“During the forty days of Lent, God’s baptized people cleanse their hearts through the discipline of Lent: repentance, prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.”….. This is in no way Lutheran!!!!!!!!!!! We are saved by God’s GRACE not WORKS of discipline. We cannot cleanse our own hearts. You are correct. Lent is not about our giving up something … Continue reading
A Love Letter to My Wife
It seems that maybe more than most of the thirty-nine before it, I’m thinking about my upcoming fortieth wedding anniversary. This might be spurred by the heightened assault on marriage in our society. Or by a number of weddings seen lately-especially by work colleagues, and children of friends. It could also be because of the … Continue reading
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The ruminations of a Lutheran cleric on liturgy and the Divine Service, Lutheran culture, sermons, devotional writing, tidbits from some of the projects I am working on, pictures of the grandchildren, and bits of life lived out as a child of God praying “Come, Lord Jesus.”
The Discipline of Lent
As we approach the beginning of Lent (Ash Wednesday is March 1st this year), I am beginning to mention the history of Lent and referring to it as a season of repentance, fasting, prayer, and works of love (almsgiving). I’m also starting to hear the old-saw response from some Lutherans. Here’s a note from Bill … Continue reading
Katherine von Bora Luther
The First Lady of the Reformation by Gaylin Schmeling. This originally appeared in Lutheran Synod Quarterly published by Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary, however, the link to the archive was broken, so I no longer know which issue of LSQ . Katherine von Bora is the best known woman of the Reformation because she was Luther’s … Continue reading
What is a Lectionary?
In Brief Someone asked, “Why do we use the pericopes that we do; who chooses them?” An interesting question that gave me the opportunity to dig into some documents. This post doesn’t go too deep, but gives a brief summary of how the Church’s lectionary developed and the choices that were made that has led … Continue reading
