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Middle Age??

RJ Walters

{Postscript July 2010 – This post and all those below were imported from my old site InTheSlowLane.net} As you know I have been spending much of this holiday season scanning in photo albums from the past. It has been quite a journey so far and I have not yet gotten into all the wedding photos yet ;) . This has been a defining moment for me! I suddenly realized that I am not middle-aged anymore. We all hang on to that term as long as possible it seems. We just dread the term “seniors”.  I have previously lived in that term as I … Continue reading Middle Age??

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New Year Resolutions??

RJ Walters

 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 at the last day of the year as a time of serious reflection. How did I do last year? I, as usual, have to mirror the words of Saint Paul in that I still do some things … Continue reading New Year Resolutions??

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Lutherans and Calvinists???

RJ Walters

  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 the claim that Luther believed in pre-destination. The post is pretty long, at least by my standards, but is worth the read if you are interested in this topic. I especially like the t-shirt shown. Continue reading Lutherans and Calvinists???

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A Lutheran Pastor’s view of good works and Martin Luther’s words

RJ Walters

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 believe that some do it to a much greater degree than others.  A blog I frequent named Cyber Brethren had a post about works.  http://cyberbrethren.com/2009/10/16/how-to-teach-and-preach-about-good-works/ The author of the blog is Pastor Paul McCain who is currently … Continue reading A Lutheran Pastor’s view of good works and Martin Luther’s words

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Christmas Eve

RJ Walters

  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 a poetic form than a musical one. If you are offended forgive me for that.   O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see you lie; Above the deep and dreamless sleep the silent … Continue reading Christmas Eve

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About Jesus

RJ Walters

 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

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To the fair weather Christian — Part 4

RJ Walters

…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 grace flow over you these might have been some difficult posts. I hope you are at least struck by the number of times Jesus talked about these issues. Christianity is meant to be lived day-by-day. It is … Continue reading To the fair weather Christian — Part 4

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Another Lost Friend…

RJ Walters

I am getting close to finishing up my posts about my college years.  This one and probably the next one will be about a couple of close friends I had and have since lost contact with.  I don’t know what it is about men that we can’t seem to stay in contact with each other when our circumstances change.  My wife regularly calls up an old friend who she shared and apartment with in 1960.  They are still good friends! The picture above is of Bob Boris who was my dormitory roommate for four years at Purdue.  Yeah, that is our … Continue reading Another Lost Friend…

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To the Couch Potato Christian — Part 3

RJ Walters

…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 me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to … Continue reading To the Couch Potato Christian — Part 3

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To the Couch Potato Christian — Part 2

RJ Walters

  …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 place is intended to show us what Jesus really expects from us. There are no couch potato Christians.     Mark 9:35   “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the … Continue reading To the Couch Potato Christian — Part 2

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An old flame, but I don’t think she knew it..

RJ Walters

Ok, I am now finished digitizing the old photos from my college days so I will do a few more posts about them and then move on to other things. But it is nice to remember some of this stuff.  It shakes some brain cells that I haven’t used in a while. Before I tell you about the picture above (yes that is me on the far left) I need to fill you in on some more details :) . As I mentioned I worked my way through college by working about 40 hours a week in the dormitory cafeteria. … Continue reading An old flame, but I don’t think she knew it..

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To the Couch Potato Christian… (Part 1 of 4)

RJ Walters

…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 words speak for themselves. 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 grace flow over you these will … Continue reading To the Couch Potato Christian… (Part 1 of 4)

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Jesus Commands…. (again)

RJ Walters

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 what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in … Continue reading Jesus Commands…. (again)

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Reflect the Son…

RJ Walters

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 up to us to show the Lord’s love. We do that mainly by the way we live. If you tell the average unbeliever that “God loves you” he will typically say “Oh yeah? That and … Continue reading Reflect the Son…

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Thinking of a friend from my college years…

RJ Walters

As I have mentioned one of my projects this winter is the digitize all the old photo albums from the past.  I just finished the ones from my college days at Purdue in the 1960’s and ran across this one of a good friend.  His name was Don Valentine and as the picture indicates he could do magic on the guitar and he had the voice to go with it. I thought sure one day I would be buying his albums. Unfortunately, the Vietnam war did that in.  Don was drafted shortly after graduation and sent to Vietnam almost immediately. … Continue reading Thinking of a friend from my college years…

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Plan “B”?

RJ Walters

This is going to be one of those difficult and probably controversial posts. Is Jesus Plan “B” whereas Adam was Plan “A” that failed? In other words did God really plan on Adam being the benevolent seed of mankind and when that didn’t happen he changed gears and  came Himself (via Jesus) to do the job of fixing things? This concept has some pretty serious contentions among some Christians today. Some believe that nothing can happen that God did not previously ordain in that he had absolutely everything decided from creation to the end times  even before he started his … Continue reading Plan “B”?

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Happy Thanksgiving

RJ Walters

Today is Thanksgiving so I thought I would again share with you a prayer that I have been using the last few years. It is definitely for today but can really be used almost any day of the year. The author of the prayer is Samuel F. Pugh. He died just before Christmas 2007 at the age of 103. He spent more that 70 years of his life in Christian ministry. He was also a renowned poet and author. Let us all be truly thankful for everything we have and also aware that there are those among us who need … Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving

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Some interesting discussions…

RJ Walters

This is a quick post to tell you about a very interesting discussion happening on one of the blogs I frequent  ( Kingdom People by Trevin Wax).   The URL below is a very good post and comments about the basic differences between Evangelicals and the Roman Catholic Church. I take heart that two people with opposing views can discuss these types of issues without name calling. This seems rare now days. Thanks Trevin for starting this conversation. http://trevinwax.com/2009/11/24/evangelicals-catholics-on-holy-ground-4-questions-for-chris-castaldo/#comments Continue reading Some interesting discussions…

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The One Year Anniversary of RLL

RJ Walters

One year ago I brought up the Red Letter Living blog. To be honest I did it primarily to put down my thoughts on the many books and topics I have been studying the last few years. I just needed a place to think things through and put them to print. To that end this blog has been very beneficial to me on a personal level and has strengthened by faith in the words of Christ. Amazingly as the posts accumulated so did the readership. I am humbled that there are Christians out there that think I have anything worth … Continue reading The One Year Anniversary of RLL

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Why are there so few female theologians??

RJ Walters

I have been reading several new theologians lately and it suddenly struck me that none of them are female! Or for that matter I don’t think I have ever read anything by a female theologian?  So as usual I did some digging and discovered that among the theologians who are espoused to have made significant contributions to the field no females made the list until the mid 20th century. That is to say that the first nineteen centuries were without much female influence. Anyone interested in the source of this info visit <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_theologians#20th_century&gt; .  Given the fact that women were not even allow to … Continue reading Why are there so few female theologians??

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Finding our niche…..

RJ Walters

We seem to constantly fragment ourselves in order to make us unique. We are not satisfied with just being one of many in a common boiling pot. We have to think of ourselves as someone like no one else.  My father’s generation was not like we are. Many, if not most of them, took pride in the fact that America was a fabulous “melting pot” where Italians, Irish, Spanish, etc people came to the United States and became “American” (no dashes were included for them). Now we have to add several dashes due to our ancestry. We can’t just be … Continue reading Finding our niche…..