To so many, the Christian faith seems hopelessly complex. Countless books have been written to explain it. Dizzying schematics have been used to diagram it. Frightened Christians dare not wade into its depths lest they be drowned with questions impossible to answer. Is the faith that spread like wildfire in the first century AD really […]
For over a decade, Bethel Lutheran Church has held an enormous rummage sale with the expressed purpose of raising money to support our families who send their children to Christian schools and those going into professional church work. Simple. People give us their old stuff, we sell it to people who want to buy it. […]
On the Tuesday of Holy Week I found out the hard way that tennis shoes are not the best for gardening. A metal garden stake made it through my shoe and a good ¾ inch into my foot. Good timing! Many thanks to all of you who saw the obvious irony with Jesus’ pierced feet. […]
Dear Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod, Recently, you published and promoted a blog post which sought to clarify the doctrine of faith alone in relationship to our works. I absolutely agree that we don’t want anyone to think that our good works merit salvation and I am glad the author tackled the subject. I do […]
The final day of my sabbatical has arrived. Tomorrow morning will be like so many other Mondays at Bethel Lutheran Church. We’ll have a staff meeting. I’ll work on some worship services. I’ll correspond with all sorts of people about all sorts of things. Tomorrow will be very different too. So many Mondays I would […]
It’s hard to believe my sabbatical is almost over. I had every intention of writing regularly on this blog to keep all of you up to date with my thoughts and progress. However, progress on my project required a lot more of my attention, so I dedicated it there instead of here. Suffice it to […]
I didn’t sleep much Wednesday night before the National Prayer Breakfast. I just had the feeling something special was going to happen the next day. Did it ever. It was an amazing day. I was in the overflow room for the breakfast, and as it turns out we had eggs and potatoes while the ballroom had some […]
God works in mysterious ways. The moment you think you have him figured out, he sends an experience that humbles and encourages you leaving you in awe. A couple short months ago I was invited to join the Minnesota delegation to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC. I was a late addition, invited to […]
A child’s first steps are the most difficult. After that, walking comes easier. Riding a bike gets better after you find out how to stop in an upright position. Writing curriculum for a discipleship process gets easier once you get the first lesson written. Well, I was still crashing and I needed to hit my […]
For the last two weeks I have enjoyed the opportunity to dive into the Bible, mostly in Matthew, to see the inner workings of disicpleship. How do we follow Jesus? How did Jesus make disciples? What are the obsticles to discipleship? The things I uncover seem so new at times, and yet they are ancient, […]
