Just this past weekend I was reminded of an item called a “church key”, a term used for a certain type of bottle opener. According to at least one source, this name came about because the bottle opener’s rounded opener looked like the ring on one of the large skeleton keys used on church doors. …
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Church Blog (Page 47)
The first time I confessed my sins to a pastor, it wasn’t what I had imagined. We all have that Hollywood image of what it means to go to confession: the little closet room with the sliding window, the priest saying “how long has it been since your last confession?”, etc. Mine was at seminary.…
I remember Emory Hingst (pastor at University Lutheran in the 60s) telling a story about an early University Lutheran Easter service that they held in one of the Tallahassee cemeteries. The experience was palpable with the sense of victory over the grave as the people gathered to worship the King of Life who rose from…
This morning I was having a conversation with the foreman of the Black Student Union that is being built next to University Lutheran. We talked about a lot of stuff, but eventually the conversation came to what was happening in Texas. We talked about the flooding damage that we had seen – him from living…
This next week, we at University Lutheran will be working side by side with several other Christians as we put on the FSU Luau together. This often becomes an opportunity to ask questions about other Christians and to answer questions that they have about what Lutherans believe. One of those questions that comes up is…
It is not often that I take issue with Luther’s Small Catechism, but if I may be so bold, I have a bone to pick with our illustrious founder. That particular bone of contention is where he stops the quote of Matthew 28 in what we confessed this past Sunday: What is Baptism? Baptism is…
I celebrated 10 years of ordained ministry and concurrently 10 years of ministry at University Lutheran this summer (thank you to all of you who had a part in celebrating this with me). That meant that for my usual time of reflection, I took a look not only at the past year, but also at…
Unless you’ve gone to a Roman Catholic mass recently, you may not realize that Roman Catholics do not say “For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever and ever” at the end of the Lord’s Prayer. And if you look up where Jesus gives the Lord’s Prayer to His disciples in…
I have never been a part of a twelve-step group, and I’m somewhat thankful for that, although I do think that people who are a part of those organizations have a perspective on life that is sometimes more honest and loving than people who have not been. This week we confessed the 6th Petition of…
It is hard to find two words quite as terrifying as the “as we” in the Lord’s Prayer. This weekend we confessed the explanation to the 5th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer: What is the fifth petition of the Lord’s Prayer? And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.…