What would life be like if Jesus hadn’t saved us? Everything would be different. If he had come to earth, preached for a few years, and then returned to heaven, it wouldn’t have helped us at all. Take Mark 1:15 as an example. “Repent and believe in the gospel.” For starters, if Jesus was just…
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Posts by University Lutheran (Page 58)
“Get into the Word?” he asked questioningly, “How small would you have to be?!?” That is one of the many incredulous responses that I remember getting back from some seemingly harmless “Christianese”. When I say, “Let’s get into the Word,” you, dear reader, probably understand that I’m trying to say “Let us read and meditate…
“To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust,” says David in Psalm 25:1. David by no means had an easy life. Anointed to be king from an early age, he was hunted by King Saul for many years. When he eventually became king, one of his sons…
What kind of trials have you experienced in life? I can find trials even right now, in the present moment. I’m anxious about finding a new job. I’m worried about how this devotion is going to turn out. I’m concerned about people I know who are physically sick or emotionally hurting. “Blessed is the man…
Picture the scene. Abraham and Isaac have walked up the mountain. Abraham, his eyes overflowing with tears, has bound up his son on the altar. He raises the knife, hands shaking, and begins to lower it. Then, suddenly, “Abraham, Abraham!” a voice cries from heaven. The voice tells Abraham, “Now I know that you fear…
Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, which means that we’re in the beginning of the season of Lent. Lent is perhaps one of the oldest liturgical seasons that we have in the Church (with the exception of the celebrations of Epiphany). Lent began as a time of contemplation for a group called the “catechumenate”. These “catechumens”…
“Our purpose is to return to the Father.” This is the sentiment of one of my Mormon friends. To her, this is the ultimate prize that she is always striving towards. She desires nothing more than to return to the Father, and she puts forth every effort to achieve this. Is there anything wrong with…
Based on 2nd Kings 2:1-12 “Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?” “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.” This becomes Elisha’s mantra in 2nd Kings chapter 2. He knows that today is the day that Elijah will leave him and go up into heaven, but he doesn’t…
It’s easy to pretend to be someone you’re not. For example, in the first season of the television show “Castle,” the main character becomes a consultant for the police. He’s not really a consultant, but he justifies this move by saying that he’s helping the police protect people from harm. In reality, he’s a novelist…
I remember the first time my old campus minister told me something personal about her life. She was describing a significant event while treating me as an equal instead of a student. I felt like I had been elevated to a higher status, that I was her friend instead of someone she was ministering to…