Why am I a Missouri-Synod Lutheran? Part I (did you really think I could do this in one blog entry?)

This one might be long. I am going to try and answer a question that I get asked quite a bit.

This particular blog is not being written to raise any one's ire that my beliefs may differ from anyone else's. I hold many Christian brothers and sisters who are strong in their faith in great regard as I believe does our triune God.


Logo of the LCMS (not an endorsement of my blog)



To simply put it, I have found what I believe the scripture has taught me to believe. Of course that simple description will not do at all. so I must expound. By the way... this is as much for me as it is for those who ask me, "Why Lutheran?" I think it does someone immense good to say why they believe any given fact in their lives.

An answer could be "that it feels right." It does indeed feel right, but I would risk acquiescence to the fact that many today actually look for a good feeling or even entertainment from "church." So that answer does not apply well to my intent at all.

The easiest answer would have been to say, "I married one." Indeed easy to say, as well as being quite true, but it was actually much more than that alone. Let us say that my wonderful, beautiful wife (who shows a great deal of restraint by not killing me in my sleep) led me to the level of faith I had searched for or maybe even ran from since the days of my youth.

Like I said, this could get long... and deep... and doctrinal... but it is an expose of the Theology that I believe as strongly as the fact that I breath air. It will get scriptural.

Every day, I wish that I had the deep understanding of the pastoral men such as synod President Matthew Harrison, Pastor Chad Eckels, Pastor Walter Ullman, Pastor Michael Paul, Pastor Martin Keller, Pastor Steve Kieser, Pastor Mark Moog, Pastor Keith Knea, Pastor Martin Noland... not to mention Pastors Wiist, Wenig, Esterline, Horstmeyer, Schneider, Smith... All different men. One faith. And all capable through the grace and empowerment of God to teach us God's inerrant word. I would dearly love to be able to follow Matthew Harrison around for a day just to be able to hear his clear teachings on the scriptures (have watched several videos) and just listen and learn.

There are people I define as "moral compasses" as well. They display the fruits of the spirit. People like (if you are local to Evansville) Charlie McMahon and Don Diekmann. Another layman of this calibre with vast theological knowledge and the ability to write about it is Scott Diekmann, a pilot for Alaska Airlines, who has written a blog called "Stand Firm" in more recent times.

Since story telling is the easiest way of expression for me, I have to start with my relationship to God. I was raised as a Southern Baptist. My church was for many years right down the street from my house (Vann Avenue Baptist Church). To this day, I will always remember the Pastor of that church, Brother Nall. Throughout my life, there have been intersections of meeting with him. I first learned of our Lord through this man. I first learned of the bible through the church he led and their vacation bible school. I still remember as a seven-year-old child learning the pledge to the Christian flag. This was my first immersion in Christianity. Those memories are still strong. Over those years that followed, I went as children of houses not firmly rooted in Christ do... at my whim. Sometimes I rode the bus to church, sometimes I went to vacation bible school, enjoying the stories, Cherry  Kool Aid and cookies. I was a kid.

Later on, as a paramedic, I would be kneeling in a strangers floor, giving cardiac arrest medications to an unconscious, pulse less person while Brother Nall would sit close by comforting the family. This happened at least three times on the south-east side of town during my career. He has now retired after a very long time in the pulpit.

I believed at the most rudimentary level: as a child. My theology was and would remain for sometime extremely nebulous. Christ was my Savior. I could say that clearly later on, but the different versions of many faiths on the hows and whats and whys of being a Christian always stormed in my head.

I spent my early teen years in a non-denominational Christian church. I went to services more regularly. Grew a little. Spent a lot of time pondering Revelations (that church was consumed with this for about half a year back then). I was also in the church's traveling choir. At the same time, I went from attending a public grade school to starting my freshman year in high school in a Christian environment. I attended all four years of high school at a local Independent Baptist School. I did not know it then and would have disagreed with myself now... but I learned the true value of a Christian education experience.

I visited a Catholic church a few times (where I must say that I saw what I would define as worship evidenced... I think this was my first experience with a liturgical worship environment). I attended a Presbyterian church quite regularly toward the end of my high school years (although I do not remember much of those services). Then, through a close friend who later became my wife, I returned to my roots as a Southern Baptist. Pastor Erlich led Calvary Baptist in downtown Evansville. He was an instructional, heavily scriptural, calmly passionate church leader. I learned from him. I grew in faith for short periods of time and fell away at others. I was newly married, an active working EMT, a volunteer firefighter, in paramedic school and totally ate up with anything dealing with firefighting, rescue and prehospital medicine.

I honestly think at that time that I could have told you that salvation was by grace without having a clue what that meant and thinking that what I was doing daily was important enough to God to simply ignore anything more than attending an average of two services a month (sometimes more, sometimes less). Today, I would say I had works-based faith... not due to fault of the church, but through my failure to listen over many years, failure to study God's word, failure to even care at times. My sinful nature was actually still holding the reigns fully (not implying that it still doesn't try to steer the horse today, because it does).

I stalled my search for where I should be spiritually with a bandaid of the thrills of EMS.

EMS taught me a lot. It showed me daily that people could not care about others, kill their children, spend huge amounts of money on drugs, have senseless accidents, live off others and see it as an entitlement, and almost always choose what best suited them over any definition of "good" or "right."

It also showed me the reality of what a wall collapse, a tornado and other disasters do to lives. What you see in the media is never even 10% of what you see or feel being there. To say that this has marked me is an understatement. I always have to remember that my definition of an emergency most likely has a far higher minimum threshold than where most people would call 911 and deploy the cavalry. I must always remember that the definition of an emergency is in the eye of a beholder and I have to respond with compassion to their definition of an emergency.

But this is not about emergencies... it is about faith... my faith... and why I have chosen this path (I use choice here figuratively and not theologically). To quote the title of a book by a Lutheran author, "This Faith Is Mine."

So after great study and as it turns out, my beliefs mirror things written in the 1500's, during the Reformation. For a guy that is an extreme science-fiction fan (I hide it well), that may not jive with your view of me if you think you know me well. I am a tech progressive, evidence-based medicine kind of dude that dabbles in Six Sigma statistical analysis and improving patient outcomes.

The fairly rough and tumble world of EMS and firefighting led to an internal view of marriage that allowed me to devalue it. Christ was only involved in my marriage on Sunday mornings and then only when I was convicted enough to listen. For this I am truly sorry. I also have to admit that God has a plan for me, "a poor miserable sinner." I am not fixed of this sin. I cannot be fixed of this by anything that I do. I have a sinful nature that will always affect my judgement.

This nature has been there since the Garden and has a spotlight shined upon it by man's inability to keep the Law as given to Moses. Only by focusing on the Cross and the Tomb do I make the change in behavior... but even when I cannot, it is by grace that I am saved, not by any degree of my trying or my success but through the sacrifice of Christ alone... Solus Christus.

If you were expecting more theology, stand by... it will be coming in the next installments. I'll give you more of the "why" next time.