Through the Shadowlands: A Handbook on Dying, Funerals, and the Care of the Grieving

Senkbeil, Harold L. Through the Shadowlands: A Handbook on Dying, Funerals, and the Care of the Grieving Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil. These familiar words of Psalm 23 chart the direction for a Christian family facing the reality of death. Here God identifies our […]

Why Are You Weeping? An Exegetical and Ontological Remark on John 20:13&15

Schulz, Gregory P. Why Are You Weeping? An exegetical and ontological remark on John 20:13 &15. “Why are you weeping?” (John 20:13 & 15). First, the angels asked her. Then, Jesus asked Mary the very same question. Why? Well, it was the morning of that first Easter, after all! We know that the question was part […]

Against Heterosexuality

Hannon, Michael Against Heterosexuality First Things, March 2014. “Gender” and “orientation” in biblical perspective. Alasdair MacIntyre once quipped that “facts, like telescopes and wigs for gentlemen, were a seventeenth-century invention.” Something similar can be said about sexual orientation: Heterosexuals, like typewriters and urinals (also, obviously, for gentlemen), were an invention of the 1860s. Contrary to our cultural […]

What About Porn?

Senkbeil, Harold L. What About Porn? Lutheran Witness, 2015. First, pornography feeds fantasy. It encourages men (and many women too) to think of sex abstractly, thus denigrating God’s good and perfect gift of sexuality. God made our first parents male and female, and from their sexual union came all humanity. Ever since He brought Eve from Adam’s […]

Pastoral Care and Sex

Senkbeil, Harold L., Pastoral Care and Sex Concordia Theological Quarterly, July/October 2015, 79:3-4, 329-345. In the utter confusion that reigns supreme in our culture regarding sexuality and marriage, it is tempting for pastors to put on other hats in order to address the chaos. And capable historians, psychologists, and sociologists certainly have much to contribute in matters […]

How do You Know Whether you are a Man or a Woman?

Stiegemeyer, Scott E., How do You Know Whether you are a Man or a Woman? Concordia Theological Quarterly, January/April 2015, 79:1-2, 19-48. The transformation of Bruce Jenner into Caitlyn Jenner in 2015 has brought the issue of gender identity into the lives of almost every American. How will Christians respond? Well, we have already begun to think […]

The Theology of Forgiveness and Its Enactment

Kleinig, John W. The Theology of Forgiveness and Its Enactment. Taskforce on the Practice of Forgiveness in the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA). December 4, 2008. Jesus, the Son of God, was sent by His Father to take away the sins of the world (Matt 1:21; John 1:29) and to speak His Father’s word of pardon […]

Studies on Homosexuality

Kleinig, John W. Studies on Homosexuality. St Paul’s Lutheran Church. Glenelg. June 2005. Presentation.

Saving Blood Prayer

Anonymous. Saving Blood Prayer. Prayer composed by an abused person, used with her permission shared via Dr. John W. Kleinig, November, 2011.  A very long time ago, Father, I was frantically searching for the “gate.” It was a gate that would somehow set me free from the darkness and lead me into the green pastures. At […]

Holiness and the Cure of Souls

Senkbeil, Harold L. Holiness and the Cure of Souls. LOGIA Eastertide, 2018. Adiaphora, Antinomianism, & Legalism. Volume XVII #2 While justification always remains the central article of the Christian faith, pastoral work is carried out routinely in the realm of sanctification. That is, the preaching of the cross always remains at the center. This—and this alone—constitutes the […]

Prayer for Cleansing and Healing

Senkbeil, Harold L. Prayer for Cleansing and Healing. Introduction: (the pastor teaches the theology and practice of lament and intercession before God,outlining the function of each component in the rite)…

Pastoral Letter on Porn

Kleinig, John W. Pastoral Letter on Porn. The regular use of pornography for masturbation is a kind of sexual addiction. When Paul speaks about impurity and sexual greed as idolatry in Ephesians 5:3-7 and Colossians 3:5, he accurately describes how it works. It begins with sexual impurity, the defilement of our imagination by depictions of sexual […]

More Light ,Less Heat on Sanctification and the Third Use: A Baptismal Virtue Ethics Proposal

Woodford, Lucas V. More Light, Less Heat on Sanctification and the Third Use: A Baptismal Virtue Ethics Proposal  LOGIA Eastertide, 2018. Adiaphora, Antinomianism, & Legalism. Volume XVII #2 There remains a lack of agreement about sanctification throughout larger Christianity today. This is not all that surprising, of course. However, such disagreement is also found within the […]

Sharing in God’s Holiness

Kleinig, John W. Sharing in God’s Holiness. General Pastors Conference of the Lutheran Church of Australia. Melbourne. 1984. We come upon a rather amazing claim in Hebrews 12:10. There the writer of the epistle says that we Christians are to share in God’s holiness. Indeed, he claims that our heavenly Father who has made us his […]

Pastoring by Blessing

Kleinig, John W. Pastoring by Blessing. Australian Lutheran College Inaugural Lecture. February 2, 2009. St Paul knew that he was a bearer of blessing, the full blessing of Christ. So when he wrote his letter to announce his impending visit to Rome, he made this audacious claim: ‘I know that when I come to you, I […]

Pastor, Psalms, and Day by day Life; Visitation, Sickbed, and Deathbed

Senkbeil, Harold L. Pastor, Psalms, and Day by Day Life: Visitation, Sickbed, and Deathbed. Good Shepherd Institute. Concordia Theological Seminary-Fort Wayne, Indiana. 2002 It is especially fitting that the Good Shepherd Institute should devote an annual conference to Psalms in the Life of the Church. For in these divinely-revealed songs Christ our Lord, the Good Shepherd […]

The Ministry of the Spirit

Kleinig, John W. The Ministry of the Spirit. Lutheran Theological Journal 36.1 (2002): 25-37 The Lutheran Church of Australia has been engaged in discussion on whether women may be ordained into the office of the public ministry. This question, however, presupposes that there is agreement on two even more basic theological issues. It assumes that there […]

Luther’s Care of Souls for Our Time

Slenczka, Reinhard Luther’s Care of Souls for Our Time. Concordia Theological Quarterly. 67.1 (2003 January): 33-64.  Over 450 years have passed since the death of Martin Luther (February 18,1546). All Protestant churches should be grateful for the work of the Reformer, but especially those churches that-against his express will-call themselves “Lutheran.” However, do we, as Lutherans […]

Living with a Clear Conscience

Kleinig, John W. Living with a Clear Conscience. Even though Christian spirituality has to do with a way of life, it is not just a religious philosophy of life that helps us to understand our place in God’s world, nor is it just a religious code of behaviour that maps out how best to live the […]

Individual Confession: Personalized Forgiveness

Senkbeil, Harold L. Individual Confession: Personalized Forgiveness. We say it regularly in church: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” Notice how the forgiveness of sins is at the heart of the Holy Spirit’s work in […]

The Benefit of Private Confession and Absolution

Anonymous. The Benefit of Private Confession and Absolution. Some years ago I called my pastor to make an appointment for individual confession and absolution. Like many other Lutherans, I’d never done that before. You must understand that I hadn’t robbed a bank or been unfaithful to my spouse. In fact, I hadn’t sinned any more (or […]