Brian W. Thomas

For a long time, well-intentioned pastors and college evangelists have applied Jesus’ words from Revelation 3:20 to the unconverted.

The articles were used to catechize churches in Lutheran doctrine through a series of pastoral visitations.

The creeds provide a means of unified confession that is biblically sound, transcending denominational lines of demarcation.

The minister’s clothing represents his office of service, derived from the ministry of Christ, and never himself.

The post-Reformation observance of Lent is both commemorative and penitential

The majority of churches still use the traditional eight-sided font. The question I’d like to explore in this post is, “Why?”

The red door was fair warning to pursuers that they could proceed no further.

It can be argued that this scene sets a pattern for Christian activity on the first day of the week from that time until the present.

The reason the U.S. is blessed by God is that we are essentially a “good” nation. And this is the root of Bob’s problem (and that of all civil religion).

That’s where a true encounter with God leaves you. Unable to point the finger at anyone else, all you can do is fall on your face, confess your sin, be absolved, and join the angels in singing, “Holy, holy, holy.”

Jesus’ death was a direct fulfillment of the will of His Father as promised in the Scriptures.

God has given us a way out of our plight of “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” It is the way of the cross.

“In a culture that promotes self-interest, children in church learn that something much bigger and more important than themselves is going on in their midst."

Instead of burning them up with unquenchable fire, He comes in solidarity, to be God with us and God for us. Jesus is baptized into our life, so that He could gift us His life.

Luther accepted Augustine’s view of the church as a mixed body.

This emphasis in Luther also applied to his understanding of the sacraments, and particularly comes out in his writings on the Lord’s Supper in his Large Catechism.

The redeemed are dressed in white robes.

Many Christians (including preachers) have succumbed to the idea that good preaching must be about practical living, and so most sermons are geared to scratch this pragmatic itch.

Music is an inherent part of our humanity as image-bearers of God. And like all gifts, it is meant for the good of the receiver.

We are continuing our summer series on a theology of worship through the lens of language. Before moving forward, let me highlight a few points by way of review.

Like any language, the liturgy has syntax—a structure that provides order and intelligibly communicates meaning through all that is said.

The chief verb of the liturgy is the gift of God’s forgiveness for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Over the next few months, I invite you to join me in looking at what the Bible and the Lutheran Confessions have to say about the subject of worship through the lens of language.

On this episode, the Thinking Fellows do things differently. Deviating from the typical Loci topics, the guys interview Pastor Brian Thomas. Brian Thomas is the author of 1517 the Legacy Project's latest book Wittenberg vs. Geneva. The Fellows talk about…

Thankfully, our heavenly Father sent a Champion into the game to take our place. What we failed to do, He accomplished.

Without getting into specifics, I have suffered a loss that seemed at times unbearable. I cried. I pleaded. I questioned. I prayed. I drank. Rinse. Repeat.

He loved me, to be sure, but in a very nondescript, emotionally detached way, which is the way my grandfather loved him.

As Luther’s efforts at reform began to build, so did the vacancies in monasteries and convents across Europe as monks and nuns motivated by evangelical teaching left their orders for other vocations and opportunities, including marriage.

Nevertheless, we believe, teach, and confess that this unlikely King advents weekly to meet with His people in the Divine Service through His Word and Sacraments.