If you haven't heard, the pope has come for a visit. 

The Lutheran Church has, from the start, had a few things to say about the pope, but what does the pope say about himself? What is the Romanist teaching on who the pope is? 

Here is a list of the top 6 most surprising things that Roman Catholic Church teaches about the pope. 

“No one can serve two masters.” Jesus is preaching to us today about the sin of worry, and He begins by letting us know that He is talking about the heart, what it is that you fear, what it is that you love, and what it is that you trust above all things.

This is really the definition of what it means to have a god, to have a master, to worship something. Where is your confidence? What do you trust? Where do you look for all good? This is the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods.” What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things. 

This winter the ACELC graciously invited me to give a paper at their conference. They asked for a discussion of the duties of the pastor. 

The audio of the conference may b found here: http://s3.amazonaws.com/mychurchwebsite/c1922/3_duties_of_pastor_wolfmueller.mp3

I have also uploaded a draft of the paper. I believe the edited text will be available on the ACELC website soon, and when it is I will provide that link. 

As always, I would love to hear your feedback. 

Lord's Blessings, 
Pr Bryan Wolfmueller

Here is the paper, ready for download: 

Are there ghosts? What does the Bible teach? 

I hear more and more about ghosts. There is always someone ghost-hunting on the History channel, or talking with Ghosts, whispering to Ghosts, looking for Ghosts or running from them. Hollywood seems obsessed with ghosts. In fact, the Materialistic worldview of Hollywood, if it were consistent, would teach that death is the end, and we cease to exist when we cease breathing. But becoming a ghost when we die seems to be the preferred narrative. 

The Church: The Body of Christ

In his letter to the saints in Ephesus, St. Paul paints the picture of the church as a body, a very unique and special body. In fact, the church is the body of Christ. “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23).

An Introduction to the Conscience, A Few Things about It, and What the Devil and Jesus Are Up To With It

Who Dug the Pit in Your Stomach?
You feel sick when you've done something bad because you have a conscience, that internal referee that makes judgments about the things going on around you. This conscience is a gift from God in creation, it is part of our humanity, and it works like a courtroom where thoughts and actions are tried, and verdicts are pronounced. The conscience causes us to consider three things: our own actions towards others, others’ actions towards us, and the general conditions in the world. 

A Few Thoughts on What is Unique about the Theology of the Lutheran Church 

Here is a simple question: What do Lutherans believe and confess that no one else does? Lutherans have a unique history, unique texts, unique songs, but what is theologically unique about Lutheran teaching?

The answer is simple, but with profound implications. Lutherans are the only ones who teach that the Holy Spirit works exclusively through the external Word of God and sacraments to create and sustain faith and give salvation. Lutherans believe this. No one else does. This Lutheran uniqueness has deep significance. 

There is a lot of talk in the church about sanctification, about following Jesus and being His disciple. There is not a lot of talk about suffering. But the two go together. The Bible describes the Christian life as a life of suffering. The TV preachers describe the Christian life as a life without suffering. Which is it? 

The “Health and Wealth” teachers and the “Prosperity Gospel” take this to the extreme. Sickness, poverty, too many red lights on the way to work are signs of a lack of faith, a lock of God’s blessings. If you are suffering then you show yourself to be a false disciple of Jesus. This is a horrible and disastrous false teaching.

But there is a subtle “sanctification-means-less-suffering” doctrine in all of us, and inner Buddhist that thinks that our suffering means that we are far from Jesus, our troubles are indications of God’s abandonment. Which is why, I suspect, troubles always stir up questions about God’s location. “Where is God in the midst of trouble?” We ask the question because we think (without thinking) that God must keep suffering at arm’s length, and if we’re suffering, God must keep us at arm’s length.