After Jesus called his first disciples, “they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching” (Mark 1:21). This wasn’t out of the ordinary, except for one thing. My Lutheran Study Bible footnote on verse 21 says this: “Jesus never used the prophetic formula ‘thus says the Lord.’ In…
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Posts by University Lutheran (Page 67)
What do you do when the answer you’re looking for isn’t in the Bible? For example, if the question is whether or not to break up with your boyfriend, you probably won’t find a verse that says, “Yes, break up with him; it’s the right thing to do.” Or if the question is what career…
Have you ever been asked to give a testimony? Sometimes it’s telling your life story; sometimes it can be giving a small, significant snippet. In any case, giving your testimony generally has two purposes. It describes how God has changed your life and demonstrates how he can change yours, too. In Psalm 62, David is…
Three frogs sat on a log. One frog decided to jump off. How many frogs were left? I heard this story problem at the Emergent Leadership training that I went to last week. The answer, counterintuitively, is “3”. Three frogs were left on the log because “deciding to” do something and doing something are different.…
There are some things we want God to forget. For example, perhaps he’s called you to minister to the homeless, but that makes you very uncomfortable. Or maybe he’s called you to minister to your brother who has fallen away from the church, but broaching the topic is always awkward. You wouldn’t mind if God…
When you play “Follow the Leader” as a kid, it always starts out nice and simple. You’re just walking in a line. Then your leader starts to hop on one foot, and then another, and then he’s flapping his arms, and then he’s skipping, and all of a sudden, you’ve lost the pattern. It’s not…
When I was in seventh grade, I decided I no longer wanted to go to Sunday school. I explained this to my parents in no uncertain terms. I had confirmation class at school AND at church. I was getting quite enough religious education, thank you very much. I didn’t need any more. My parents listened…
By Campus Missionary Mary Rowley, I think we can all definitively say that we know Jesus. We may have met him through different paths, but we know Jesus. It’s a fact. And now it’s time to ask, “What do we do next?” Let’s look at the first chapter of the book of John to answer…
By Campus Missionary Mary Rowley You’re used to Jesus saying, “Follow me.” You’re not used to Jesus saying, “I’m following you.” But Jesus is following you – just in a different sense of the word. He’s keeping track of you. He knows you well. He never loses sight of you. Psalm 139 puts it this…
By Campus Missionary Mary Rowley A sprinkle of water, some words spoken, the sign of the Cross, and baptism is done. It’s a simple thing, and sometimes we don’t think too much of it. But if we examine the Scriptures more closely, we can see that baptism is truly a miracle. For example, check out…