Contributors

Brian W. Thomas

Brian W. Thomas is the pastor of Grace Lutheran in San Diego, CA. He is the author of "Wittenberg vs. Geneva" and "Draw Me Unto Thee: A Lenten Prayerbook." As a former naval officer, he loves serving our sailors and marines in the local San Diego region.

Thy Kingdom Come: Waiting for Heaven in an Age of Instant Gratification

  • By Brian W. Thomas 11/07/19
Through the means of grace, Christ grants us a share in all the blessings of this ancient hope.
  • Eschatology
  • New Heavens and New Earth
  • Second Coming
  • God the Father
  • Promises of God
  • Holy Spirit
  • Hope

Knock! Knock! Who's There?

  • By Brian W. Thomas 10/02/19
For a long time, well-intentioned pastors and college evangelists have applied Jesus’ words from Revelation 3:20 to the unconverted.
  • Reformation Doctrine
  • Law and Gospel
  • Salvation
  • Repentance
  • Scripture
  • Exegesis

Saxon Visitation Articles of 1592

  • By Brian W. Thomas 09/17/19
The articles were used to catechize churches in Lutheran doctrine through a series of pastoral visitations.
  • Christian History
  • Ministry of the Church
  • The Lord's Supper
  • Reformation History

Font to Table: Need for the Creeds - Why Do We Recite Them?

  • By Brian W. Thomas 06/27/19
The creeds provide a means of unified confession that is biblically sound, transcending denominational lines of demarcation.
  • Christian History
  • Creeds and Confessions
  • Ecumenism
  • Heresy

Font to Table: Why Does the Pastor Wear That?

  • By Brian W. Thomas 05/16/19
The minister’s clothing represents his office of service, derived from the ministry of Christ, and never himself.
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Liturgy
  • Preaching

Font to Table: What is Lent?

  • By Brian W. Thomas 03/05/19
The post-Reformation observance of Lent is both commemorative and penitential
  • Church Seasons
  • Lent
  • Reformation Doctrine
  • Adiaphora

Font to Table: The Deeper Meaning Behind Baptismal Fonts

  • By Brian W. Thomas 02/21/19
The majority of churches still use the traditional eight-sided font. The question I’d like to explore in this post is, “Why?”
  • Christian History
  • Church Fathers
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Baptism
  • Liturgy

Font to Table: Why Do So Many Churches Have Red Doors?

  • By Brian W. Thomas 01/22/19
The red door was fair warning to pursuers that they could proceed no further.
  • Christian History
  • Reformation Doctrine
  • Adiaphora

On the Weekly Road to Emmaus

  • By Brian W. Thomas 07/09/18
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.
  • Jesus Christ
  • Resurrection
  • Ministry of the Church

In Celebration of True Liberty

  • By Brian W. Thomas 06/29/18
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).
  • Practical Theology
  • Politics
  • Reformation Doctrine
  • Two Kingdoms

Woe is Me: A Different Kind of Spiritual Experience

  • By Brian W. Thomas 05/25/18
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.”
  • Church Seasons
  • God the Father
  • Judgment
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Confession and Absolution

Christ’s Fifth Word From the Cross: “I Thirst.”

  • By Brian W. Thomas 03/30/18
Jesus’ death was a direct fulfillment of the will of His Father as promised in the Scriptures.
  • Church Seasons
  • Easter
  • Good Friday
  • Jesus Christ
  • Death of Christ

Ashes to Alleluias: Welcome to the Lenten Season

  • By Brian W. Thomas 02/16/18
God has given us a way out of our plight of “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” It is the way of the cross.
  • Church Seasons
  • Lent
  • Salvation
  • Repentance
  • Sin

Let the Little Children Come to Me: A Sanctuary for Children

  • By Brian W. Thomas 02/01/18
“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."
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Baptism
  • Liturgy
  • Salvation
  • Gospel
  • Vocation
  • Family

Baptized with Fire?

  • By Brian W. Thomas 01/05/18
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.
  • Holy Spirit
  • Jesus Christ
  • Life of Christ
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Baptism

Between Rome and the Fanatics

  • By Brian W. Thomas 11/01/17
Luther accepted Augustine’s view of the church as a mixed body.
  • Christian History
  • Heresy
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Reformation History

A Reformation Question: Can the Finite Bear the Infinite?

  • By Brian W. Thomas 09/08/17
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.
  • Jesus Christ
  • The Two Natures of Christ
  • Ministry of the Church
  • The Lord's Supper
  • Reformation History

The Alien Fashion Sense of Jesus

  • By Brian W. Thomas 11/16/16
The redeemed are dressed in white robes.
  • Justification
  • Imputation
  • Redemption
  • Righteousness
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Baptism

What's The Big Deal About The Liturgy? (Part 6: Good News)

  • By Brian W. Thomas 10/11/16
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.
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Liturgy
  • Preaching
  • Proclamation
  • Salvation
  • Gospel

What's The Big Deal About The Liturgy? (Part 5: The Role of Music in the Church)

  • By Brian W. Thomas 08/30/16
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.
  • Arts and Culture
  • Music
  • Practical Theology
  • Worship

What's The Big Deal About The Liturgy? (Part 4: The Dialect of Worship)

  • By Brian W. Thomas 07/07/16
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.
  • Christian History
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Liturgy
  • Practical Theology
  • Worship

What's The Big Deal About The Liturgy? (Part 3: The Syntax of Worship)

  • By Brian W. Thomas 06/14/16
Like any language, the liturgy has syntax—a structure that provides order and intelligibly communicates meaning through all that is said.
  • Christian History
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Liturgy
  • Practical Theology
  • Worship

What's The Big Deal About The Liturgy? (Part 2: The Dialogue)

  • By Brian W. Thomas 05/19/16
The chief verb of the liturgy is the gift of God’s forgiveness for the sake of Jesus Christ.
  • Jesus Christ
  • Justification
  • Forgiveness
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Confession and Absolution

What's The Big Deal About The Liturgy? (Part 1: Basic Grammar)

  • By Brian W. Thomas 04/29/16
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.
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Liturgy
  • Practical Theology
  • Worship
  • Reformation Doctrine
  • Adiaphora

Wittenberg vs. Geneva

  • The Thinking Fellows
    04/15/16
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…
  • Reformation History

Good Friday: Fouled Out, For Us

  • By Brian W. Thomas 03/22/16
Thankfully, our heavenly Father sent a Champion into the game to take our place. What we failed to do, He accomplished.
  • Church Seasons
  • Good Friday
  • Justification
  • Imputation
  • Salvation
  • Atonement

Good Grief: An Unexpected Journey through the Psalms of Lament

  • By Brian W. Thomas 01/19/16
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.
  • Practical Theology
  • Comfort
  • Suffering

Father Connection and Christmas

  • By Brian W. Thomas 12/02/15
He loved me, to be sure, but in a very nondescript, emotionally detached way, which is the way my grandfather loved him.
  • Church Seasons
  • Christmas
  • God the Father
  • Vocation
  • Fatherhood

Crowded House: The Unexpected Home of Martin Luther

  • By Brian W. Thomas 11/03/15
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.
  • Reformation Figures
  • Martin Luther
  • Reformation History
  • Luther's Works

More than Meets the Eye

  • By Brian W. Thomas 10/15/15
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.
  • Ministry of the Church
  • Proclamation
  • Sacraments
  • Scripture

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