By Cindy Koch –
If I saw you sitting in the middle of the street, playing with your toys, my heart would leap into my throat. Unaware of the danger that could overtake you from either side, you giggle contentedly without even looking up. You have your own thoughts to keep you safe, your own desires to make you happy. Focused on the little bits of entertainment that dance in front of your eyes, you don’t even know that you should be very afraid.
By Joel A. Hess –
In his argument with Erasmus about free will, Luther makes a profound case for the clarity of Holy Scripture and knowing the mind of God. One of Erasmus’ methods of dismantling Luther’s assertions was to point to the mystery and unknownness of God. He called to his side verses such as Isaiah 40, “Who has known the mind of the Lord?” and Paul’s similar statement that “his judgments are incomprehensible.” (Romans 11:33). At first these words seem to make the case that we should always be wary of ever talking about God as if He is comprehensible. Many quickly shut down any conversation about the interpretation of Scripture by pointing to these verses. How often do aspiring theologians on the airplane conclude their opinions by waxing eloquent about God’s incomprehensibility, pretending to preserve God’s godhood?
By Cindy Koch –
Turning sideways, no one could see the little hole in the hem of her favorite dress. Sometimes the other kids would make fun of her when they noticed her clothes up close. Not always clean, not always in the best shape, she was painfully aware of which posture to take in each of her three outfits, so no one could see the imperfections. Today, a bent leg, pinning her right hip against the brick school wall would protect her from the scrutiny of the other third graders during recess. This one, though, was her favorite because it had long sweatshirt sleeves. She crossed her tiny arms, imagining she had a warm, wooly blanket wrapped around her, counting down the seconds before the bell called them all back to a bright, ordered classroom, out of the gray, unfriendly mist.
By Tim Winterstein –
So I’ve just seen my favorite movie of the year. I’m not taking credit for noticing this, though. That goes to my friend Nick, who recommended to me Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot. Maybe we just agree that Joaquin Phoenix plays all the parts from now on, eh? (Except maybe Jesus in the upcoming Mary Magdalene. I’ll withhold judgment for now.) He is brilliant, and the rest of the cast is nearly perfect. I barely recognized Jonah Hill. Jack Black does Jack Black. And this might be the first movie I’ve seen where Rooney Mara is happy at the end.
By Hillary Asbury –
I suppose Vincent Van Gogh isn’t quite what we’d consider a religious artist. His style is unique and expressive; the subjects of most of his paintings include landscapes, still life’s, and figures, and although less popular than his other work, he did actually create some religious work. When you consider that his father and grandfather were ministers and that he was once dedicated to following in their footsteps, it isn’t all that surprising. The fact remains, though, that one of his most famous pieces is a rather unflattering painting of a church.
By Paul Koch –
We have all known those people who seem to take joy in tearing down what we’ve built up. Perhaps it is the kid at the beach that just can’t help kicking over the sandcastle that you just finished building. Or it is the big sister who knocks over your stack of blocks. When we grow older, these people are still around. They call themselves realists or even pessimists. You speak of something you have accomplished or some great adventure you want to do and all they want to do is tear it down. They attack your planning or your foresight or the practicality of it all. We don’t like to be around those people. We don’t like to spend our days with those who won’t let us dream a little, those who seem intent to kill what we love. Perhaps, this is why prayer and worship are so difficult. Maybe this is why it is uncomfortable to faithfully proclaim the Word of God. Because if we are honest, no one seems more persistent to tear down the things you love than your Lord Jesus Christ.
By Joel A Hess –
Please don’t get me wrong. The outcome of elections does matter to the poor, the middle class, the unborn, and the young ladies often put under pressure to abort. It matters to the protection of the innocent and the punishment of wrongdoers. It matters to the establishment of good order in our society. So vote, get involved in your community, and serve your neighbor.
By Cindy Koch –
Some of us are expecting the outbreak to begin any day now. A virus infecting the whole world, killing the inner mind and heart, leaving only a shell of the undead body to roam the earth. Passed from ravenous creature to creature, soon we will be constantly reminded of death and destruction in the lifeless eyes of others. Hiding, running, screaming in terror to escape the jaws of hungry zombies, we will fight to survive with those who are left alive. It is only a matter of time until every single person is captured by this horrifying outcome.
By Tim Winterstein –
Coraline (2008, streaming on Amazon Prime) might be the perfect movie for All Saints or All Souls (not that I’m praying for the dead in Purgatory, understand). What a great, semi-frightening children’s movie that gets to the heart of what matters in a family. I don’t know how closely it follows the story by Neil Gaiman, but the film is profound in ways I didn’t expect.
By Paul Koch –
The great Reformation of the church is, in many ways, an explosion of what was falsely imprisoned. That is, it was the result of what happens when you try to bottle up something that simply cannot be contained. In this case, what was bottled up was the simple and beautiful Good News of Jesus Christ our Lord. For this is a message that is a living and active thing, and so it presses out against the bars of its imprisonment and bows the walls that surround it. And when it finally breaks free, it comes with such force that it changes the landscape. Everyone from the peasants working the fields to the kings and emperors in their mighty palaces are touched by its power. It plays a role in the affairs of the state and brings comfort to the conscience of the downtrodden and oppressed. The Reformation was about more than some monk nailing 95 Theses for debate to the local church door. It was about more than a bunch beer drinking Germans refusing to get in line behind the Pope. This was an explosion of the Gospel. An explosion that continues to this very day.
By Joel A. Hess –
Is there a difference between being a believer or a disciple? No.
Recently I have discovered numerous articles attempting to differentiate between being a believer/Christian and a disciple/follower. Go ahead google it yourself. There are many. Here’s one example.
By Paul Koch –
We all are familiar with Robert Frost’s famous poem “The Road Not Taken.” It is about a traveler who comes upon a fork in the road. One way is clear and beautiful and well-travelled and the other showing no sign of foot traffic at all. The point reflected in the poem is the beauty and adventure of living a life that takes the road least travelled. We like that image. Whether we see ourselves as the one taking the road least traveled or the one playing it safe and going with the flow, we like to imagine our life as one made of forks in the road, choices that you make to decide your life. And this image of choices is not contained in your temporal life only, in how your conduct yourself to advance in your career, or what physical adventure you take on. No, you like this image about your eternal life as well. You like to imagine that you must navigate carefully through the forks in the road in your quest to enter into eternal life, to come into the kingdom of God.
By Joel A. Hess –
Sell all your stuff and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Seriously!
I’m not sure most people take Jesus’ response to the rich young man seriously. The guy asks a valid question. Bravo to this kid. What do I have to do to inherit eternal life? That’s the question! It’s the question behind all religions. Every single one. It’s the problem too. We are all dying. We don’t want to die, and that’s it. Or worse, we don’t want to entertain the possibility that we will literally never see our dearly loved friends and family again.
By Paul Koch –
The story of the rich young man, as it is usually called, is an especially difficult text for us to deal with in the church. Not that it is a complex story that is hard to unpack, not that it is full of analogies that are distant from us and therefore hard to understand. No, this text is difficult for us precisely because it deals with the heart of the matter. It cuts to the core of our desires and hopes in the church. It is not a theoretical discussion about heaven and hell. It’s not a description of an evangelism mission seeking to convert the unbeliever. This is not a text that seeks to simply enlighten your hearts and minds or give your cause to ponder heavenly things. This is a text that leaves no one untouched, that gives you nowhere to hide, that exposes everything. For this is about a man who ardently desires to be saved. He comes directly to the source, to our Lord Jesus Christ, and asks the question that all long to have answered; “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
By Marc Engelhardt –
Continuing the recaps from Christ in Common (the discipleship class that focuses on Foundation, Worldview, and Practice), we get to the section that many people in the class eagerly awaited: “How far is too far?” We didn’t get into this topic much until this point because I think part of the desire to know how far is too far is to have some sort of control and to make more law. Rather, the route we took builds on itself and shows us that this is about what works out best for us and those around us because of how God created the world to work, not some sort of wrong/right, sin/sanctified, punishment/blessing scheme. So, notice that this recap should not be taken out of the context of the rest of the recaps thus far, otherwise it can easily come across as a bunch of “do this and don’t do that” law.
By Paul Koch –
I often joke around with some of my colleagues that the reason I default to the historic liturgy of the church along with an established lectionary system is that I’m lazy. I don’t want to try and figure out some sort of creative thematic series, so I just open up the book and follow the next lesson that is prescribed. I don’t have the confidence to write out my own confession or proper preface nor the time to do so, so I just use what has been used since long before I was ordained into the ministry.
By Joel A. Hess –
That’s really all you want to know, right? What’s the rule, Pastor? What can I do? What can’t I do? Just tell me, and I’ll do it. Just say it. Or, is this is a good reason? What if he does this? What if she does that?
This is not an unusual conversation that confronts a pastor at least a couple times a year. How often I have had a man or woman tell me they wish their spouse either cheated on them or beat them so they would have a good reason for divorce.
By Cindy Koch –
It is a terrifying thing to consider that you don’t really know yourself. As far back as you can remember, your voice inside your own head has been your friend and council, unbeknownst to the world outside. You have had silent conversations in the middle of actual conversations within your own heart, soul, and mind. Trusting your familiar voice within has been the only constant in this ever-changing lifetime. Everything on the inside is safe and protected until the day someone says it. You have been lied to. You don’t really know who you are.
By Paul Koch –
I recall many years ago I was doing a Sunday morning Bible study at my previous congregation in Georgia. We were working our way through St. Matthew’s Gospel that happened to be the text that corresponds to our reading today of Mark 10:2-16. So, we began by talking about the harsh realities of divorce. Divorce seems to be a plague of sorts in our land, it’s no longer rare or shocking. All of us have come in contact with the realities of divorce. Either you have been divorced or your parents have, or you know someone who has gone through the hurt and struggle of divorce. And it is easy if you haven’t been divorced to speak with a certain self-righteousness about the whole thing. Then again, it is also easy to justify divorce to the point that it can seem a noble or necessary thing. During that Bible study in Georgia, I was no doubt more on the self-righteous side of things when a member brought to my attention the simple fact that most of the people sitting there had been through divorce. In Bible Study on a Sunday morning a small southern town, those who had not been divorced were certainly the minority.
By Bob Hiller –
The devil wants to be your preacher. He wants to get into the pulpit on Sunday morning and entertain you, make you feel good, convict you of all sorts of wrong doing, and inspire you to do better. He wants to make you laugh, cry, and sing. He wants to captivate your hearts and leave you feeling like you can conquer the world. Sure, he wants you to be miserable on the way to hell, but if he can get you to enjoy the ride before the car crashes, that suits him just fine. So long as you don’t trust in Jesus, the devil is happy to be your preacher.
