I don’t know about y’all, but there’s a lot of noise in my world right now. Politics — almost always a bunch of clanging symbols — is in high gear. The pandemic, still running wild across the world, is — as almost all things seem to be — a divisive often partisan topic. Race is a topic. Police are a topic. Riots, looting, and vandalism are topics. Gender & sexuality didn’t stay in 2019, either, and decided to join 2020’s party. It seems every bizarro COVID-19 2020 interaction is full of strife.
Read more...There is no Christian candidate in this presidential election. Though I personally cannot look past his poor moral character and inappropriate use of Holy Scripture and the Church, many faithful Christians will vote for Trump. Many faithful Christians will vote for Biden. Other faithful Christians will vote for the Solidarity Party or for other political parties.
The &Campaign points a way forward for faithful Christian political engagement in all areas of the political landscape. Christians are called to be witnesses of the True King and his Kingdom in all areas of life. Our identities should be in Christ and not political parties. Our words should point to the Living Word and not temporary dramas of the present political moment. The laws and government of Israel in the Old Testament guide us in what types of government and laws followers of the Living God should desire. Christians should not focus on single issues in our political engagement, but pragmatically balance the whole revelation of Scripture and the character of God made manifest in the Incarnation of God the Son in Jesus Christ.
Read more...Freunde, wir leben in schwierige Zeiten. Das letztes mal, dass wir zusammen waren, war es 1. März. Der Frühling war endlich da. Als ich bei Memorial Lutheran alles aufgerüstet hat, kamen vielen vorbei an den Fahrrädern. Die Nachbarschaft war voller Lärm von Rasenmäher, Kinder, und Vögel. Ein Marienkäfer hat mir besucht im Narthex. Winter war vorbei und die Welt war voller Hoffnung.
Zwei Tage später kam der Tornado. Die Macht Gottes Schöpfung war klar zu sehen. Unsere Nachbarschaft war zerstört. Große Gebäude liegen jetzt in Schutt. Smith und Lentz, die Brauerei wo wir so oft getroffen haben, hat kein Biergarten mehr, kein Dach, keine Hinterwand.
Read more...Friends, we live in difficult times. The last time we were together was March 1st. Spring was finally here. When I setup everything at Memorial Lutheran, many people were out on their bicycles. The neighborhood was full of noise from lawn mowers, children, and birds. A ladybug visited me in the narthex. Winter was over and the world was full of hope.
The tornado came two days later. The power of God’s creation was clearly seen. Our neighborhood was destroyed. Large buildings are now in ruins. Smith and Lentz, the brewery where we met so often, no longer has a beer garden, a roof, no rear wall.
Read more...Drafts 5 for Mac recently introduced the ability to do some basic scripting in JavaScript as an action in the application. Each time I prepare a sermon, the first step for me is to lookup the readings for the week on LectServe and then paste the readings into Drafts where I can start doing sermon preparation and, eventually, write my sermon. As soon as I saw actions and scripting introduced for Drafts, I knew I’d have to automate my sermon prep process.
Read more...Während der Adventszeit haben wir „O Komm, O Komm Immanuel“ gesungen. In die Weihnachten sangen wir von eine „Stille Nacht“ ob sich Christus geboren war. Am 6. Januar fingen wir mit der Epiphanie — oder die Erscheinung des Herrn — an. Ein Retter wird kommen. Ein Retter ist gekommen. Gekommen, aber nicht wie wir gedacht haben.
Wir stehen jetzt in die Mitte der Epiphaniezeit. Die drei Weisen aus dem Morgenland sind schon gekommen. Jesus war getauft und Vierzig Tage in Versuchung geführt. Letzte Woche, fand er normaler Fischer und sagte: „Kommt, folgt mir! Ich mache euch zu Menschenfischern.“
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