Is anybody else "mercied" out? I know I am.
I and the parish I serve embraced the three-fold ministry emphasis of synod (witness/mercy/life) when it was introduced and still do although we have a different take on mercy as I will explain below. Having said that I will also say that the emphasis on mercy coming out of synod is getting tiresome.
Four of the last five emails I received from the synod and district were about mercy efforts. The other was on missions. My synod and district have ... |
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I recently got an email from an older member who asked me why our commitment to the synod in our annual budget is shrinking. I wrote him the following response. (It is edited a bit for sake of clarity for a larger audience.)
Dear ___________,
I understand your point. I was the last hold out on the staff and board of elders for reducing what goes to district/synod.
It made more sense in the "good ole days" when our giving to synod actually ... |
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Easter is when Christians rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus. In addition to Scripture additional circumstantial evidence can be used to affirm the empty grave.
First, not even Jesus’ staunchest enemies were able to produce a corpse. The entire message of the resurrection could easily have been squashed by depositing Jesus’ body in downtown Jerusalem.
The second ... |
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Name That Worldview
This is a little lighter segment of Issues, Etc. which may have paved the way for Table Talk Radio. It’s a game called “Name That Worldview.” Songs from Peter, Paul and Mary, Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, and R.E.M. are played and it is up to callers to determine what worldview the song is ... |
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April 27, 2014
Sermon Text: John 20:19-31
Christ is risen! (He is risen, indeed!) Alleluia!
Our text for this morning’s sermon is taken from St. John’s gospel account the ... |
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When advocating for correct Biblical doctrine there will always be that one person who responds, “We are not saved by pure doctrine. You are a doctrinal Pharisee advocating for a salvation by ... |
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What if Christ has not been raised? What difference would it make for your life? Have you ever considered that question? The great resurrection chapter, 1 Corinthians 15, spends several verses ... |
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Note: Although there certainly are many more, here are a few of my favorite quotations from the writings of C.S. Lewis that only add to the joy and supreme gladness of this day.
On Miracles
In ... |
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Note: When J.R.R. Tolkien couldn’t find a word to express precisely what he was thinking, or trying to convey in his writing, he would simply invent a word. As he was a philologist, this is not ... |
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“Amen” (The Lord’s Prayer; 2 Corinthians 1:18-22)
Alleluia! Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)
Yes, “Alleluia” of course is the word of the day for Easter Day. We’ve ... |
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I'm on the Constitution and Bylaws committee of my church. We've had many issues over the past 5-10 years with a set of legal documents that are too complex and detailed in some areas, and don't say ... |
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“But Deliver Us from Evil” (The Lord’s Prayer; Luke 23:32-49)
“But Deliver Us from Evil”: The seventh and final petition of the Lord’s Prayer. And how appropriate that we should come ... |
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This came in an email from the ACELC and can also be found on their website:
"Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!" ... Psalm 96:9
If you ... |
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We apologize for the problems that we've been having with the BJS site over the past week or so; our host first replaced the disk system, and now has replaced the computer that it was hosted on ... |
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The Processional Cross at Bethany Lutheran, Naperville[/caption]
We have all heard it from our protestant friends and sometimes even from our Lutheran acquaintances – “Why do you have Jesus ... |
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Text: St. Matthew 6:13b. But deliver us from evil. (KJV)
Prayer: My heavenly Father, I pray that You would save me from every evil of body and soul, property and honor, and that at the ... |
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Quoting Rev. William Cwirla from his article “Suffering, Death, and the Hidden God” in Modern Reformation, Sept/Oct 2002, v. 11, no. 5., pp. 22-31,
The theology of the cross it the ... |
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“Lead Us Not into Temptation” (The Lord’s Prayer; Luke 22:1-46)
During this Lenten season we’ve been doing a series on the Lord’s Prayer called “Lord, Teach Us to Pray.” And that’s ... |
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Take a look today at this wonderful article by Pastor Christopher Neuendorf on recent events of a pastor converting from confessing the Lutheran faith to the Eastern Orthodox one. Here is a start ... |
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A brief note on the misuse of Bodleian Library Manuscript Bodl. 264 Folio 21
This image is now being used to demonstrate pagan origins of the Easter Bunny:
An example from California State ... |
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