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This Side of the Pulpit » Entries tagged with "Theology"

Little Legalists

In our hearts we are aspiring tyrants, everyone of us. Rules are to be applied, mostly to others, unless of course it’s inconvenient for us. Even when you get good Confessional Lutherans and Democrats who insist that legalism is wrong and freedom from rules and pieties is necessary, then, by God, it is Necessary, and you are wicked if you disagree. Yes, even bohemians ascribe to their own rule-book. Hippies and hipsters follow their code of behavior and thought-laws. There is no cure for this either. Only death gets rid of it. Some of us die earlier and get it over with. But even most of those still have their little legal code hiding away deep in their hearts, resisting the golden stake of wood planted once on the Hill of the … Read entire article »

Filed under: Theology

Thoughts on Confirmation Instruction

When I teach confirmation it seems I spend more in two subjects: the Ten Commandments and Christology. The Commandments just seem to require a long time to explain commission and omission of each commandment,and to make sure they understand them. Then we get to the Creed. I spend a lot of time emphasizing in every way I can that you can’t cut Jesus in half (separate the two natures in a nestorian way). I also drill into them that the Trinity does not have “Parts” and neither does Jesus. There are Three Persons, and Two Natures, but One God and One Jesus. I don’t speak so much about Jesus as Prophet, Priest, and King, nor even about the states of humiliation and exaltation. I remember being drilled on those when I was in … Read entire article »

Filed under: Theology

Pious Positions?

Pious Positions?

Heads held high, watching the sign of the cross being made over them, other heads bowed down, daring not to look, knowing the sign will be a blessing. There are a few looking aimlessly, left or right, but I don’t worry about those. I look left and right and up and down when I pray sometimes. We don’t judge pious stances and positions. Some are tired and sit. Some have open eyes, others close them tightly. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Theology

The Sign of the Cross

Making the sign of the cross over yourself is an ancient practice. Sure, some do it in a superstitious way…or at least seem to. But maybe we shouldn’t judge. Rev. Todd Peperkorn writes, Making the sign of the cross is catholic, but not simply in the Roman Catholic sense.  It has been practiced by Christians almost since the time of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead.  It has probably been around as a Christian practice as long as folding one’s hands to pray or saying before meal prayers.  So in terms of its historic practice, Christians have been making the sign of the cross as long as there have been crosses. Read more of his post here. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Theology

Mysteria

Mysteria

We sing with angels and archangels, with apostles and evangelists, with saints and “all the company of heaven.” We do not sing for ourselves and our own enjoyment, but we don’t sing for others either. We sing for God, with the saints and angels, with the faithful living with the Lord, with all of God’s Kingdom, awaiting the coming age. The materialists of this age cannot conceive of this. They know only stuff. They are the … Read entire article »

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When is it Time to Quit?

When is it Time to Quit?

My wife had yet another set back in her goal to get her degree finished. I won’t get into the hairy details, but she has had so many blows and denials and refusals and Resistance, it’s not even funny anymore. She really is beating her head against the wall. She wonders why God is not opening doors…or windows…or anything. She is wondering why every turn seems blocked. It really feels like a sign to her. I … Read entire article »

Filed under: Theology

Small Business Congregations

This seems to be making some rounds. I stole it from incarnatus est: The pastors of America have metamorphosed into a company of shopkeepers and the shop they keep are churches. They are preoccupied with shopkeeper’s concerns—how to keep the customers happy, how to lure customers away from competitors down the street, how to package the goods so that the customers will lay out more money…The biblical fact is that there are no successful churches. There are, instead, communities of sinners, gathered before God week after week in town and villages all over the world. The Holy Spirit gathers them and does his work in them. In these communities of sinners, one of the sinners is called pastor and given a designated responsibility in the community. It is this … Read entire article »

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Tough Work

Tough Work

It’s hard work, reading the Bible. And it gets harder the more you do it. Ever try reading it straight through? That may be the toughest of all. It takes more than the dedication, say, of reading through War and Peace, or The New York Times. It’s tough because it requires discipline, but more than discipline, more than setting the goal. It’s confrontational. The more you read, the more you are confronted with yourself. It’s not just … Read entire article »

Filed under: Theology

Church Personalities

Church Personalities

Some members visited a Consumerist-Entertaino Church this weekend with their granddaughter. They were surprised and impressed with the sermon, which they said clearly proclaimed the Gospel, but were disappointed in how “unfriendly” the congregation was. They put them to the test, sitting themselves in the lounge, drinking coffee, watching all the people walk past and into Sunday School rooms, waiting to be spoken to, waiting to be invited. Finally, right at the moment all the … Read entire article »

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More than We Desire or Deserve

More than We Desire or Deserve

Almighty and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and art wont to give more than we desire or deserve: Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord.  Amen. Collect for the … Read entire article »

Filed under: Theology