The first 3 Sundays in February I will be preaching at Cross of Glory Lutheran Church in Mounds View (5472 Adams St.). Please come & visit. Worship services are at 8:15a and 10:45a; education hour is at 9:30a. The Church is located 4 blocks west of I-35W on Co. Rd. I. For a map, click here.
Mike & Matt visiting their parents, Dave & Cindi Johnson, in Alabama. Dave was my associate pastor for several years and is now serving Zion Lutheran Church in Silverhill.Thanks for the picture Mike!
Faith in Christ isn't just about waiting for him to take you to the promised land at the end of time. It's also about being his steward on Earth during your life until such time.
Susan Pace Hamill
"It certainly isn't winter!"
The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.
Soren Kierkegaard
The funeral for Father Stan of Blue Cloud Abbey was held this morning. He was well known for his work with Native Americans and was the executive director of the American Indian Culture Research Center at the Abbey. I will miss his cheerful greetings and words of wisdom. You can learn more about his life and work here.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway.Mother Teresa
If the church is a hospital for sinners, the monastery is the intensive care unit. Anon.
You don't get to choose how or when to die. You only choose how you're going to live.
Joan Baez
squirrel waiting for me to fill the bird feeder
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. Aldous Huxley
Rev. Schuller, the elder, relinquishes control of the Crystal Cathedral and its ministries to his son, Robert A. Schuller. Read more ...
Lutheran pastors, Ivars, Jerry & Fred, with Brother Benet praying the Psalms at Blue Cloud Abbey.
Can the Evangelicals who support President Bush and the war in Iraq justify their position by relying on Scripture? Read more ... Thank you for this article, David.
Zenit.org reports that Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Catholics and Lutherans to overcome divisions, as they did in 1999 with the historic Joint Declaration on Justification. This occurred during the visit of an ecumenical delegation from Finland, which visited the Vatican today on the occasion of the feast of the country's patron, St. Henrik. Lutheran Bishop Mikko Heikka of Espoo and Catholic Bishop Jozef WrÃbel of Helsinki headed the delegation.
"These visits are an occasion for further productive work, as well as for a deepening of the spiritual ecumenism, which prompts divided Christians to appreciate how much already unites them," the Holy Father said in his address in English to his guests. "The present Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue Commission in Finland and Sweden builds upon the substantial accomplishment of the Joint Declaration on Justification," signed in Germany in 1999. "The commission is continuing to study the achievements and practical implications of the Joint Declaration. In this way it seeks to address the still existing differences between Lutherans and Catholics concerning certain questions of faith and ecclesial life while maintaining fervent witness to the truth of the Gospel. We are especially aware that unity is a grace, and that we need continually to ask the Lord for this gift. Let us thank God for all that has been achieved so far in Catholic-Lutheran relations and let us pray that he may fill us with his Spirit, who guides us towards the fullness of truth and love."
Who was Hermas? What are the four fences of Chalcedon? How did Arminius attempt to reform the Reformed? These questions may not seem to be important, yet, without understanding the background of our Christian theology, how can we expect to deal with current trends, such as the various directions in which so-called evangelical churches are heading? How can we respond to heresies about the end times unless we realize that many of them are modern-day inventions?
All this is leading to my recommendation of a little, 112 page book, Pocket History of Theology by Roger E. Olson & Adam C. English (InterVarsity Press, 2005) which I read last week. Few of us are willing to take on the multi-volume church history texts. This is an excellent summary for pastors as well as lay persons. Some elementary knowledge of church history is helpful, but not necessary. Highly recommended!
The scariest person is one who knows the mind of God so well that he has stopped seeking Him.
"Uncle Cosmo, what's a monastery?"
"Well, basically....it's a home for unwed fathers." Cosmo
Tonight I watched the premiere of Book of Daniel on NBC. There has been much controversy about the show and encouragement by many to boycott it. However, after it was over, I agreed with the Episcopalian priest from the Twin Cities who was interviewed about his impressions. I, too, found the show exaggerated in the sense that so much was compressed into two hours. But it did deal with the failings that all of us have -- and deal with them we should no matter how embarrassing they may be. All of us are sinners, including pastors & priests -- even those who pretend not to be.
Pat Robertson suggested Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for ''dividing God's land.'' ''God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible and he says 'This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, 'No, this is mine.''' Read more ...
Robert H. Schuller, head of the Crystal Cathedral, told his congregation today that his son, Robert A. Schuller, will succeed him. Read more ...
Mike & Matt visiting their parents, Dave & Cindi Johnson, in Alabama. Dave was my associate pastor for several years and is now serving Zion Lutheran Church in Silverhill.
