forgiveness

Paddy’s Day

By Ross Engel –

With its proximity to my birthday, I have always enjoyed St. Patrick’s Day. As a kid it meant that mom would be making Corned Beef or Shepherd’s Pie for dinner and that the house would be decked with all sorts of green and orange. Sometimes mom would even use green food dye to add a hint of green to our water or milk. As I grew older, I was introduced to other celebratory measures for St. Patrick’s Day (also known as Paddy’s Day – NOT St. Patty’s. “Patty” is a girl, short for Patricia. “Paddy” comes from the Irish name: Padraig).

Continue reading →

Be Ye Kind to One Another!

By Scott Keith –

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

Screw that! I’d rather live in my sanctimony and self-righteousness. To “forgive as Christ forgave,” I’d have to stop holding on to all my resentments. My wife would no longer daily piss me off. Instead, I’d have to be tenderhearted to her. Blah!! Instead of letting my kids and even my coworkers know that they annoy the crap out of me every day, I’d have to “be kind” to them. Who wants that?

Continue reading →

Dear Dad…

By Cindy Koch –

Dear Dad,

I can’t even begin to describe how upset I am. I have terribly let you down. Buried in secrets, I thought I was just having a little fun. But now exposed in the light, I am sick with myself. I know that it was wrong. Even while I was flirting with him, something in the pit of my stomach held my heart back, just a little. I knew that you were not OK with this. I knew that you expected more from the boy who would try and hold my heart.

Continue reading →

Prodigals, Older Brothers, and Cousins

By Scott Keith –

A few weeks ago, I was honored to be a plenary speaker at the now much lauded Christ Hold Fast (CHF) conference. For many, it was a life changing event. Why? Because the unadulterated Gospel of Christ was handed over with detail and passion for the sinner, over and over again. The speakers were fantastic. They faithfully proclaimed Christ and the forgiveness of sins through God’s radical pursuit of “prodigals” just like us.

Continue reading →

Just Change the Rules

By Bob Hiller –

Have you ever watched poetry? If you’ve seen Stephan Curry of the Golden State Warriors, you have. Curry is making a mockery of the NBA this year. It is really hard for him to miss baskets. No one can cover him. You want to hate someone that good. But then you watch him, and it’s like seeing Bizet’s Habanera from Carmen. It is flawless and beautiful. Play the song and watch his twelve (!) three-pointers from last Saturday’s game in Oklahoma City (including a remarkable OT game winner that looked like child’s play to Curry). Pure basketball righteousness. Curry is killing the rest of the NBA.  Literally no one can stop him.

So, it was fascinating this past week to listen to the fearful reactions around the league. If Curry is so deadly, what do you do with him? Since they can’t stop him, some are talking about changing the rules and adjusting the game to make it harder for Curry (and other shooters like him…of which there are none) to be so dominant.

Continue reading →

Not Ashamed

By Caleb Keith –

After being fried from a nine-hour road trip, I could not find the mental power to write a proper blog this week. Instead, I offer up a short overview of Romans Chapters 1-4. I submitted this essay as an assignment for my New Testament Book of the Bible class. My professor for this course is Dr. Michael Middendorf, who is the author of the new Concordia Publishing House commentary on Romans. Dr. Middendorf’s instruction has been priceless, and I hope this overview is exemplary of that.

Continue reading →

Home Schooled Kids Are Awkward, Weird, and Lack Socialization! Right?

 

Hello again, readers!

After the overwhelming success of Rachel’s article last week, I feel it is appropriate to run one more of her articles this week. Who knows, this may be the start of something big. The Jagged Word, or 1517 the Legacy Project for that matter, are always looking for new writers. Rachel is incredibly talented, and her insights into the world of motherhood are honest, gritty, and centered on the Gospel of Christ. Please enjoy one more article from Mrs. Rachel Francisco.

Continue reading →

God is Faithful

By Paul Koch –

I first met Raymond Whitt when he entered into my study in Kingsland, Georgia and shook my hand. Though he looked quite old he still had that firm grip of a man who worked hard throughout his life. Raymond had recently lost his wife, and when he began to talk about it his strong and conservative appearance dissolved into tears of immense grief.

Continue reading →

We Don’t Need Sports

By Bob Hiller –

I recently had a great conversation with some old friends about why I like sports. Not being fans, they could only see the negative impact of sports on culture, higher education, and the church. Though I vehemently tried to defend the benefit of sports, much of what they said resonated with me. What is wrong with sports? Or, perhaps a better question is, what is wrong with our attitude towards them?  Is there something wrong with playing and watching sports?

Continue reading →

Piling On

By Bob Hiller –

I know, some of you are tired of me posting about sports and theology on my blog about sports and theology (not to name names Flanagan). But, I have a really good analogy about how the Broncos defense was like the gospel for Peyton Manning. He got on the field and did nothing to help the team win, and yet was given all kinds of accolades for another’s work…anybody? You like it? Fine…I’ll move on…

Continue reading →

Perfect in Weakness

By Jonathan Holmes –

*Jonathan is a pastor of the LC-MS returning from disability and a friend of The Jagged Word.

Anxiety is really starting to piss me off. My anxiety always makes me mad, but I’ve begun to train myself with the question, “What does it matter?” Since the answer is usually, “It doesn’t matter at all, so jog on…” But it’s other people’s anxiety that has begun to piss me off too. Now, I don’t yell at those dealing with it, like “GET OVER IT ALREADY!” No, that is neither Christ like, and usually the anxious person’s anxiety is usually increased, and it does nobody any good. It’s counter-productive. 

Continue reading →

Selfish in Defeat

By Bob Hiller –

Well, friends, I am simply elated. The smile has not left my face in days! All that yelling and pillow biting and making a complete jerk out of myself in front of friends and family has finally paid off! My Denver Broncos are Super Bowl champions! I could not be happier. Watching that defense manhandle every single top level quarterback in the NFL this season (Cam Newton, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers…not so fast Philip Rivers…) has been like listening to a beautiful symphony. Wade Phillips truly produced a work of art. For me, reveling in the Broncos third Super Bowl victory is pure delight.

Continue reading →

A Preacher’s Confession: I Don’t Want to Be the Poor Widow, I Want to Be the Pharisee

By Joel Hess –

Ash Wednesday calls us to repentance so:

I pretend to like the story of the poor widow and her mighty mites vs. the esteemed, celebrities of the day, scribes as recorded in the 12th chapter of Mark. Every time I hear Mark tell it, I crucify those braggadocios Pharisees who loved to be popular, in the spotlight, and rich. They made sure everyone saw them giving 10% to the Lord. 

Continue reading →

An Idiot Confesses

By Paul Koch –

Do you believe that my forgiveness is God’s forgiveness?

Yes.

Let it be done for you as you believe.

In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the † Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

These words fill my ears after I have just blurted out a shallow and rambling confession of my sins. I feel like such an idiot when I do this.

Continue reading →

The Word, The Womb and You

By Paul Koch –

Jeremiah 1:4-10 is simply a text containing the call of Jeremiah into the service of Yahweh. Now most of the major prophets have a section similar to this, and it is not terribly unusual as far as such calls go in Scripture. However this particular call of one of God’s great prophets contains a few nuggets that are worthy of our time to consider. This call establishes the credentials of the prophet. In other words, this little section at the beginning of Jeremiah’s writing establishes why we should listen to him in the first place.

Continue reading →

What Are You Looking At?

By Daniel van Voorhis –

Last week I was at a coffee shop doing some work when I found myself staring into space, lost in a thought or lack thereof. After a few minutes (seconds) I noticed I was getting the stink eye from some young twenty somethings at a table in the direction of my blank stare. I will be charitable, but based on the female’s choice of aggressive language on her T-shirt and the plugs in the gentleman’s ears, they weren’t helping to plan a cotillion nor waiting for their chums from the local prep school.

Continue reading →

Care for One Another

By Paul Koch –

For me, the most beautiful creature that I have ever seen is my wife. From our days of surfing during our college years, to the moment I saw her walking down the aisle on our wedding day, to my return home just last Friday evening after being away for a week at a conference, I am continually stunned by her beauty. I understand why it is that Adam when he saw Eve for the first time would stand and sing, “This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh…”

Continue reading →