theology of the Cross

Dear Pastors and Pastor’s Wives: Stop Whining

By Joel A. Hess –

Since seminary, I have been told by seasoned pastors and “expert” first timers that pastoring is a tough, thankless job. They encouraged me to set boundaries so I don’t get lost in the work and forget about myself and my family. They scared me stiff, perhaps hoping I would not be overwhelmed by surprise when I went out on the front lines. The dark forecast was cast with even more doom and gloom for my wife. At seminary, there were groups for pastor’s wives that met like AA, all bellowing, “Nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen…”

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More Than You Can Handle

By Paul Koch –

Deep down I have always been a fan of doing hard things. Not that I don’t thoroughly enjoy just lounging on the beach or getting in an afternoon nap. Rather, I believe if we simply default to the path of least resistance, to the easy and simple, we miss out on something important. For it is often in the strain and the hard of work of life, both work and play, that we find the greatest means to shape and build our character. I love going hiking in the mountains, having to work hard to make it just over the next pass. The tired legs and aching back make the expansive views even sweeter. I like taking my kids for little day hikes up in Arroyo Verde Park and when they begin to complain about how tired their little legs are, that’s when I tell them we have to go over just one more hill (or more likely two). It is that final press toward victory that makes the journey so rewarding, and you can see it in their faces when they smile under the shade of a tree and talk about how far they went.

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The Unworthy Minister

By Paul Koch –

A little framed picture hangs to the right of the door exiting my study which leads into the sanctuary of the church. Most people leaving through that door probably never even notice it, but I do. Though it is small, behind the glass is a simple and eloquent prayer. I’ve had it hanging on the wall of my study ever since I’ve had a study. I’ve read the words printed there so often that I have them memorized and simply looking at the dark mahogany frame causes me to recite them like some sort of strange Pavlovian reaction. It’s a prayer written by Luther, a prayer written for people like me. The first line reads:

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Antichrist goes to Church

By Paul Koch –

“This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.” – 1 John 4:3

According to St. John, the spirit of the Antichrist is already among us. It roams about the world seeking to devour the saints of God. It is cunning and selective in its attacks. It doesn’t have to look evil or dangerous or ugly. In fact, it will most likely feel pleasant, look attractive and even righteous. There seems to be profound truth to Baudelaire’s verse, “The devil’s finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist.” For then your guard is down, your senses are dulled, and the Antichrist enters the sacred and holy spaces to do his work.

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Can the Darkness Condemn the Light?

By Hillary Asbury –

Domenikos Theotokopulos, born in the 16th century and commonly known as El Greco, is a European artist with one of the most distinctive styles of his time. Originally from Crete, he studied in Venice, worked in Italy for some time, and went on to heavily influence not only the Spanish Renaissance and generations of artists thereafter (Picasso and Cezanne among them), but his work was a major factor in the development of the Expressionist and Mannerist movements.

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How’s your walk?

By Cindy Koch –

Have you followed the footsteps of Jesus? Sometimes I think I can be kind enough, sometimes I think I can love like he did. Every once in a while I have a really great day when the sky looks a little bluer and I’m pretty proud of myself for my gentle tongue and thoughtful actions. But then there is the day when I lose it, I am angry at just about everything. How can I possibly get any better? Is this Jesus stuff not really working for me? Sometimes I think I need to take a good hard look at my walk.

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Without Honor

By Paul Koch –

Just about 7 years ago I loaded up my family in our old blue minivan with a roof rack carrier loaded to the gills. The moving truck had already hauled all our stuff away and we began a long road trip out to California. It was exciting. When we had moved away from California, I had never imagined that I would live here again. But now we were coming back, back to the west coast, back to the beautiful weather, back even to the city of Ventura where I grew up and barely graduated high school. In fact, I was going back to the very church of my youth, where my former Sunday School teachers would now attend my classes. And from the moment that I accepted the call to be your pastor to the day that I was installed, and even for a few months afterwards, I would hear over and again the line from Mark 6, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown.”

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Welcome to the Church of Don Draper

By Joel Hess –

Mad Men did many things well, but its brilliant dialogue lifted it from T.V. drama to a Shakespearean masterpiece. I don’t know of a show with so many great quotes, outside of Seinfeld. Yet most importantly the scripts magnified the underlying cancer that produces the rotten sores and symptoms we see in society today! Therefore, what more fitting setting for such a show than an advertising firm!

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Unanswered Questions

By Paul Koch –

On September 11th, 2001, I was in the midst of my vicarage assignment at Peace Lutheran Church in Bremerton, Washington. That Tuesday morning and the events that unfolded throughout the coming weeks and months, I don’t think I’ll ever forget. If you’ve never been to Bremerton, it is a beautiful town surrounded by military bases: from the massive naval shipyard to the sub base on the Hood Canal to the underwater warfare facility. When terrorists successfully attacked our country, that whole town went on high alert. Fathers and mothers who were deployed were now going to be going to war. It was chaotic, and people began to search for answers. Perhaps their greatest question was, where is God in all of this? Did He care? Was He still in control? Was this some sort of punishment?

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OT Encounters: Job 38:1-11 – Unanswered Questions

By Jeff Pulse –

Our text is from the book of Job. The text is Job 38:1-11 and begins the section in Job frequently called Yahweh’s first speech. In truth, this is the moment that Job and even his friends have been waiting for. They have been hoping that the LORD will break His silence and set things straight, answer the questions, and reveal the “why” of what is going on in Job’s miserable life. However, it is important to note that the LORD does NOT answer the questions that Job and his friends have been wrestling with. He ignores Job’s complaints and claims of innocence and refuses to support the accusations of Job’s friend—He just does not go there! This disappoints the readers of Job even today.

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Is the Church Ready for Suicide?

By Bob Hiller –

Remember that scene from the Luther movie that came 15 years ago where Martin Luther takes the boy who hanged himself and buries him in the church graveyard? Everyone was standing around in shock, and the gravedigger was telling him he couldn’t do it. After all, it was thought that suicide was a mortal sin. With no chance for repentance or penance, this soul was not going to be given the opportunity for purgatory, let alone rise on the last day in the protective shadow of the church. It was believed that suicide meant damnation. Yet, Luther showed compassion in the shadow of the church. He gave that boy a Christian burial. The meaning of his actions was clear: Christ’s mercy is stronger than suicide.

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Bulls**t Peddlers

By Paul Koch –

Peddlers of bulls**t are nothing new. Our lives often seem to be saturated in their mess. We’re used to hearing bulls**t from our politicians and bureaucrats of almost any stripe. There’s bulls**t on the left and bulls**t on the right. There’s the difficult to decipher bulls**t that comes from mainline media outlets and the intentionally crafted and personally curated bulls**t we find in our preferred online news sources. I’ve been accused of peddling bulls**t myself. Hell, I’ve probably even been guilty of it more times than I would like to admit.

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C’est le suicide: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

By Joel A. Hess –

Il n’y a qu’un problème philosophique vraiment sérieux : c’est le suicide

– Albert Camus

It would seem that we have witnessed more celebrity suicides than ever, though I don’t know if that’s true. It would seem that the celebrity world is only predisposed to suicide as the skin begins to wrinkle, the applause fades, and the mirror can no longer lie. Suicide has increased overall, however, according to a variety of statistics.

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Crushed

By Paul Koch –

Genesis Chapter 3 is an incredibly profound and rich text. It tells the story of mankind’s great fall into sin. We see here the beginnings of the rebellion, the mistaken movements in the name of misplaced freedom. We hear the echoes of the desires of our own hearts, the longing to stand on our own, to know good and evil, to be like God himself. It begins with the rejection of the Word of God, when the serpent asks, “Did God really say?” God just wants to hold you back. He wants you to remain subservient. And so, they take and eat. They do what was forbidden, and their eyes are opened. They now know good and evil, and they are terrified by what they’ve done. They hide from their Creator, their relationship with Him is torn. Instead of assurance and confidence it is now marked by doubt and fear. They see their nakedness and are ashamed.

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Caught in Racism? What Do You Say?

By Bob Hiller –

Someone is caught in the act of a grievous error. Everyone saw it. There is no denying it. They can’t justify it. So, what should be said about it? J. R. Smith might not be the best guy to learn from in this scenario. As I’m sure you’ve seen by now, LeBron’s Cleveland Cavaliers (the team J. R. Smith is on…for now) was about to pull off a huge surprise in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. No one really expects them to win the series; few expect them to take even a game. But at the end of Game 1, they were primed to steal one from Golden State and change the entire conversation. Down by one point with five seconds left, George Hill was at the free-throw line for the Cavs. He hits the first to tie the game at 107. It looked like overtime when he missed the second shot, but for J. R. Smith! He snags the rebound, and all he has to do is put the ball back in the hoop. Game over. Cavs win! Smith is the hero!

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The Church is Not Weak

By Paul Koch –

A member was sharing an experience he had when visiting another congregation one Sunday. It was the usual setup: One service was “traditional” with the organ and the boring old liturgy; the second service was “contemporary” and exciting with a praise band and lyrics on the screens. He is a talkative guy and was chatting afterward over coffee and donuts with the pastor. The pastor asked him his thoughts on worship that day (he had gone to the contemporary service). He replied that he enjoyed it but truly was more of a traditional guy. To this the pastor replied, “Yeah, but nobody comes to that anymore. If we’re going to grow, we need to adapt, and this approach seems to be working.”

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