Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. (Psalm 146:5-7) It’s reassuring to start another week … More The With-God Life: “Do not put your trust in princes”
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They … More The With-God Life: Seeing Worship Anew
I started this series with my desire to spend more time with God. In today’s lectionary text, we read that Jesus was (is, will be) with God outside of time: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John … More The With-God Life: “He was in the beginning with God”
Having started our series with David’s description of God as a good shepherd, today the lectionary takes us backwards in the story of Israel: to Saul, and a harder story of life with God. As 1 Samuel 15 begins, Saul is the king God chose for the Israelites; as it ends, God is “sorry that … More The With-God Life: Saul and Samuel
“How do you spend time with God?” That’s the question my brother-in-law asked me tonight. He didn’t mean to ask me — at least, not me in particular. Dan is a Lutheran pastor in rural Iowa. Like clergy of all denominations and all religions, he’s trying to figure out how to serve a congregation that … More “How do you spend time with God?”
This week I wrote about the effects of the 1918 influenza pandemic on American churches. I thought it might be well-timed, but I couldn’t have anticipated what would follow, during a week unlike many others in recent memory. (For that matter, I can hardly remember recording a podcast on Wednesday, in which we innocently wondered … More That Was The Week That Was
Here’s the text of my Chapel talk at Bethel University last Friday morning. I’ll skip past some of the introductory remarks — mostly clarifying that Pietism, lamentably, has nothing to do with pie — and get right into the biblical passage for the talk. I explained that Luke 24 is what G.W. Carlson had urged … More The Pietist Option for Bethel (Luke 24)
After spending quite a bit of time in various pulpits last year, I’ve had a nice long break from writing sermons. But that’ll end soon: in addition to a Bethel Chapel talk coming up on November 8th, I’ll be preaching and teaching this Sunday, October 27th, at First Covenant Church in St. Paul, MN. They’ll … More Preaching and Teaching This Reformation Sunday
This week I somehow connected country music to the history of violence against women preachers, talked with author Angela Denker about faith, football, and politics in the Age of Trump, and probed my emotional response to my favorite baseball team winning a division title. (By the way, if you’ve been enjoying the new season of our … More That Was The Week That Was
Today I’m honored to share a timely essay by Hauna Ondrey, assistant professor of church history at North Park Theological Seminary. Entitled “Beyond Yes or No: Covenant History & the Third Way,” Hauna’s piece offers necessary context for what’s at stake in next week in Omaha, when delegates to the annual meeting of the Evangelical … More Beyond Yes or No: Covenant History and the Third Way (Hauna Ondrey)
The Pietist Schoolman 