CAN RURAL AMERICA BE SAVED?
Rural American, and thus the rural church, is at a point of crisis. We took on the noble goal of feeding the world, but we forgot to feed our neighbors. Our rural communities became food deserts, as incapable of feeding ourselves and as tied to the grocery store as any suburban community (indeed, in many […]
POSSESSIONS, REPUTATION AND HIGHER EDUCATION
Nary a month goes by absent a mainstream media headline about the “student loan crisis.” Over the past 30 years, student debt has increased more than eightfold to $1.7 trillion. It is the largest form of consumer debt apart from home mortgages, surpassing both credit cards and auto loans. Previous generations used to graduate college […]
AN ALL-LUTHERAN COLLEGE?
A student’s four years at college are some of the most formative years of a young adult’s life. As important as our upbringing is in the home, the culture surrounding young adults after they leave the home will shape how they use the tools their parents have given them. We see in most colleges and […]
DOING A NEW-OLD THING
Understandably, questions arise about the founding of Luther Classical College as a Lutheran College that is distinctly a Missouri Synod school and yet not directly sponsored by the LCMS nor under the Concordia University System. While this seems unusual, we are really doing a new–old thing. In other words, this is a return to the […]
THE MEASURE OF SUCCESS
The measure of success most touted by colleges and universities is a rise in student enrollment. The bigger, the better. The more students brought in, the more obvious the success. This isn’t necessarily the case even on a financial level, as the LCMS saw recently with Concordia Bronxville, which announced record enrollment just before shutting […]
BODY, SOUL, AND COLLEGE
We know that the body and soul are distinct. Jesus himself says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Look also at the basic Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the body. Death results […]
LUTHERANISM AND… MATHEMATICS?
Mathematics and Lutheranism sure are an odd subject for an essay. We know what mathematics is, or at least we know some of what is taught concerning mathematics. We know about counting, adding, some things about triangles, and, for those of us blessed to remember something of high school physics or chemistry, how it can […]
STARTING OUT RIGHT: ACCREDITATION AND THE BOLD CONFESSION
When people inquire about accreditation for Luther Classical College, they are concerned about two things. They want LCC to be true to the Lutheran Confessions and they also want it to be recognized as a legitimate institution of higher learning—not a Bible college, which may teach sound theology but does not confer liberal arts diplomas, […]
THE FAILING AMERICAN FAMILY: A LUTHERAN RESPONSE
A stunning number recently came from the U.S. Census Bureau: in 2021, the annual American population growth rate fell to near zero, the lowest figure ever recorded in the nation’s history. A major reason was a sharp fall in the birth rate, to a total fertility rate of only 1.64 average lifetime births per woman. […]
IS THE LECTIONARY ACTUALLY IMPORTANT?
I grew up in a Pentecostal sort of church that had never used the lectionary. Why would we? Wasn’t it better to be led by the Holy Spirit than to be tied down to any specific readings? Instead of preaching on a limited number of Biblical texts, our pastor preached from the whole Bible. Except […]