Jesus Calms the Sea, or, What are you Afraid of?

INJ Matthew 8:23-27 | ‘Calming the Sea’ | Divine Service | Epiphany 4 | 30 January 2011 Dear Saints, Jesus calms the sea. That’s our Gospel text today, and our consideration now, and there is much here in the text to terrify us and comfort us. First, we notice that whenever Jesus is in the [...]

More bamboo: original art submitted by a very talented but undiscovered artist

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Five Illegal Uses of the Law

There are three good and legitimate uses of the Lord’s law, the curb, mirror and guide. As a curb the Lord’s law orders the things of creation and keeps society from chaos. As a mirror the law shows us our sin and our need for Jesus and His mercy and salvation. As a guide the [...]

The Miracles of Jesus

INJ Matthew 8:1-13 | ‘Healing the Centurion’s Servant’ | Matins | Epiphany 3 | 23 January 2011 Dear Saints, Our Lord Jesus Christ continues to manifest Himself as true God and true man, the Almighty in our flesh, and we hear it today in the Gospel account from Matthew chapter eight. Our Lord, in fact, [...]

Bamboo

The Micro-Hymnal: Arts and Crafts for Pastors

Before I left the seminary I made a solemn oath to my field work supervisor that I would sing to the people I visited in the hospital, on shut-in calls, etc. And I do. This means, though, that many times I’m carrying a Bible and Hymnal with me to the hospital, etc. To simplify this, [...]

Baptism and the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts

Water Baptism vs Baptized with the Spirit and Power The book of Acts begins with Jesus’ parting words to His apostles before His ascension to the right hand of God the Father. In His opening statement Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, and He does this by distinguishing the coming of the Spirit from the baptism [...]

How to Write a Church Growth Book in Five Easy Steps

Many people are putting off from writing their own Church Growth book because, they say, “I don’t know anything about the church or the Bible.” Don’t let that stand in your way! Follow these five simple steps and you, too, could be a successful church growth author. Step one: The premise Say something about how [...]

G. K. Chesterton on Humility

Humility, again, is said both by its upholders and opponents to be the peculiar growth of Christianity. The real and obvious reason of this is often missed. The pagans insisted upon self assertion because it was the essence of their creed that the gods, though strong and just, were mystic, capricious, and even indifferent. But the essence [...]

Dealing with Praise-Mystics, Demonstrated

In a previous post (The Praise Song Cruncher) I suggested a strategy for dealing with praise-mystics, namely by taking all the talk of “seeing God” and “feeling God” and taking it literally. Thanks to Brian Yambe, we have an example of what this looks like. You can hear the strategy explained here: YOU SAW GOD!!! Report back from [...]