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Christianity and Culture: God’s Double Sovereignty
Recognizing God’s double sovereignty over all of life can enable Christians to be engaged in a positive, ...
Amoral Times
To be amoral is to be unable to distinguish morally acceptable behavior from morally unacceptable behavior. ...
Outreach to People with Mental Illness
See the information sheet that has resources on ministering to people with mental illness and to their ...
Perfect
When the mother of a disabled man says he’s perfect, she’s saying that the Lord, in His wisdom and mercy, has made ...
When the Crying Stops – Abortion: The Pain and the Healing
Written by Kathleen Winkler with meditations by the Rev. Dr. Harold L. Senkbeil, this book includes stories of 19 post-abortive women who recall their abortion experiences. The stories contain remembering, remorse, and regret. The author tells stories of how repentance happened, forgiveness was found, and the crying stopped.
The Intrusion of Psychology Into Christian Theology
Modern psychology is not an innocent helping-discipline to carelessly borrow from the left-hand kingdom and merge ...
The Appeal of Ethical Relativism
This article gives replies to someone who rejects the idea of morality and is based on reason rather than ...
Pro-Life Penalty
The state acts as God’s agent when it kills those who have killed.
Pro-Life Penalty
Human Ethics and Animal Rights
It seems incongruous that even as we freely kill unborn humans made in the image of God in demonstration of “a ...
Could You Be Addicted?
Whether some addictions may be more dangerous or less dangerous to our well-being, every kind of addiction ...
Can War Be Just?
Current discussions of an unprovoked “first strike” against another country challenge the historic just-war ...
He is a child. One sperm fertilizes one egg in a petri dish, and a human life begins. He has 23 pairs of chromosomes. He has his own genetic traits and family history. He is a human being for whom Jesus Christ died, just like you and me. He is a gift to his parents from the Lord. “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Ps. 127:3).
The Gift Not Given
This state of barrenness is our reality, and it is painful. Yet, ceaselessly, God gives gifts. He reminds of His sufficient grace.
The Child As a Gift of God
Commended by the 2019 LCMS convention, this paper examines the many subtle ways that American culture rejects life as a fundamental gift of God and instead sees “having a baby” as a human accomplishment.
The Social Doctrine of the Augsburg Confession and Its Significance for the Present
In this essay, Hermann Sasse describes the theology of the “two regimens” (more commonly called “two kingdoms”) of the state and the church. Sasse addresses the widespread misunderstanding of the kingdom of God.
Christian Citizenship
We are all citizens of two kingdoms. One is the kingdom of this world. Christian citizenship will advance the cause of movements that strengthen the guarantees of order and law, keep separate church and state, keep sacred the institution of marriage, and protect the morals of youth.
The Christian: A Citizen of Two Kingdoms
Every person is a subject of two kingdoms — one spiritual, the other earthly. Both the godly and ungodly are citizens of an earthly kingdom or country. However, Lutherans are not always as great a blessing to their country as they should be.
Vocation: Fruit of the Liturgy
In Martin Luther’s teaching on the dual existence of the Christian, we observe a connection with the teaching of the two governments or two kingdoms. The Christian does not seek to escape or withdraw from the world as in monasticism, but rather he lives out his calling in the particular place where God has located him.
Masks of God
Luther puts it strongly: Vocations are “masks of God.” On the surface, we see an ordinary human face — our mother, the doctor, the teacher, the waitress, our pastor — but, beneath the appearances, God is ministering to us through them. God is hidden in human vocations.
Your Family Vocation
Every Christian — indeed, every human being — has been called by God into a family. Our very existence came about by our parents. Martin Luther said, “God has given this walk of life, fatherhood and motherhood, a special position of honor, higher than that of any other walk of life under it.”
God at Work
Every Christian has a particular calling from God. With the doctrine of vocation, ordinary relationships, the 9-to-5 routine, taking care of the kids, the work-a-day world — the way we spend most hours of the day — become charged with the presence of God.
Wages for Sin
Marriage benefits are starting to go to those who are “shacking up.” As marriage becomes unnecessary — not just for job benefits but for adopting children, inheriting property, and being socially acceptable — the whole nation will be “living in sin.”
Tossing the Last Taboo
Christians dare not opt out of the culture wars, especially while influential culture makers are trying to normalize sex with children. If Christians let the world go its merry way into the black hole of depravity, we will be putting their children in genuine danger.