Matt M at the Sem

Graduation was Friday. Since I am an Residential Alternate Route I walk at commencement after my second year but I don’t actually receive a diploma until I complete vicarage next year. It has been very rewarding but intensive work. Without Tami’s support it would have been much more challenging.

We will miss dear friends we made at the seminary and my Field church. They are such nice people. What helps us to absorb this loss is our excitement as we look forward to meeting the people of Christ Lutheran Church and the community of Remsen. We will be moving around the middle of June. We have heard many wonderful things about them.

Imagine if you will, having friends who want you to join their group. They have you come to a group meeting and then later to a second type of meeting that the group has. In the first meeting, people are pleasant as they sit and listen to the speaker. They speak the common confession of the group and other than a few unruly children it is an uplifting nice experience, and your friends told you everyone seems to care about one another. You are considering joining the group but first, you want to see more.
You stay after the first meeting and converse as snacks are provided and although it is a nice, relaxed atmosphere something feels a little off. People break into little groups or friend circles and start talking about people in the other groups or circles and you note that it has suddenly become divisive, and they backbite one another. The more you listen you realize that the division isn’t over what it means to be a member of the group, but what color the new carpet in the meeting room should be. Other groups don’t discuss but bicker over whether or not they should change the color when they repaint. You finally find a respite; it is a group of children merely talking about the snacks. This must be safe ground, so you enter only to learn that they are saying bad things about the people who brought snacks in for them to eat. One says “These aren’t Oreos, they are the store brand. Why do they go cheap on cookies?” as they throw it in the trash causing the other kids to throw theirs in the trash and complain as they seek acceptance by the group.
You wonder where the children learned this only to glance back at their parents and grandparents having divisive and schismatic conversations in their groups over things that really don’t matter regarding who the group is or what they believe. So, do you join, or thank your friends and say it is not for me?
Sadly, this is what it can seem like for people when they come and visit your church. For a class today we read an article on churchmanship or living in the tension between schism and unity. The question is where to draw the line, as the congregation’s actions will reverberate through the generations. In the article, the professor stresses that schism is sin, but choosing unity over the Word of God is also sin. Christians are the body of Christ, but at times it seems as though we are trying to remove limbs and organs as opposed to overlooking things that really do not matter.
Where do we draw the line? The professor argues that we should pray for the whole body of Christ, not just our little group, but all members of the body throughout the world whether or not they look like us. The professor argues that we should not be divisive over things that do not affect our confessions as a follower of Christ. He also argues that we cannot value unity over identity when the issue affects our confession as Christians and the belief in the inerrancy, supremacy, and efficacy of the Word of God. So, we live in this tension trying to not allow the devil to have a foothold in our lives, congregation, synod, and the Body of Christ through schism, but also not allowing unity to be valued over WHOSE we are and to WHOM we belong.
This weekend, take a fresh look at your congregation, where divisions lay, and determine if that foothold for the devil is worth it. Think of how a prospective member would view your congregation, and question if you treat your members and clergy as Christ would have you treat them. Think about the message that is being sent to the children as we wonder why young people are leaving the church.
This is the season of Lent. A season to examine ourselves and our status as being saints and sinners at the same time. It is a season for repentance and turning back to the one who chose death on a cross over not being with you for eternity because of our sins. The one who lived, died, and rose again so that you could be part of the Body of Christ and spend eternity with him and all of the other people who trust in His promises.
It is only 54 days until Call Day/Vicarage Placement when many seminarians will learn for sure where we will all be sent. Please keep us and our future congregations in your prayers for unity as one in the Body of Christ. Please also keep all Christians throughout the world in your prayers so that Satan would not have a foothold. Remember, treat other Christians above all as brothers and sisters in Christ loving them and if they error, forgive and restore them gently as you would want to happen when you error.

Classes for the Spring semester begin tomorrow. Since the last post I finished the first semester and what is said to be the busiest semester at the seminary. I believe it. Over break I was able to spend some time with our family and the break was needed.

In January I took a 4th year leadership class called Pastoral Theology and Leadership. As I am a Residential Alternate Route (RAR) student I sometimes have to take classes before my peers in the MDIV would take the classes as I will not return after vicarage. I knew this entering, so it was not a surprise, just a different track.

Since it was a three-credit hour class compressed into one week I had a bunch of reading and a few writing assignments to do prior to the class beginning. The class was very practical regarding application of theological principles to modern day pastoral leadership issues. For example, one item that we discussed was devotions. A devotion with one’s family only takes about 10 to 15 minutes per day, which is small investment which unfortunately many do not engage in. The professor noted that divorce is almost non-existent for couples that have devotions together each day. It is a small investment for the possible return. I plan in the future to make it part of pre-marriage and pre-baptism counseling. If you want a sample structure of a devotion let me know.

An article was written about my path to the ministry in the Concordia Magazine. A cool thing was that I had some friends contact me while I was in the Dominican Republic on a short-term mission trip (more on that below) with Tami and a group from the seminary. One person who contacted me was a person that I knew while I worked for the City of Norfolk but had lost contact with. A friend who works for the seminary did a very nice job of writing the article. The article begins on page 14 but there are other interesting articles that you may also want to read. Here is a link to the magazine: https://issuu.com/concordiasem/docs/csm-winter-23

The mission trip was to the Dominican Republic for mission education to get a close-up view of life and work in the mission field. We had full days that were tiring but fulfilling. We met with and different congregations and saw different outreaches in Santo Domingo and Santiago. We met with the residents of Kilometer 28, which used to be an insane asylum that was not helpful to people placed there. This is a larger topic of God’s work that I will have to cover that at a later time. We also were able to meet and become friends with staff students, and professors at the Seminary in Santiago and the members of the group home which is there. We performed short plays to act out a couple of Bible stories and had fun with the children of a few different schools.

We were able to do in-home visits with some congregational members and while the members may have little in terms of possessions, they have much that we should desire. When asked how we could assist or pray for them, they always seemed to ask that we pray for one of their friends or family members so that they also would know the love of Christ. We were also hosted for meals by many amazing people working in the mission field in Latin America. Many who went on this first mission trip for the seminary are considering missions work in the future and others are considering encouraging future congregations to support missions work financially and hold them up in prayer.

We came to serve, yet we were the ones who were served. We came to tell people in the Dominican Republic about Christ, but they showed us Christ in their actions. We grew close to each other as a group and close to these brothers and sisters in Christ in the Dominican Republic. It was hard to leave. If you decide to help support mission work in Latin America or another part of the globe contact Mission Central in Mapleton, IA 712-882-1029 and they can direct your support.
God’s Blessings

Concordia Seminary magazine | Fall/Winter 2022 Read Concordia Seminary magazine | Fall/Winter 2022 by Concordia Seminary on Issuu and browse thousands of other publications on our platform. Star...

This is something that I struggled with before. Years ago, I used to wonder why we had to sing so many hymns or songs in church. Especially the ones with so many verses. It just made the service longer, and it wasn’t preaching, or even liturgy. What was the purpose?

One of the classes that I am taking this semester is Worship and the Word. In this class we go over several different aspects of worship to include building a service. One thing we addressed was when young boys go through their vocal changes, quite often they get discouraged and quit singing. Some never return while others just become quiet singers. Some fortunate ones have a teacher who works with and encourages them through this change.

Women don’t go through this change, but they have their own battles. When boys go through this change, they need to recalibrate their voices and get used to the new voice that they have. It is like putting a new scope on a rifle and not being able to hit the target so you quit shooting. The new scope just needs to be zeroed and you will shoot even better but you have to put the work in to recalibrate it.

Some never recalibrate their voice, some stop singing, some sing quietly, and some sing loudly but they miss notes or tunes. As a result, some don’t sing and they see hymns or songs as a waste of time, or maybe they are for other people but not for them.

The professor explained it like this. The job of the pastor is to preach and teach the Word of God and to deliver the sacraments. Together these prepare the congregation to go out into the world and tell them about Christ. When the pastor preaches, the people are quiet and listening to the Word of God being explained to them. They gain an idea of how this can be applied for Christian growth as we struggle through the maladies of this world.

Teaching the Word provides a foundation and a base of information to draw from that is necessary, but generally the people are quiet.

The hymns and songs contain the Word of God and the stories of God. When we sing hymns, the Word and stories of God are placed on the lips of His people. This helps us to have a ready answer for the faith and trust that we have in Jesus’ life, death, resurrection. It helps to explain the confidence that we have in the forgiveness of our sins.

If you never recalibrated your voice, this Christmas give yourself and others a gift by beginning to invest time in unwrapping the beautiful voice which you may have kept hidden for years or decades. Attend Bible study to learn the Word of God, attend church to hear the preaching of the Word, and sing the hymns so that the Words and stories of God are on your lips. This will help to give you a ready answer for the faith that we have in Christ Jesus. Sing those Christmas hymns this year and tell of your joy to the world because the Lord has come, let earth receive her King.

Finals week begins Monday, and I still have much work to do. Placement service is just a few short months away and the excitement is building. Please keep Tami, myself, and the congregation which will be receiving and calling us in your prayers.

God’s Blessing to you all and may you all have a safe and healthy Advent and Christmas season with the Words and stories of God on your lips.

I took Hannah for a walk this morning and I had to take some pictures of the lights around campus to share with you all. I hope that you all take time to give thanks and enjoy this Advent season.

Reading week and my Isaiah class, that was only a half semester, is completed. This second half of the semester I am taking a class on Psalms. As with Isaiah, we will read through the entire book and keep a diary of our readings.

Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm, and it is divided into 22 sections of about 8 verses. I know that you are all very busy and I am not sure how often each of you read the Bible. I do know that each of us typically has about 5 minutes per day of discretionary time.

November is the month that we celebrate Thanksgiving, so I am challenging each of you to read through one section of Psalm 119 each day starting on November 1st. Just one section or about 8 verses each day and you will be done before Thanksgiving. For me it works best to read when I first wake up in the morning so that I do not forget. For others it may work best to do this last thing in the evening before going to bed to rest well. Some may prefer to read during lunch or when they first get to their office each day. You do what works best for you and if you fall behind, catch back up.

After reading through each section just write down on your computer or notepad two things. First, what are your initial impressions of this section, and two, how this can be helpful for spiritual care. I know this seems like an extra pain, but if you are investing this time you will want to be able to quickly reference back to a section of Psalm 119 when you need it in the future. If you do this let me know how it changes what you are thankful for when we reach Thanksgiving. Oh, and if you want you can keep going after you completed this psalm. Mark it on your calendar or set a reminder on your phone so that you don’t forget.

Here is an example of what I wrote for day 2 to help get you started. We will all probably have somewhat different reactions and uses for spiritual care.

Psalm 119 verse 9-16 Reaction.
Simple Reaction: Wow. If we study and meditate on the statutes of God, His word becomes stored in our heart, and it helps to keep our way pure. What a simple response to the number of times that we fail. If we start our day with reading of His word, then it is easier to resist temptation. I wonder if David was actively reading God’s word when he took Bathsheba, or if he had lapsed. I know the times in my life when I messed up the most is when I wasn’t reading His word. Hmmm.

Thought about use for Spiritual Care: This would be helpful to point people toward, in order to encourage them to read God’s word daily at the start of the day and the close. Then again it shouldn’t be a prescription but a description of how to prepare ourselves for temptation. I hope that I said it correctly.

Best wishes on your adventure.

I was told that this semester is the busiest one that people have while on campus. While I am only about halfway through it, I believe it. This Friday night is Oktoberfest on campus as it is the weekend before midterms. It will be a good time to enjoy some wonderful fall weather in St Louis, bounce house inflatables, pretzels, schnitzel, kraut, bratwursts, and German beer. It is being held outside and the forecast for the day is sunny, a high of 62 with an overnight low of 40, and all of the fun that one can handle.

Reading Week, or as professors think of it Reading and Writing Week, begins on Friday, October 14th after classes. While there are no classes in session for this week, there are tests and papers due for some classes during this week. Some classes are half-semester classes, and they will be ending so it is finals for them. Other half-semester classes will be starting, and books will be needed for them. It does give the professors a chance to catch up with their workload.

I have seen a few leaves starting to fall and change color. I have also noticed friends on Facebook traveling to the east coast to see the amazing colors that God provides us. Other friends are enjoying the beauty that they find locally. It is a great time to get outside, take some walks, or just enjoy a bonfire with friends before winter arrives.

October is clergy appreciation month. We were given a statistic in a sermon a few weeks ago that there are over 1,500 LCMS congregations without a pastor and people are retiring faster than they are being replaced. The job of the Pastor is to preach, teach, deliver the sacraments, but they do so much more. They are there supporting people during life’s joys, sadness, and difficulties as they point you to faith in Jesus the Christ. Let your Pastor/Priest/Chaplain/Clergy know that you appreciate all that they do.

Blessings on your fall.

After beginning the summer with six weeks of classes, I was able to have a break and spend some time with friends and family. This week concludes orientation week for first-year students and students on vicarage last year are returning to campus for their last year. Daniel returned from Ghana yesterday and Tami and I had him over last night for a feast of pulled pork, watermelon, and sweet potato fries. Tonight, is a campus cookout and classes start on Monday. Books for the semester have been bought and new faces are everywhere. My classes will be Psalms, Isaiah, Systematics 1, Teaching the Faith, Worship and the Word, Pastoral Formation Lab, and Greek Lab.

The seminary is structured so that first-year students spend two years with their RAR classmates and 3 years with their MDIV classmates. Every other class you only spend one year with and while it is exciting to meet new students, it is a little sad that you don’t see friends from other classes that you made the previous year. For example, in my first year, I met second-year and fourth-year students. In my second year, there is a new first-year class and last year’s second-year class left as their third year is a vicarage assignment somewhere in the US. When they return next year for their fourth year my class will be on vicarage. The fourth-year class from last year are now either pursuing additional education or have been called and placed in congregations. The system allows you to meet and interact with more future pastors but also limits the time on campus with other classes. One thing different this year will be a mentor or big brother program which matches incoming students with second year students. I was able to help with structuring the program and hopefully it is helpful to new students and returning students.

In eight short months, there will be placement services and I will learn where we are going. In ten months or so we will be where we are sent. There is much to learn in a short amount of time. I have been fortunate to have opportunities to preach and provide lector and liturgy duties at my Field Experience church. In my institutional module this summer I was able to conduct services for developmentally disabled adults who attend an adult day care. Whenever they entered the activity room for Church Service, they were so excited. They would high-five, pump their arm, say yes, and have huge smiles on their faces. They had such joy in attending the service. We can learn a lot from them.
Blessings.

This is the article that I wrote for my home church monthly newsletter in August. It is an effort to answer the question of why we go to church. I hope that you find it helpful.

Why go to Church, and the Second Commandment
One of the questions that many people ask the priesthood of all believers (all the children of God) is why should I go to church. Sometimes it is followed by statements such as: but I watch it on Facebook, I watch on TV, I praise God in my own way, I read my Bible myself, or fill in your own excuse. People also use similar reasoning for why they should go to Sunday school, Bible study, help with VBS, attend potlucks, serve on church council, or help with recording the service. Fortunately, one of my summer classes covered this very topic. Hopefully, this gives you an answer for the next time this question is posed to you.
The first word that I will talk about is “ethos” or in English it is ethics. It is our values or principles that govern our behavior. For us, our behaviors are or should be governed by the fact that we are children of God who have been baptized into the priesthood of all believers. We believe in a triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) as outlined in our creeds and confessions. We belong to the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, Iowa District West, Immanuel Lutheran Church of Logan, IA. We believe in the Bible and the doctrine of the LCMS. These foundational principles should govern our individual and corporate behavior.
The second word that I will address is “narrative”, or story. We belong to the story of Immanuel Lutheran Church, Iowa District West, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod all of the way back to the Garden of Eden and the creation by God. This comes all the way down to stories of decorating the church, working on the 4th of July floats, laughs had at council meetings, Bible studies, sermons by different pastors that we have had, and everything else. It is all of the good and bad that tell the story of you, the others there, and our individual and joint experiences. It is like family stories that are passed down through the years with more stories being created and added to it.
The third word that I will address is “practice”. This refers to our practices as a group and as an individual. We have Sunday services. We celebrate advent with Wednesday night services and potluck. We prepare ourselves for Easter with Wednesday night Lenten services and potlucks. We have coffee and fellowship after Sunday services, and we have Sunday School. We also have a unique balance of clerical versus congregational control as shown by our different boards, committees, church council, and voters’ meetings. We love our church family and it shows in our actions toward one another.
People who belong to our congregation are governed by our shared ethics, are part of our story of Immanuel Lutheran Church, and engage in our practices. When someone stops engaging in our practices, they soon stop to be part of our story. When they stop being part of our story, they begin to lose our shared ethics. When we absent ourselves from our practices, we have chosen something else as being more important than our practices. Yes, everyone will have family, vacations, work, etc. from time to time and that is not what I am speaking about. I am speaking of the deliberate choice of not being present and involved, choosing that something else is more important than our practices.
When we do not want to be involved in church council, Sunday school, or other events we are saying that we do not want to be part of that practice. When we choose not to attend services, we are saying that we don’t want to be part of our practices. When we choose not to learn more about God, we are saying that something else is more important to us. So, we go to church and are involved because it is part of our practices, we are part of the story, and we share the same ethics and values. That is how it was explained in Systematics 2.
There are only nine months until Tami and I find out where we will be sent. Now for the Second Commandment “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God”. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.
God’s Blessings to you all as you close out your summer.

And like that, the first year is done. In the early morning hours of the 4th of July, I finished my last two tests for my summer courses. Those in the MDIV track recently started Hebrew and will continue until the middle of August. As opposed to Hebrew, my Alternative Route provided three courses over a six-week period, while most of the MDIV people had their summer break.
The classes that I had were all interesting and each had much to be learned. The instructors were all masters at their area of expertise, yet each had their own style and provided a refreshing change of pace. As they were intensive courses the reading load was heavy and sometimes seemed as if a paper was due every other day and a book was read every day.
During the classes, I learned terms such as dhimmni, Predigtamt, ekklesia, simil iustus e pecator, and other Arabic, German, Greek, and Latin words. One I want to focus on is εκκλεσια, or as we would say it in English ‘ek lay see ya’. While the word means church or assembly, it is from the root words ‘ek’ and ‘kalew’ in Greek. Ek means out and kalew means called, so as the instructor explained, the congregation, church, or assembly is ‘called out’ of the world by God to be the church. Therefore, when we interact with our brothers and sisters in the faith, we should be cognizant that they have been called out individually and corporately from the world by God to be His church. By the same token, the Predigtamt (German for Office of the Ministry) has also been called by God to shepherd His people, so as members of the church we should be respectful of their calling to preach, teach, and administer the sacraments as they shepherd the people of God. I hope that all made sense and reinforced how we should act toward one another. Maybe next time I will go over autonomy and heteronomy, or maybe why we should attend church.
While I look forward to a few weeks to visit family and friends, I also must begin turning my attention toward Fall classes and buying books for them. This fall I will have some instructors that I have already had and some that I have not been in class with yet. I have heard them all preach in Chapel since the instructors rotate through the pulpit, and I look forward to learning from them.
I hope that you all had a Happy and safe 4th of July and enjoy your summer. God’s Blessings.

I has been a couple of weeks so I thought that I would catch you up. I have just finished the second of three, two-week intensive classes. The first class was the History, Culture and Theology of Islam and the second was 20th Century Issues for Pastors. Each class was an entire semester’s class in two weeks. There was much reading and writing but some of it was fascinating.

In Islam, our instructor was born and raised in Syria. As an adult he researched different religions seeking God. He ended up joining the LCMS, becoming a pastor, and later achieved his doctorate. He now belongs to an international group that meets every two to four years about how best to share the Gospel of Christ with Muslims. The class showed us what Muslims believe so that we may be more competent when we speak. They believe in the Old and New Testament but believe that man corrupted it and Muhammad brought the pure teachings from God. They even have several stories from the Old and New Testament in the Quran. Keep them in your prayers that they may receive the light of Christ as revealed by the Holy Spirit.

The second class was about issues that our culture and country has faced during our members lives. This forms baggage which we all have, that is then brought into the doors of the church. The class allowed us to see how this baggage may affect the worship and expectations of the congregation. We read and examined The Great Depression, Science, WW2 and the Holocaust, The Cold War, The Civil Rights Movement, and Vietnam. We would read a book, discuss it, and write a paper about how we can apply this to a future congregation and then repeat. The goal was to determine how to help those who come to church set the baggage down and be free of those burdens so that they can hear the gospel proclaimed to them. As Pastors our job will not just be helping those who come to set down baggage but also to teach them how to minister to others so that others can also set their baggage down so that they can receive the good news. This is part of the Great Commission to go into all the world.

On Monday I start Systematics 2 which is about Christian Doctrine, the Office of the Ministry, and forming believers. Once again it will be a lot of reading, writing, and classes. After that I get a break for a few weeks. During the summer I will be working on an institutional module where I tell Bible stories to developmentally disabled adults who attend day care while their caretakers go to work. Like us they all have their own issues and God loves them, just like us.

I trust that your summer is going well. While we have some discomfort with the heat wave that we are experiencing, keep in mind that those who do not know Christ will have a much longer and worse heat wave in their future. Enjoy those that Christ has placed into your life and share the good news with them.

Let me leave you with this as it is a good refresher from the Catechism.
The 8th commandment: You shall not give false testimony about your neighbor.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

God’s Blessings