Rock 'N' Blogroll: What Accords With Sound Doctrine

Someone on Facebook recently asked the following...

Can anybody recommended some good confessional Lutheran blogs? The more the better. I want to build a list on my RSS Reader, replacing my old Reformed ones. Thanks in advance!

That got me thinking.

As a "Newtheran" myself (ok, maybe not that "new" anymore, but still), I should probably start compiling my own list of faithful Lutheran blogs (and podcasts) so that A Lutheran Layman can serve as a sort of one-stop-shop for others like me.

Sure, I have a few listed here already, but I think I need to do a little "house cleaning" to get them better organized and to give people like you more "spiritual meat" to chew on in the Lutheran Home For Displaced Converts And Once Deceived Christians.

So, with that in mind, please enjoy this new feature I'm calling "Rock 'N' Blogroll" that will help me to highlight at least 1 new Lutheran website to our Blogroll sections (see the right hand column of this page) for those who are looking for good Lutheran resources online.

We'll start with the more popular and well-known and work our way through to the lesser known gems and treasures hiding within the Lutheran Blogosphere.

I'll also try to write a few comments and observations about each one along the way as well to, hopefully, serve as a sort of introduction and give you a better idea of what to expect should you visit the site.

Today's featured website?

WHAT ACCORDS WITH SOUND DOCTRINE 

This is a blog I just recently discovered myself and I have been enjoying the content I've been finding there. For starters, I admire anyone and everyone who can write succinctly (a gift I wasn't blessed with myself as many of you know! haha). Seriously, all kidding aside, I love how I can go there at any time and read something that either challenges me or edifies me (and sometimes it does both!), but does so without having the length of the blog post rivaling a short novel. In that sense, it's kinda like one of those Daily Devotion books you can buy. You know, the ones where you read a single devotion that corresponds to each day of the year? The content is written by a layman, Steve Bricker, who is a professional Project Manager in the Technology space, and who lives in Cedar Rapids, IA. I suggest following him on Twitter too, because I've also enjoyed reading his tweets for several months now before I began visiting his blog regularly. If I may, without it sounding disrespectful in any way, I have to say that I look at him as a "mentor" of sorts for me. See, being only 35-years-old, and being so new to Confessional Lutheranism, I like that there's an "older gentleman" that I can count on and turn to for...sobriety...sound doctrine...steadfast faith (even if I only know him by his online persona and not in the real-life, flesh-and-blood way). I would imagine that he's been through so much more than me in life and has even survived the storms so-to-speak when it comes to remaining faithful in the face of spiritual attacks and church conflicts and controversies. I say that because whenever I read his writing, it's almost as if I'm sitting down with a deacon/elder in my local church, or with someone who has much wisdom to offer a young man like me just starting out on the Wittenberg Trail. So, that's what I like best about his blog. Even if your circumstances are much different from mine, I know you'll enjoy adding What Accords With Sound Doctrine to your daily reading list.

Bottom line? The blog/podcast/website referenced above simply rocks if you're looking for pure, unadulterated Biblical preaching and teaching about "the Rock" Himself, Jesus Christ (2 Samuel 22:47; Psalm 18:2; 1 Corinthians 10:4), and it's all from a distinctly Lutheran (a.k.a. distinctly orthodox Christian) perspective.

So, do yourself a favor -- bookmark this website today (as in right now)!

By the way, in case you're wondering, the picture above reminds me of how the content you'll find there is always F-R-E-E "Spiritual-Food-For-Your-Soul" that we all need. That, in turn, reminds me of one of my all-time favorite verses in the Bible.

Matthew 4:4 (ESV) But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Please take a few minutes to check it out and then let me know what you think in the Comments Section below. Then, be sure to drop them a note to let them know that you thank the Lord for believers like them who are willing to offer faithful, humble confessions of "the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3) despite any personal costs in the process.

Finally, if you have any suggestions (or have your own website that you'd like me to share with others), then please don't hesitate to reach out to me to let me know although I have a pretty long list myself that I still have to work my way through.

In a Lutheran layman's terms, and in my own personal experience, I've found that there are many more faithful Confessional Lutherans to be found online than you might think.

For that matter, I'm finding that there are far more faithful Confessional Lutherans online that you can continue to learn from than there are in most pews at a majority of the LCMS Churches here in the Eastern District I'm afraid.

Sad, but true, and that's why I thank the Lord each and every day for such fine, faithful men and women who are unashamed of our shared and cherished faith.



NOTE: I'm not a called and ordained minister of God's Word and Sacraments. I'm a layman or a Christian, Candy-Making, Husband, Father, Friend who lives in the "City of Good Neighbors" here on the East Coast. To be more specific, and relevant to the point I want to make with this note, I'm also a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism a little over a year ago. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is inconsistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word, which our Confessions merely summarize and point us back to) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray (James 3:1). Finally, please be aware that you might also discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog back in 2013 definitely fall into that category since I was a "Lutheran-In-Name-Only" at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a Christian "Book of Concord" even existed (Small/Large Catechism? What's that!?!). In addition, there are some entries that are a little "out there" so-to-speak since the subject matter was also heavy influenced by those old beliefs of mine. I know that now and I'm still learning. Anyway, I decided to leave those published posts up on this website and in cyberspace only because we now have this disclaimer, and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life (Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 1:6). Most importantly, please know that any time I engage in commenting on and/or interpreting a specific portion of the holy Scriptures, it will always closely follow the verse-by-verse notes from my Lutheran Study Bible and/or include references to the Book of Concord unless otherwise noted. Typically, I defer to what other Lutheran Pastors have already preached and taught about such passages since they are the called and ordained shepherds of our souls here on earth. Finally, I'm going to apologize ahead of time for the length of most entries. I'm well aware that blogs should be short, sweet, and to the point, but I've never been one to follow the rules when it comes to writing. Besides, this website is more like a dude's diary in the sense that everything I write about and share publicly isn't always what's "popular" or "#trending" at the time, but is instead all the things that I'm studying myself at the moment. For better or for worse, these posts tend to be much longer than most blog entries you'll find elsewhere only because I try to pack as much info as possible into a single piece so that I can refer to it again and again over time if I need to (and so that it can be a valuable resource for others -- if possible, a "One-Stop-Shop" of sorts). Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time, help, and understanding. Grace and peace to you and yours!

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