Texts: Philippians 4:8-9, Matthew 22:34-40 This past year as I taught confirmation, one of our lessons focused on how we are all theologians. I wrote that word up on the board and one of our students exclaimed – WOW! That’s a 25-cent word! There was an old idiom that you shouldn’t use a 50-cent word…
God-Words
theology
The Wealth in our Wallets instead of the Well-being of the World
This afternoon I watched the United States join two nations… Syria and Nicaragua… in being the only three nations in the entire world that are no longer signers of the Paris Climate Accord. As I listened to the justifications, what I heard over and over again was the mention of a few economic sectors that…
Cries for Healing
“I alone am left. “ That was what Elijah had started to believe in his heart, as Trevor shared with our congregation last week. But Elijah was not alone. He was not the last of the faithful prophets. In fact, right there in that very cave, Elijah hears the name of the one who would…
Untitled
When I was in high school, my youth group went on an international mission trip to Peru. Forty youth plus chaperones set out from Cedar Rapids determined to make a difference in the lives of other people. We even made t-shirts. I remember the night that we came up with the slogan for the back…
Hungry?
Yesterday, I preached on Jesus and the fig tree. It is such a strange pericope (aka story). Both Matthew and Mark tell us (Matthew 21 and Mark 11) that Jesus was walking along, sees a fig tree, doesn’t find fruit, curses the tree and wham-o, it dies. What?!?! There is a broader point to the story,…
Corporate Prayer for the Desperate
Holy and Forsaken God, We come into your presence knowing that you felt utter desperation and loneliness. You felt isolated and forgotten. You felt unimaginable pain. So you are not unfamiliar with our struggles. And that brings us comfort. That brings us hope. For those in our congregation who have been wrestling in the long…
Spiritually Blind
I mentioned earlier this week a youth group conversation about Mary Magdalene and demon possession. There are so many different ways of understanding what demon possession might have been about and what Mary’s demons might have been. I’ve had demons explained away and described lots of different ways. Illness. Mental disorders and illness. Cultural misunderstandings…
self-awareness, faith, repentance and the Lord's Supper
In the past two weeks, I have had a number of conversations with colleagues and family about the Lord’s Table… not necessarily about who is welcome, but about what MAKES that person welcome. My friends in the LCMS church have been discussing what kind of understanding of faith is required for a first communion experience.…