freedom

High and Holy Labor Day

By Cindy Koch –

There are already too many holidays on our calendar that are a challenge to the Gospel and the pure Word of God. Some holidays are widely scoffed at by Christian communities, like Halloween. When I lived in the Bible Belt, trick or treating would be canceled if it ever fell on a Sunday. Some holidays are in the middle of a church and state type battle, like Christmas and Easter. Do you really celebrate the “reason for the season” and say “Merry Christmas,” or do you trade in your crosses for Easter bunnies? Then there are the holidays that surprise you, where our church and culture just might be celebrating the same thing. For example, that special Thursday in November that everyone takes a day to give thanks for every good thing they have been given. And while we all just love having a Monday off the normal routine (and any reason to barbeque and drink beer), this Labor Day should also inspire a little careful thought.

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Locating the Problem

By Paul Koch –

When we are quiet, when we give ourselves moments without distraction or entertainment, when we allow silence to occupy our space, we begin to think about our lives, about our world and our place in it. We begin to realize that there is something wrong, something misplaced or broken about our existence. Maybe for you it begins when you realize how bad your joints ache or how difficult it is to do things that once seemed to do with ease. Or perhaps, in your contemplation you struggle with inner demons, with things no one else can see, with depression and anxiety. Some days are a dark and confusing battle where hope seems to be in short supply, and you can’t seem to get a hold of the reason why. Then again, maybe your quiet moments are consumed with thoughts of guilt and shame. You think of friendships that you’ve lost, of loves that have grown cold. When we enter the quiet we often find that we quickly seek the distractions, the diversion from what is broken within ourselves.

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We Are Not Our Own Saviors

By Tim Winterstein –

[SPOILERS, BUT YOU CAN PROBABLY GUESS THEM ANYWAY]

That seems like far too important a title for thoughts about a dinosaur movie, but underneath the fantastic and seamless CGI, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is claiming to be far more than simply an adventure movie with dangerous animals. The tired part of the movie is that people always do stupid things when it comes to dangerous animals about which they really know nothing. Yeah, we get it: If you’re ever in a room with a caged dinosaur, do not open the cage, no matter how much you want a trophy or a closer look. Don’t pretend to be Chris Pratt if you’re not.

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In Which I Fawn All Over Mike Trout

By Bob Hiller –

As if I needed another reason to love Mike Trout, MLB’s commissioner has inadvertently offered me one. For those of you who don’t follow America’s pastime, Trout is arguably the best player in baseball. For what its worth, if you engage in arguing against that point, you’ll lose. If you’re a pitcher, he is a constant threat. Seven years in, he’s a career .300 hitter, batting .310 this year with 25 home runs and 50 RBIs (those are good numbers for the halfway point in a season, in case you’re wondering). I’m sure his weird analytical stats are money too. His arm is insane, and he is one of the top outfielders in the game. I think I can make a fairly good case that Trout’s swing is an aesthetic argument for the existence of God. He’s great with the fans, and somehow, for all he has going for him, he seems to stay out of the spotlight. At least, that weird spotlight we like to shine on our idols while looking for their warts.

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The Sin of Sammy’s Innocence

By Bob Hiller –

Sammy Sosa hasn’t been to Chicago in 11 years. This man, who was right at the center of one of the most provocative sports stories in my generation, who brought baseball joy—which Cubs’ fans had so longed for—back to the Windy City, hasn’t been there for over a decade. Instead, according to a recent Sports Illustrated “where-are-they-now” story, Slammin’ Sammy has become somewhat of a globetrotter. The magazine caught up with Sosa in Dubai, living it up in luxurious restaurants, drinking expensive booze, basking in the glory of his wealth. SI quotes Sosa, “‘Look what I am today,’ Sosa says, motioning toward the opulence around him, ‘This is my life, and I don’t take garbage from nobody. I do what I want.’” Sosa, it seems, has it all. Except Chicago. He’s not been to Chicago in 11 years.

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A Hated Inheritance

By Tim Winterstein –

Since high school, I’ve been interested in my family’s genealogy. Nearly all of us German Lutherans as far back as I can trace, all of those generations are part of who I am. So far, there haven’t been any shocking discoveries, but there are certainly intriguing gaps in the records. At what point did my German ancestors settle in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (my father’s side) or Russia (my mother’s side)? What is the connection between the German town of Winterstein and my family? (One interesting speculation is that our ancestors were Sinti [Christian Roma or Gypsies] who took the Winterstein name after working as tailors for the minor nobility of Winterstein).

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Sad Songs and Specific Sermons

By Bob Hiller –

In the unfortunately titled but always intriguing Revisionist History podcast, Malcolm Gladwell offers a theory about why country music can do sad songs and rock and roll can’t. He says it is because country music is specific. In the episode, “The King of Tears, he compares “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones and “Boulder to Birmingham” by Emmylou Harris. Both songs were written while the artists were coping with sorrow. The rumor goes that Mick Jagger wrote “Wild Horses” while his then girlfriend, Marianne Faithful, was seemingly dying from an overdose (she lived). He sat by her bedside and sang “Wild Horses couldn’t tear me away.” The comment is general. It can be applied to any number of circumstances. It’s sad, sure, but it doesn’t really churn your guts. (Jagger says it was actually written by Keith Richards, himself, and Gram Parsons).

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Inked in the Faith

By Hillary Asbury –

At the end of next month, I will be exhibiting at my church’s district convention in Irvine, CA.

This means that for the next few weeks I will be gearing up: getting my booth materials ready and organized, counting inventory, sending files out for print, and matting prints. I don’t enjoy this part particularly, but traveling with my work is always a little nerve-racking, and I insist on everything being done the right way before I go. As much as I get anxious about everything being just so, I love going to these conferences.

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Emoji Evangelism

By Cindy Koch –

It’s how all the kids are talking these days. Short, quick pictures in a language of their own. Emoji characters, each displaying a carefully selected message through tiny, pixilated picture. Even I am getting the hang of communicating this way. In our modern world of texts and picture captions, sometimes you need a good smiley face or sarcastic wink to convey the sentiment of our condensed disconnected comment. In a real face-to-face conversation, you might be able to pick up on the inflections in my voice, or hear the subtle laugh, or recognize the serious tone to distinguish just what we are talking about. But in cyber-land, tiny typed shapes take on a life of their own, traveling instantly over time and space, leaving the receiver to interpret our quick shorthand exchange.

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Don’t Judge Me

By Cindy Koch –

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye’” (Mat 7:1-5)

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The Evil Mother Inside

By Cindy Koch –

When it comes to her child, a mother isn’t afraid of much. Without thinking, she will run into disaster to save her little one. She will seek out the answer and remedy when her baby is sick. She will go to great lengths to make sure her child is safe and well cared for, unafraid of the consequences. It is in her nature to shield and love the creatures that God has given her. But there is an evil enemy that a mother doesn’t talk about. It is a terrifying force that lies just as close as her protection. A mother’s greatest fear is not the evil that threatens to harm her child from the outside. Rather, for the sake of her child, she is deathly afraid of her own evil that rages within.

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Behold, this is our God

By Paul Koch – 

Today is the celebration of the pinnacle event in all human history. Today we rejoice in the great working of God who interceded at a specific moment in time to overturn the power of darkness and sin and death. This is the dawn of a new day and the promise of something better. In the beginning of human history, mankind rejected the Word of God and set out on their own journey in opposition to their Creator. They ate the fruit of the forbidden tree so that they might become like God knowing good and evil, and know it they did. And so, is seems, do we all. And with that knowledge came punishment and brokenness and selfishness and pride and anger and a whole host desires that pervert and destroy relationships. But today we confess a gift that comes through a different tree, the tree of the cross. There your Lord died, and he died for all that deserves death and punishment in this world. He dies so that there might be life, so that there might be hope for you.

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Whatever Happened to Barabbas?

By Bob Hiller

Whatever happened to old Barabbas? You remember Barabbas from the Passion narrative, don’t you? He’s the robber (John 8:40), the notorious insurrectionist and murderer (Matt. 27:16; Mark. 15:7; Luke 23:18-19) who is bound for the cross the same week Jesus was on trial. When Pilate took up the custom of releasing a prisoner to the Jews and “tried” to let Jesus go (his wife was nervous and all), the angry leaders among the Jews demanded the criminal Barabbas be set free and Jesus crucified. Pilate knew Jesus had done nothing deserving death. He knew Barabbas should be the one to die. But he was too much of a coward to do the right thing. So, Pilate let the criminal go and put Jesus on Barabbas’ cross. Jesus didn’t just die a criminal’s death in some general sense. He died on Barabbas’ cross.

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Gospel Resistant

By Cindy Koch –

There are all kinds of conversations that we have with all kinds of people. But every once in a while, the discussion gets serious, and we discover it’s one that really matters. Just today, I was surprised to find my relatively normal, everyday small talk heading down a road that I did not expect. Especially when I’m not quite ready for it, like today, a passionate confession bubbles up and truly takes me by surprise.

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You’re Looking the Wrong Way

By Paul Koch –

As a preacher I have tried over the years to understand the situation in life of those to whom I preach. I try to imagine what things are like from your point of view. What is it that brings you into this church in the first place? What are you hoping to get out of it? When it gets to this point in the service, when it’s time for the sermon, are you excited? Do you expect big things? Or are you just hoping it won’t be too long? See, some folks come to church looking of a little bit of a spiritual high, a jolt of the good stuff to keep your going through another week. Then there are those that come to church because they are hurting or confused or feel lost in life and so they come seeking direction and healing and hope. Some, no doubt, aren’t all that sure why they are here. It is simply what they do, they’ve done it for years and so they show up as part of routine and habit.

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