One of Martin Luther’s most well-known quotes comes from when he was asked to retract his statements (which, at the time, were considered heretical and wrong). Standing before the authorities of his day, Luther said “…my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant, since it is neither safe nor […]
Tag: Lifestyle
On Temptation and Evil
Earliest manuscripts of the Lord’s Prayer end with “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (In fact, Luke ends with just “and lead us not into temptation”.) When I recite this portion of the prayer, my mind often goes straight towards thinking about temptations and evil, often forgetting to meditate on the underlying inquiry. That […]
On Confession
As we meditate on the Lord’s Prayer and think about “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive our trespassers”, we must also think about confession. There are stories of young Martin Luther confessing his sins for hours on end, then leaving his confessor, and then immediately returning, realizing he left out something and fearing the consequences. […]
On Forgiveness
After we ponder our daily needs (see previous post), we then must ask for forgiveness of our wrongdoings. This is a natural flow, as thinking about our daily needs opens our eyes to our dependence on God and others. We can now think about our trespasses, our debts, our sins. Matthew writes this part of the […]
On Our Daily Bread
When we pray “give us this day our daily bread” we mediate on the needs that make us human and our reliance on God to ultimately provide for us. When we reflect on our daily needs we include our physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, environmental, social, and vocational needs. We reflect on what makes us whole and […]
On The Kingdom
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Good and right prayer asks for the Kingdom of God to come, for God’s will to be done, and (perhaps most importantly) that God’s will be done on earth. This is the linchpin of the Lord’s Prayer. It sets the context for the […]
On Thoughts and Prayers
There is a lot of talk about “thoughts and prayers” these days. In the wake of tragedies some say they are sending prayers, and others deride those comments as shallow without action. Both sides have some merit to their statements. The eternal truth is that prayer itself is an action. Furthermore, prayer can provide proper […]
On The Blessed
The poor in spirit, mourners, meek, hungry, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, the persecuted. These are the blessed. (Matthew 5:2-11) From one vantage point, these reflect societal classes or segments of the population. From another viewpoint, this listing reflects attributes of a rooted and fruitful faith. From the societal perspective, when we revile, mock, ignore, […]
On Marveling
Our modern society is information driven. We seek out facts, desiring to know the answers to everything. We rarely step back and simply marvel. In the Gospel narratives, those encountering Jesus frequently find themselves in wonder when they hear Jesus’ teachings or see His actions. Different translations have used different words for this: astounded, amazed, […]
On Sin and Grace
Jesus re-defined the Ten Commandments, saying “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:34-40) In effect, He also re-defined sin. We can now diagnose sin simply, like this: Sin is when we do not […]
Relevant Reformation 