Category: Mysteries and Faith
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The Tyranny of the Urgent
Luke 10:38-42 Poor Martha, one might be tempted to think. Mary is just sitting there, soaking in Jesus’ words and letting Him feed her mind and heal her soul, while Martha is clearing out the dust bunnies (in my case, dog hair) from under the table and making sure the meal is just so. I…
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“Come Home to Rome?”
Recently I accepted my mother’s invitation to visit her church on their 125th anniversary celebration. It was a bit unnerving as well as enlightening. The building is stunning since its most recent renovations, in spite of a catastrophic fire and even more catastrophic “renovation” in the 1970s. I was impressed by the art and the craftsmanship…
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Why I Practice Headcovering
Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife[a] is her husband,[b] and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or…
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The Hardest Petition to Pray?
As Luther’s Small Catechism teaches the Lord’s Prayer: The Third Petition Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What does this mean? The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also. How is God’s…
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Confessional, Liturgical and Authentic
I’m sorry I waited so long. I was fascinated with the Lutheran Confessions the first time I perused them. But for the life of me I don’t understand why so many Lutheran churches have abandoned not only the richness of liturgical worship but the veracity of the Confessions and even of Scripture itself. I made…
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There is a God…and He Ain’t You- or Me.
I am looking forward to walking with middle school kids through the Small Catechism again. It’s been a long time. The demographic of the kids is different than when I taught catechism before. These aren’t wealthy kids who live in trendy suburbs and go to the best schools and who have parents who actually care about their…
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Deep-Dish Hypocrisy (Guilty as Charged)
Tradition for tradition’s sake isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. But sometimes, it is. I have to admit I was deeply disturbed over the recent Supreme Court ruling regarding gay marriage. I’ve never been one to interpret Christian freedom as condoning or validating homosexual behavior, and I still don’t. I believe one’s expression of sexuality…
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Vulnerable, Sensitive and Emotional- The Challenge of Authenticity
I have spent most of my life in denial- denying (or at least failing miserably at coping with) my emotions, never sharing any sort of sensitivity, and hiding my vulnerabilities at almost any cost. Part of this was a survival tactic. If I pretended as though nothing could penetrate my thick skin, then maybe it…
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Isaiah 53:6- Broken Humanity, Missing Pieces, and Who Can Repay?
A Beauchene skull. Fascinating. I have a hard time taking the creation narrative in Genesis literally, (who is really getting down with talking snakes?) For a long time I wanted to take it as allegory, but it is clearly taught as a literal event in Scripture. Humanity wants to believe that humanity evolves and progresses, but the truth of the…
Here I Stand 