“My cup runneth over,” that is the way that the King James Version states a line in Psalm 23. Another translation says, “my cup overflows.” This overflow is a reality of our Christian faith. We recognize that we don’t just receive what we need, but that our cups are filled to overflowing – we have…
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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…
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…