He is risen! He is risen indeed! When we talk about “the heart and soul” of something, what are we usually talking about? We’re talking about what that thing’s most important feature or value is, the thing that sums up or represents whatever it is the best or most. So,…
Earlier this week, I sat down with my copy of Entertainment Weekly‘s summer movie preview and I flipped through it, taking note of all the movies that I have to go see this summer. And yes, I phrased that correctly. I have to go. It is imperative that I see…
Jesus’ big entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday apparently stirred up some excitement about Him. John’s Gospel tells us that there were some Greeks who wanted to meet Him. But who could they go to? These weren’t Gentiles, non-Jewish people. They were Greek-speaking Jews from out in the Roman Empire.…
So for the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at a pattern of mountaintop experiences that God’s people experienced in the past. The pattern, which we saw with Moses, Elijah, and Peter, goes something like this: The primary experience – Whoever it is goes up on a mountain and has…
We don’t just find mountaintop experiences in the Old Testament. Three of the apostles had an amazing one. It’s a story that’s told in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Peter and the Transfiguration One day, Jesus invited Peter, James, and John to go up with Him to the top of a…
Over the past few Mondays, I’ve been talking about spiritual mountaintops, how it’s so easy to get caught up in our emotions that we become convinced that we’re as close to God as we’ve ever been. But then we tumble back down the other side and crash. Moses had just…
So the past couple of Mondays, I’ve been telling you all (or, at least, as many of you stop by to read) the story of how I used to be obsessed with spiritual highs—mountaintop experiences, as it were. And last week, I told you that one of my professors in…
Last week, I told you a little about my spiritual journey, how I kept getting stuck on spiritual highs, only to crash a short time later. I mentioned how, when I left home for college, I felt worried. I had enrolled at Concordia University in St. Paul (although we called…
As a rule, Lutherans aren’t big on testimonials. I know that other “flavors” of Christianity like it when people tell their faith stories, but for Lutherans, we get a little hesitant when it comes to anything that smacks of egocentrism (and please understand, by saying that, I’m not saying that…
I want to take a moment to rewrite the creation story, if you don’t mind. I know, I know, heresy, right? Except I think that I can make it more in-tune with the way most Christians see things. To wit: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.…