So last week, I started a new series about something I’m calling neo pseudo gnosticism, a heretical belief that I fear has crept into modern Christianity and has warped the way we view the world around us and even the way we look at ourselves. But before we get into…
Normally, on Mondays, I offer up a few pithy devotional thoughts to help start your week. I won’t say that these are deep thoughts; they’re not, and that’s by design. But for the past week or so, I’ve had a theological splinter stuck in my metaphorical skin, so to speak,…
There’s a funny pattern that emerges in the book of Mark. On three different occasions, Jesus takes a break from His busy miracle-making, teaching-the-crowds schedule to clue the disciples in to what’s going to happen to Him. For example, in Mark 9, it goes like this: They left that place…
If you’re part of a traditional church, you’re probably very familiar with the Lord’s Prayer. My guess is that you pray it every week or maybe even more often than that, probably to the point that you can recite it without much conscious thought. It’s a great outline of things…
One of the hardest Bible passages for a Lutheran like me to hear comes from the book of James: What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without…
Okay, time for a little peek under the hood here at my blog. When I do these Monday-morning devotionals, nine times out of ten I use the pericopes that my denomination, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, uses for worship. Every week, there’s an Old Testament reading, an Epistle reading, a Gospel…
As some of you may know, I’ve been a diehard fan of Amish Vampires in Space since it was published. Yes, it started as an inside joke among Christian speculative fiction writers, but then the incredible talented Kerry Nietz wrote a story that took a seeming B-movie premise worthy of…
Hey, everybody. Mondays are usually when I do a little devotional thought on my blog. I know that I’ve been a little inconsistent as of late, so I decided to make it up to you. Over the summer, I’ve been doing a sermon series on the Fruit of the Spirit,…
In the past few months, I’ve gotten into something that I never thought I would be interested in. I blame my wife. It’s usually her fault when this sort of thing happens. I’ve been watching a lot of cooking shows lately. Like I said, it’s my wife’s fault. She loaded…
Last week, we saw that there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves. It is by grace we have been saved, through faith, and not by works. So does that mean we’re off the hook? Forget about doing good deeds and just not worry about how we live our lives?…