On my bookshelf I have a book entitled “The Next Reformation”. If you search Amazon, you can find plenty of books that are titled in similar ways: the next Reformation, the new Reformation, Reformation again, etc. I get what those book titles are getting at, but I think in some ways, all of those titles…
A Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace
Posts from 2026
Recently a friend of mine challenged me to think of the negative phrase that I tell myself most often. The phrase that came to the top for me was “I’m letting people down.” It doesn’t take me long to look around and see expectations that I have of myself, expectations that I have signed myself…
The final blessing in our worship services, also called “the Benediction” is a piece of Scripture from Numbers 6. That piece of Scripture repeats God’s instructions to Moses, who is to hand down instructions to Aaron to bless the people by saying: ” The Lord bless you, and keep you. The Lord make His face…
The word “vocation” sounds awfully fancy. When you translate it a little, though, you find that it means “calling”. That is a little clearer, but sometimes even the word “calling” can be a little confusing. We maybe start to think of God calling little Samuel in the tabernacle, or Samuel later anointing David, or some…
If Jesus is a King, then what does He reign over? This question is something that seems to stump a lot of people when I ask it. After searching around, a lot of times people come up with “well, He rules over everything.” This is a great answer and fits in very well with Paul…
I have been reading a lot about a term lately, that term is “habitus”. This word has quite a bit to do with my doctoral research that I’m getting into. The term has been used by the likes of Aristotle, Aquinas, Augustine, Melanchthon, Luther, and most recently a French sociologist named Pierre Bourdieu. The term…
I’m what many people would call a “religious professional.” As a religious professional, prayer is a part of my job. I’m lucky in that way — but that is not to say that I’m “good at prayer,” because I don’t think I am, especially the prayer-by-myself type of prayer. Yeah, I can do it, but…
Peter thought he was showing off. “How often should I forgive? up to….seven times?” The rabbis of Peter’s era had weighed in on this already. Forgiving someone 3 times was considered extravagant and gratuitous. But here, Peter might feel like he’s showing off showing a willingness to forgive 4 more times – up to 7?…
About every quarter we try to stop and celebrate the newest members of our “Jesus-Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace.” Normally, that membership is the product of a conversation that I start that goes something like, “Hey, we’d like you invite you into membership.” That already is kind of weird for Lutheran churches, because…
It’s the week before classes, and all through the FSU campus you’ll see girls in different stages of finery walking or running to sorority houses in full make up, clothes meant to impress, and battery operated fans. This is panhellenic sorority recruitment on our campus. About 2,000 of the approximately 3,500 female freshmen at least…