Christ

Polite Little Town.

By Cindy Koch –

Once upon a time, there was a town full of people who were very polite. Everyone smiled and sang, “Hi, how are you?” Ladies sauntered in leisure and men strolled at a composed quiet pace. Clothes were comfortable, boots were worn-in, and hair flowed gently around relaxed shoulders. In this little town, gardens lined the perfectly silent streets. Clear blue skies frosted the rooftops of each perfectly groomed home. The sweet smell of unity and peace and well-being swirled around every corner.

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Fireplace Church

By Cindy Koch –

For years, I was told that church was a place of refuge. My pastor spoke of this mighty fortress of strength. My Sunday school teachers taught about this safe place of pasture. My parents talked about these people as if they were familiar relatives. And so I just assumed that church was a good place.

Like the warm Christmas fire, I can remember the red brick fireplace of my youth and the warm, soft church chairs on a Sunday morning.

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This is our Finest Hour

By Joel A. Hess –

On the 18th of June, 1940, Winston Churchill concluded his historic speech to the House of Commons, saying,

“Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour.’”

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Thou Art With Me

By Paul Koch –

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me…” Seldom does one go to the funeral of a brother or sister in Christ where these words are not spoken. And rightly so, for Psalm 23 is a powerful Word of God and it has sunk deep into the psyche of his people. The language of that Psalm, especially in the old King James translation is the go to passage from the Word of God for obituaries and those little cards at the mortuary. It may not be your favorite Psalm, but there is no denying that for most of you this is the Psalm that you’ve come in contact with more than any other.

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She’s a Bride, not a Strumpet!

By Ross Engel –

Strumpet. Now that’s a word one doesn’t hear very often. Shakespeare used it in Othello and Jack Sparrow used it in Pirates of the Caribbean. If you’re not familiar with the word, perhaps you’ve heard “harlot,” “hussy,” or “demimondaine.” All these words share one thing in common: they refer to ladies of the night—someone who sells themselves for pleasure. They are euphemisms for the title “whore.”

One of my favorite professors in seminary often would say, “The church is the bride of Christ, not the culture’s whore.” Recently I found myself recalling the sentiment and considering this juxtaposition.

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What’s in a Name?

By Scott Keith –

What’s in a name? Well, I suppose it depends on the name. My name is relatively common. While growing up, I always knew two or three people my age with my same name. In fact, my best friend in high school was named Scott. If you Google the name “Scott Keith,” you will discover that there are many people with my name. The most popular among them is a gentleman who seems to have made a decent living blogging and writing about professional wrestling.

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A New Thing

By Paul Koch –

On Mount Sinai, God established a covenant with his people. It was a covenant etched quite literally into two stone tablets. This covenant established the relationship between God and his chosen people. On the outset, it seemed so simple. After all, God had done all the heavy lifting. He had heard their cries in the land of Egypt, brought them out with a mighty outstretched arm, enabled them to walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, and protected them in a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. They didn’t have to earn that right; they didn’t have work towards this blessing. Instead, they are given a law, one set in stone, that would guide how they live.

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Christianity’s Unhealthy Obsession with Measuring Behavior

By Graham Glover –

Sometimes I wonder if being a Christian is only and exclusively about how one acts. It’s not that the Scriptures testify to this. The Church does not properly teach it. But every time I turn around these days, I find fellow believers telling me or suggesting to me that one’s Christian faith is a measurable thing – specifically, that our behavior is the clearest mark of what we believe, and the truest test as to whether one actually is a believer at all.

This asinine idea that our behavior is the means by which we measure our Christian faith is not only an unhealthy obsession, it is a lie.

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Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ is Great; the Divine Service is Better

By Joel A. Hess –

This past Sunday, our congregation hosted a viewing of The Passion of the Christ. I hadn’t seen it for a while and was once again in awe at how Mel Gibson accomplished both a work of art and a fairly orthodox and evangelical sermon; I was happy to see many members, especially younger ones, engrossed in the film as Gibson clearly preached Jesus as the substitute for our sins. Yes, I’m well aware there are other ways to talk of how Christ saved us.

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No Trump, I’d Rather be a Sheep than a Lion

By Joel A Hess –

“It’s better to live one day as a lion than a sheep for a hundred years” – Donald Trump and Benito Mussolini

Whether or not Donald Trump knew this quote was taken from the il Duce, the baldheaded embarrassment to both dictators and Italians, doesn’t matter. What does matter is that he desires to own and live by this quote. It should be noted that the original author of the quote was eventually mocked by the Germans, who really know how to do dictatorship, and dragged naked through the streets by his own people. I’m not sure Mussolini’s words are ingredients for success.

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Gathering the Captives

By Paul Koch –

Though we may not always know it at the time, when we look back over our lives, when we examine our wandering path to the point in life we find ourselves now, we can often identify moments that were crucial in determining our current destination. They may have been certain decisions that helped to reinforce our character, like choosing to help someone in need or pretending we didn’t see them. It could be the way we’ve responded to stress in our lives or our resolve when tragedy strikes. For there are moments in all of our lives where the way we understand who we are, our values and desires, our self-understanding of our purpose will be tried.

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Where are the women? We’ve been here the whole time.

By Cindy Koch –

I know, I know. Ladies, don’t be too hard on him. The Man has posed an honest question about our society and our faith. He observed that men can look like sexist jerks by believing the word of God; so where is the honor for women today? He tried to stand up and defend our freedom, but we know how very short that answer falls. It’s easy to wonder on the outside, rather than to be the woman who must mold her life in the midst of the muck.

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Neither Progressive Nor Conservative; Christ The Way

By Joel A Hess –

“The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of Conservatives is to prevent mistakes from being corrected. Even when the revolutionist might himself repent of his revolution, the traditionalist is already defending it as part of his tradition. Thus we have two great types — the advanced person who rushes us into ruin, and the retrospective person who admires the ruins. He admires them especially by moonlight, not to say moonshine. Each new blunder of the progressive or prig becomes instantly a legend of immemorial antiquity for the snob. This is called the balance, or mutual check, in our Constitution.”

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10 Reasons You Should Attend the Christ Hold Fast Conference

By Scott Keith –

Like The Jagged Word, Christ Hold Fast is a project of 1517 the Legacy Project. As they describe themselves:

“We are a Law & Gospel collective of creative contributors, dedicated to teaching people how Christ remains faithful even when we are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13). We provide a voice for Christians who are both Sinner & Saint (Romans 7:15-25). We promote the bad news that you are a greater sinner than you think (Isaiah 64:6-7) and the good news that Christ is a greater Savior than you can imagine (Romans 5:6-11). And get this: He will never let you go (Hebrews 13:5-6).

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The Exodus

By Paul Koch –

The season of Epiphany is drawing to a close. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday and with it comes that somber and reflective time of year called Lent. Compared to Lent, Epiphany is an exciting time of the church year. After all, an epiphany is a manifestation of something divine, a moment of sudden insight or revelation. And so Epiphany begins with appearance of a star that leads Magi from the east to worship our Lord. Then we focused on the

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Chose Your Own Adventure

By Jaime Nava –

Growing up we had some well abused “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. You roll stats by randomly choosing a number on the last page for certain abilities or something of the sort. Once that is done, you begin on the first page. From there things are off and running. You would get a few paragraphs and then you had to choose which path to take. It would tell you which page to turn to and start on the next branch of choices.

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