Hooray! I no longer have to read portions of Revelation each day, in the daily lectionary I use! I’ve never understood Revelation. (Perhaps Luther biased me against it, putting Revelation in an appendix when he translated the Bible into German, advising readers to spend their time on other books — books that witness to Christ [...]

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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has taken hits in recent years from those who are offended by how open our welcome is to those who are being drawn by the Spirit. For instance, the ELCA proclaims: “You don’t have to carry an ELCA membership card to approach the Holy Communion table.  All the baptized [...]

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I’ve had a fruitful facebook conversation this morning! I posted this on my page: “Working on Matthew 25:31-46 for Sunday. Caring for the poor is not an option for a follower of Christ — because, in doing so, we are caring for Christ.” A fellow-Virginia Synod pastor commented with a quote from Henri Nouwen: “The [...]

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Approximately 900 BC: Psalm 118:22-23 Approximately 80 AD: Matthew 21:42 Approximately 80 AD: Acts 4:11 Approximately 90 AD: Ephesians 2:19-22 (This is the quote on the base of our altar.) Approximately 90 AD: 1 Peter 2:6-7 Exactly 2003 AD: (From our building project that concluded that year.)

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Luther did not teach that the Bible is the Word of God.  Luther taught that the Bible contains the Word of God: that which witnesses to the Word of God become flesh, in Jesus the Christ. What are those foundational passages in the Bible that witness to the Word of God?  What are those passages [...]

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