Here it is December 31st again. I won’t tell you how many I have seen go by but it is quite a few. My wife and I are past the stage where we stay up and ring in the new year. I am now usually sound asleep when that time ticks by.   I try to live in Christ  day-by-day but it still doesn’t hurt to look … Continue reading New Year Resolutions??

  Many Calvinists like to try and pin the pre-destination label on Lutherans. I think maybe the Calvinists are just a little lonely in their corner of Christianity 😉 and are looking for someone else to huddle with.   In tune with the last post here is another blog post by the CyberBrethren blogger on that topic. http://cyberbrethren.com/2009/12/16/refuting-calvinist-claims-that-luther-taught-double-predestination/ It does a pretty good job of refuting … Continue reading Lutherans and Calvinists???

Lutheran’s attachment to the phrase Sola Fida (By Faith Alone) as the foundation of their beliefs sometimes earns them the banner of being very weak in good works. I believe it to be generally true that many Lutherans (in all their synods) shy away from the concept of good works for fear that others will view them as adding works to the salvation pot. I … Continue reading A Lutheran Pastor’s view of good works and Martin Luther’s words

  Merry Christmas to everyone.  Let all Christians at least on this day join together to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. On that I’m sure we can all agree. I want to use the words of a very popular Christmas hymn to say what Jesus’ birth means personally to me. I have re-arranged them slightly to be in more of … Continue reading Christmas Eve

 It’s good to remember that Jesus grew up as a poor Jew in a poor town. His life was not about having great material possessions, but about living for God in this humble and modest way.  – Stephen Chapman, associate professor of the Old Testament at Duke Divinity School, on the discovery of the first dwelling in Nazareth that dates to Jesus’ era. (Source: USA Today) Continue reading About Jesus

…Get off the couch and back to work. This is the final post in this series that highlight from Jesus’ direct words what he expects of us. I will repeat again what I said as we started this series.   I know that for those who believe that being a Christian just means taking an altar call and then laying back and letting the Lord’s … Continue reading To the fair weather Christian — Part 4

…Get off the couch and back to work.   In part three I will concentrate on the Gospel of Luke. Jesus’ words are rather direct in that he expects us to act like Christians. Jesus gave us abundant instructions on how to live our lives. He did his part and he expects us to do ours.  Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is on … Continue reading To the Couch Potato Christian — Part 3

  …Get off the couch and back to work.   This is the second part of a four part series concentrating on Jesus’ words and what he tells us being his followers (disciples) really means while we live on this earth. This post includes the rest of the quotes from the Gospel of Mark. As mentioned in the previous post gathering these posts in one … Continue reading To the Couch Potato Christian — Part 2

…Get off the couch and back to work. This being the Christmas season where more emphasis is placed on Jesus and His birth I thought I would spend the next several posts returning to the roots of this blog by concentrating solely on the words of Christ with particular emphasis on how he tells us to live. For the most part I will let the … Continue reading To the Couch Potato Christian… (Part 1 of 4)

I want to do one more post on the epistle of John before moving on. It is widely believed that this epistle was written by the Apostle John who also wrote the Gospel text of that name. 1 John 2:3-6 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do … Continue reading Jesus Commands…. (again)

1 John 4:11-12 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and  his love is perfected in us. I happened across these verses in our Sunday Bible study recently.  These words brought a new light to the meaning of  “God’s love” to me. It is … Continue reading Reflect the Son…