Christ

The Wrong Righteousness

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 to properly button their rented tuxes. Though I’m not great at it, in a pinch I have learned how to pin on a boutonniere. There is a lot that goes on at a wedding. Lots of little details that everyone is running around worried about. Of course, a wedding doesn’t have to be complex and extravagant, but I’ve found that even the most modest and simplest wedding still has important details that are a part of it. And the vast majority of those details center around what people are wearing.

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Happy 2000th Anniversary of the Reformation! 

By Joel A. Hess –

This month, people around the world will be celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Five hundred years ago, a little-known monk and professor at a little-known college in Germany nailed 95 statements against the popular practice of selling indulgences. He assumed a good discussion would follow and that the wiser leaders of the Church, including the pope, would agree with him. Instead, he discovered that the Church’s hierarchy was all in on this Gospel robbery.

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Joyfully Losing

By Paul Koch –

What we do here in this place seems, at times, to be disjointed from the world in which we live. I suppose it has always been so: the rhythm and focus of the church is not governed by the cares and fears of our world. It offers something more, something unmovable in the shifting sands of our age. So, there is something of an expected difference that comes from a church. But there are times, and I think this is one of them, where the casual observer of our fellowship might find what we are doing here a bit naive, and perhaps even a little offensive considering what is happening all around us.

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The Waiting Is the Hardest Part

By Bob Hiller –

The waiting is the hardest part. 

Every day you see one more card. 

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart. 

The waiting is the hardest part.

Tom Petty died this week. After suffering from cardiac arrest on Sunday night, he was taken to the hospital, where he was put on life support. It was removed Monday morning, and though he was reported dead, Petty held on to life for a number of hours. He died later that night. He was 66. He was one of the great ones.

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Baptized Bride

By Cindy Koch –

Look in the mirror, my daughter. What do you see? Can you see the beautiful girl that God created you to be? Do you see the white robe of righteousness that Christ put on you? Do you see a perfect and blameless life that lives inside of your heart? Probably not. You might see a familiar face that you remember looking back at you on both happy days and sad days. But she looks pretty normal. Maybe she doesn’t even look all that special. How could this girl in the mirror be the amazing bride that Christ loves?

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Ladies, We are Better than That

By Cindy Koch –

I watched your face when I said that to you. Your eyes widen just a little. Your chin shifts back as the syllables sink in. You heard me, but it seems like the words must mean something else. We are better than what? What is she really saying here? You look right and left wondering if anyone else is listening. Consciously the muscles in your face try to relax. You try to take a deep breath and attempt to understand what I really said, but I can still see the exposed panic in your eyes.

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Promises of the Rock

By Paul Koch –

The reading before us today from Matthew 16 is an incredibly important text. It was at the heart of much of the struggles during the great Reformation of the church. The question of the power and the authority of the Pope were centered on this text very text. And the power and authority of the Pope had everything to do with the confession of faith that Luther and the other Reformers were defending. Did they have the right to speak against the established church of the day? Where they operating outside the will and command of our Lord by disobeying the Pope and his minions? And then when you actually look at the words of the text, you find that there is a much deeper question that is at the heart of it all. And that question is asked by our Lord; “Who do you say that I am?”

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Modern Prodigals

By Tim Winterstein –

This contains spoilers (of a 2005 film), so you may want to watch first and read after.

I had to wait until the end to see if it was worth it, but the answer is an unequivocal yes to L’Enfant (The Child).

I found it on Image Journal‘s “The Arts and Faith Top 100 Films,” which also brought Ordet to my attention. This is the first film by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne I’ve watched, but the others are now on my list.

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Born Haters

By Joel A. Hess –

Recently, our former president, with good intentions I’m sure, tweeted a Nelson Mandela quote, “No one is born hating another person because of his race, background, or religion….” It has quickly become one of the most liked tweets of all time. At first glance, it’s easy to like and retweet. Just look at a cute baby! They don’t know anything about race or hate. Just ask them! 

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Even the Dogs 

By Paul Koch –

I will never forget the day I first walked into the great cathedral in Strasburg, France. I was a much younger man and quite impressionable, to be sure. But that building was a shock to the system. It wasn’t just the sights of the grand gothic architecture, or the massive stained glass rose window, or even the statues that seemed to peek out from every nook and cranny. No, it was a feeling that I was in the presence of something much greater, much bigger, much grander than myself.

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Remembering the Righteous Woman

By Cindy Koch –

Until I taught a Bible study on Proverbs 31, I really didn’t know how very much women were hurt by this chapter in the Bible. Now, this is the inspired Word of God, and all of Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness (1 Timothy 3:16). Certainly, women are in need of this, just like any Christian. Proverbs 31 is a beautiful Hebrew poem about a righteous woman who fears the Lord. But in the hands of our Christian women’s community, it is beginning to resemble a baseball bat in the hands of an ice skating maniac.

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Myth of Mindfulness

By Cindy Koch –

Deep breath. What do you smell? What do you taste? What do you feel? Exhale. We slowly, calmly, intentionally explore every sensation rushing through our minds. Stop focusing on the past, look right in front of you. Stop anticipating the future, simply embrace the present – today. Mindfulness, being present, living in the now, is the popular practice of the moment in our crazy mixed up world. (In my local city, even kids are offered mindfulness periods in public school.) It’s possible I wouldn’t have ever noticed this funny little quirk in our current culture. But I’m hearing more about this trend that tries to comfort the tormented minds of our world. And I’m beginning to wonder if this is a silent assault on an ancient truth.

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Hanging by a Thread

By Bryan Salminen –

The cross confronts us with the fragility of Jesus. He’s no superman who leaps down and says, “only joking.” He suffers to the end. We wonder how this awful spectacle can possible be necessary for our salvation. We’re supposed to wonder that. We wonder whether this tiny, broken, wasted body can possibly be the body of God. We’re supposed to wonder that. We wonder how any joy, any hope, any glory can possibly emerge for this hideous catastrophe.

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Selling Jesus

By Paul Koch –

“What must I do to be saved?” asks the young professional who somehow found his way to the pastor’s study after another weekend of regret and shame. There is clearly a lot on this man’s mind, a lot that weighs him down and causes him to stare off into the distance as he gathers his thoughts for his next confession. It might have been any number of hedonistic pursuits that fill him with regret. Then again, it might be a longing for something better, something more permanent and sure. With shaky hands and bloodshot eyes, he asks again, “What must I do to be saved?”

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