By Jeff Pulse - The Old Testament text for this Sunday, October 22, 2017, comes from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. The text is Isaiah 45:1-7 and contains a very unusual, even problematic declaration by the LORD God, Himself; The LORD calls, “Cyrus”, His anointed one. This Cyrus is a reference to “Cyrus the … Continue reading OT Encounters: The Unlikely Anointed
By Bryan R. Salminen - A friend of mine took the GRE 5 times. The GRE stands for the Graduate record examination and is a necessary evil requirement for most graduate schools. Each time he took it, he came out thinking how dumb he really was. He took it 5 different times because he kept graduating … Continue reading Wonder
By Paul Koch - It has occurred to me that I have been to more weddings than the average person. I’ve been behind the scenes. I’ve been to visit the bride in that quiet moment before the service begins to ask for God’s blessing upon their union. I’ve instructed both young and old men how … Continue reading The Wrong Righteousness
"Pastors are at the forefront of discerning the word that frees from the word that binds (Matthew 16:19; 18:18); this is their great charge and privilege. No other vocation is specifically set aside to exercise this power. It is not that others cannot make this distinction. Indeed, some laypeople make this distinction better than many … Continue reading A Jagged Contention: The Pastor as Law/Gospel Artist
By Tim Winterstein - [NECESSARY SPOILERS AHEAD] A few years ago, I did the funeral for my grandmother in a small town in eastern Oregon. My grandfather (who had died a couple years prior) and she had lived in this town for many years, and I had visited them there both as a child and … Continue reading Snapshots of Grief
By Bob Hiller - Don’t you hate those sappy sermon illustrations in which the pastor stands up and uses some cutesy moment from the life of his children to describe some biblical principle? My kids hate them too. If that is you, you’ll forgive my blog this week, as I’m totally using my son’s t-ball … Continue reading T-Ball and Sanctification
Ever wonder what it would sound like if James Baldwin went to Denny's with Richard Strauss after enjoying a Siouxsee & the Banshees concert in Manchester circa 1979? Well this is as close as it gets! Before they get started the boys enjoy a game called - What Pat Said What? where they try to … Continue reading Ringside: Episode 49
