Category Archives: Vocation

Facing Wokeism as a Church  (After Lutheranism Part 4)

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Matt

As I wrote when I started this “After Lutheranism” series, one of the greatest threats to American church bodies is our ongoing failure to adequately oppose the progressive social justice agenda or “wokeism.” Indeed, the recent events surrounding our now … Continue reading →

Posted in Lutheranism, Politics, The Modern Church, Theological Liberalism, Theological Pietism, Theology, Tradition, Vocation | 7 Comments

After Lutheranism – Part 1

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Matt

How does Lutheranism end for us? It’s taken a great deal to get me, a lifelong member of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, to ask myself such an ominous question. But then, these past few years have thrown an awful … Continue reading →

Posted in Chastity, Culture, Family, Lutheranism, Musings, The Modern Church, Tradition, Vocation | 16 Comments

Scouring America’s Shire

Posted on June 26, 2023 by Matt

An often overlooked sequence in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is the ‘Scouring of the Shire.’ After the Ring is destroyed, Sauron is defeated, Aragorn claims his throne, and all the more epic plot points have been resolved, the hobbits … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Nationalism, Musings, Politics, Vocation | 6 Comments

Contending Against Critical Theory

Posted on March 28, 2023 by Matt

In Part One, we covered what Critical Theory is. In Part Two, we covered why the danger it poses is primarily spiritual rather than merely political or cultural. If you haven’t read those posts, read them before you go any … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Ethics, Feminism, Heresy, Humanism, Law, Lutheranism, Musings, Politics, The Modern Church, Theological Liberalism, Tradition, Vocation | 5 Comments

Who Told You to be Offended?

Posted on November 29, 2022 by Matt

Back in the day, I spent about seven years living in one of America’s most comically liberal cities. It wasn’t Portland, but it was very much like Portland. It even had the same slogans about keeping the city weird and citizens … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Nationalism, Ethics, Feminism, Natural Law, Politics, The Modern Church, Vocation | 10 Comments

On Lutheran Women and the Writing of Books

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Matt

A Lesson from History In the mid-20th century, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod had a problem that came to be called “Gospel Reductionism.” Modernism had long been waging a fearsome war against Christianity. The academic style from the Enlightenment onward had … Continue reading →

Posted in Feminism, Lutheranism, The Modern Church, Theological Liberalism, Theology, Tradition, Vocation | 6 Comments

Christian Women and the Abandonment of Vocation

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Matt

Women studying at seminary… Women writing books of theological instruction… Women leading the liturgy and administering the Sacraments…  Feminism’s self-insertion into the pastoral office has not yet slackened if these ongoing debates in ‘conservative’ churches are any indication. Clearly, we … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Feminism, Law, The Modern Church, Vocation | 3 Comments

A Biblical Case Against Polygamy

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Matt

It shouldn’t be surprising that civilization hinges on getting sexuality right–or at least right “enough” in a fallen world. Investing our own flesh and blood in the next generation is perhaps the most literal understanding of “having skin in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Chastity, Culture, Ethics, Musings, Vocation | 4 Comments

What We Have In Common

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Matt

As diversity continues its work of assassinating American common ground, it’s no surprise that American churches are struggling with the issue of race & nation as it pertains to their faith. Christianity is, of course, a universal religion rather than … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian Nationalism, Ethics, Lutheranism, Politics, Two Kingdoms, Vocation | 4 Comments

What Seminary Taught Me About Greatness

Posted on July 11, 2022 by Matt

Should a woman study at seminary? I’ve seen the question raised quite a bit over the past few months for various reasons. Some of that reason, of course, is the fault of “Christian” feminists who will always try to scrabble … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Feminism, Sanctification, Theology, Vocation | 3 Comments