Parables are one of the eccentricities of Jesus. He told them seemingly all the time and we love them. The word “parable” literally means “thrown alongside” (para = alongside + ballein = thrown). It’s a story or an image that is “thrown alongside” a heavenly truth that helps us to see the contours of the…
A Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace
Posts by University Lutheran (Page 31)
I was the only bartender in the bar that night and we had run out of limes. It was easy enough for me to tell the guys who were pounding the Coronas (so therefore the limes as well) that we had run out of limes, but that would mean that they would shuffle off to…
The French artist known only as “JR” is semi-famous for a self-portrait. The full title of the work is “Self-Portrait in a Woman’s Eye, Kenya, from 28 Milimetres, Women are Heroes , 2010”. The portrait at first appears to be a close up of someone’s eye, but as you look closer, you find the reflection…
What are you hungry for? I’ve always thought that was a weird little question. I mean, at some level, being hungry is not a discriminating thing. If you’re really hungry, you’ll be willing to consider a lot of things you otherwise wouldn’t consider. But there is also a reality to being “hungry for”. Sometimes our hungers…
At the end of the 2005 movie, “Smoke” starring Harvey Keitel, he tells a story about chasing down a kid who was shoplifting in his store. The kid drops his wallet but gets away from Auggie (Keitel’s character). Auggie, then decided to take the wallet home but doesn’t do anything with it for a while.…
I don’t watch a lot of reality television, but one of the shows that I will indulge in that happens to be in the reality genre is called “American Pickers”. The show is about two guys who own a business called “Antique Archeology” and they go through the country basically meeting hoarders who have stuff…
I was ordained on July 22nd, 2007. That was 13 years ago. Which means that my ministry has now hit its teen years. I have now been a pastor for longer than I have lived in any one place. I haven’t been married for 13 years. I haven’t been a father for 13 years. Basically,…
Registration link at the bottom of this page. While we are having in person worship services again, this does not mean things will be “back to normal” yet. There will be notable differences including: Required use of face masks A limit on number of worshipers per Sunday (30) Various social distancing measures No sharing of…
Back in 1896, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto noted that in Italy during his day about 80% of Italian land was owned by about 20% of Italy’s population. This got people thinking about the ratio of 80:20. Normally when you hear about the “Pareto Principle,” it is specifically that about 80% of the work is done…
Fellowship is a weird Christian word. It means a lot of different stuff to different people. Add to that, it sounds like something lifted out of a copy of Lord of the Rings. It seems…well…kind of fantastical, like elves and orcs and hobbits and stuff. The Greek word for fellowship is “koinonia”. A koinonia can…