One of the verses we sometimes don't know what to do with is Luke 11:13b "how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him." I have heard (and given) various stand alone interpretations to it over the years.One possible answer to the dilemma is found in the epiklesis which has been used from time immemorial as part of the consecration. In it...

There seems to a great deal going on in Sunday's epistle, you can see my translation below. If we read it ecclesiastically, liturgically and sacramentally it yields much. My assumption is that Colossians is not just an abstract epistle by which Paul deals with particular problems - as in Galatians and Corinthians for example. But that it is either a baptismal rite and / o...

Wile E. Coyote could defy gravity ... for a few seconds. So can culture. Every time Wile E. went over the edge he would hang in mid air for a bit. But gravity, like God, cannot be mocked. Wile E. is a parable for post-Christan western culture. When we expelled the gospel we cut off our branch from the Tree of Life and the evidence is unmistabeable. The deficiation of ou...

Here is a brief refresher on basic Christian doctrine that will benefit every Christian. Christians believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God. They believe that though the Bible was written by men, that they were guided by the Holy Spirit, and that the resulting document is a revelation of divine thoughts and plans; not the opinions of the author. We le...

At this time, based on my studies and thinking, I am ready to say that Scripture has no independent life apart from liturgy. That is, apart from the liturgizing of God. (The fact that liturgy is comprised of Scripture, though true, is not my point here.) But I say this in contradistinction to the notion that I learned and have worked with for over 40 years, namely that Sc...

To realize this is to hear Scripture differently than we do. The Lord's infancy narrative, for example, is not simply the story of Baby Jesus in Bethlehem but the solemn invitation for all men Jew and Gentile, King and Shepherd alike, to worship him at the manger of the altar in the Bethlehem of the church. The infancy narrative ceases, then, to be simply a story and becom...

The following is based on the epistle lesson for Pentecost 2 (Series C) which is quoted below....

It is traditional in Lutheran parishes to confess the Athanasian Creed on Trinity Sunday, which is June 16th this year. Here is said Creed with an introduction to it in preparation for Sunday. INTRO: Early in the fourth century, a new teaching appeared which claimed that Jesus was not true God.Arius, the north African priest who first proposed this theory, was extremely p...

It is my contention that Christians don't know what Scripture is, and consequently don't know how to read it or employ it. Scripture is not simply to be read for information, or systemitized into dogmatic propositions. Nor is it anyone's personal devotion book. But it is the church's book to be prayed by the church in the church. It is worship. It does not only contain lit...

Time is precious, expendable, and non-renewable.In this world one can always get more money, power or prestige by working harder and smarter. But, as Jesus says, no one can add a moment to the span of his life.Time, because of sin, is a curse. When one's time has run out it is out! It is non-renewable. Whatever else one might have hoped to be or do or have is over! Now en...