue following the parashah.

https://cyclopedia.lcms.org/definitions?definition=2C9FDF84-B266-EE11-9148-0050563F0205:

Midrash. (Heb. “commentary”). 1. Jewish exegesis that tries to penetrate deeply into the Biblical text and find meaning in addition to the literal one. 2. Early Jewish exposition of Scripture; most flourishing period: ca. 100 BC to 200 AD 3. In the widest sense, all noncanonical Jewish literature, including the Talmud,* to the 13th c.

Book of Isaiah, 61:1–3 (ESV):

The Year of the LORD’s Favor

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

Gospel According to Luke, 4:1–15 (ESV):

The Temptation of Jesus

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Book of Leviticus, 25:8–12 (ESV):

The Year of Jubilee

“You shall count seven weeks of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan. That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You may eat the produce of the field.

Thank you for any response given! The heart of this question is because often times I will hear and see members of a nondenominational church change churches for a plethora of reasons. I even hear and see individuals switching denominations for some of these reasons. Some things include but are far from limited to: individual changed views on doctrines, the individual was not able to find community, loss of trust in the leadership to make decisions, loss of trust in the character and godliness of the leadership, those are the only reasons I could recall quickly.

So, a bit different of a topic IMO. For those of you who, while a member of the LCMS, switched from one LCMS congregation to another LCMS congregation: why did you switch congregations within the same denomination/synod? I will even make it a bit more broad: if you switched from one conservative Lutheran congregation to another, why did you make the switch? For example ELS to ELS or WELS to LCMS or LCMS to AALC or LCMS to LCMS, or any congregation that was associated with a conservative Lutheran synod to another congregation associated with a conservative Lutheran synod.

I am asking primarily for reasons other than moving geographically and/or a congregation being forced to disband (dont know reasons for being forced to disband apart from financial, but I am sure there are other reasons). If you moved locations or congregation disbanded, I am open to hearing your response as well though!