Claimed, gathered and sent

Yesterday was my first day of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) at Bethany Village . This is an experience I have been looking forward to. I have heard wonderful things about this place and its CPE program and supervisor. It was an exhausting first day however. Daily devotions and announcements are part of the morning routine at Bethany and this morning it's my turn to do the devotional part. This is what I'll be sharing with Bethany's residents this morning. Praying According to God’s Will It can be hard and frustrating to know how to pray for yourself or someone else. We know we should pray, we may want to pray, but find ourselves at a loss for words. We cannot pray correctly. As crazy as this may sound, our inability to pray according to God’s will is good news. Hear these words from Scripture: 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And Go...

My son and his fiancée were determined to have a secular wedding ceremony in Las Vegas. The phrase that kept going through my mind was, "Bidden or not bidden, God is present." God is with us whether we realize it or not. And of course we kept praying for them. They are a wonderful couple who are very good for each other. We are thrilled to have Marisa in our family. The setting was beautiful: an outdoor patio area with plants around. It was evening and there was a nice breeze. The groom's father and best man told us that when they met with the minister (yes, minister, not justice of the peace) they found out he's a Lutheran minister. Hmm, isn't that interesting? The ceremony used the traditional vows. The minister spoke seriously to Christian and Marisa, charging them that they were in this for the long haul...as long as they lived. He did not use the word God , but certainly gave them godly counsel in the ceremony. God was there...bidden or not bidden. God was th...

Given the following scenario, what would your answer be? Is this a valid question? One of the members of your church comes into your office one afternoon with a question about the Holy Spirit. She attended church with a friend on Sunday, and there was lots of talk about the Spirit, and lots of energy in the worship. “Pastor,” she said, “I never hear about the Holy Spirit in the Lutheran Church—it seems like we spend all of our time talking about God the Father and Jesus. What does the Holy Spirit do, anyway?” Explain the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church and life of a Christian. Guilty as charged! Migliore writes that often the church has been suspicious of movements that have stressed the power of the Holy Spirit. I even experienced some of that from a member of my candidacy committee because of past involvement with the charismatic movement. As mentioned in a recent lecture, the Holy Spirit is the “least understood” [1] person of the Trinity. By...

Whether we like it or not, whether we are ready or not, religious pluralism is part of our world, of our country. Here is my response to the following scenario. Sarah , one of the high school youth in your congregation comes up to you after service on Sunday and says she needs to talk. She has a good friend who is Muslim who invited her to worship with her last Friday. Sarah went, and really enjoyed the service, but when she came home and told her parents that she had participated fully in the service, they told her she had committed idolatry, and forbade her from going back. Sarah was really upset, because the service had been very meaningful for her, and she really felt drawn to go back and learn more about Islam—was that a bad thing? Could she do that and still be a Christian? How would you answer her? I would express my understanding of Sarah’s feelings. Islam is an impressive faith when someone is a pious, good Muslim. Particularly if one’s own faith is lukewarm...

Martin Luther had some very strong feelings about our free will or lack thereof. Below is a short essay I wrote concerning his work Bondage of the Will. In Bondage of the Will, Luther is responding to Erasmus’ writing of The Freedom of the Will from a number of different perspectives with appropriate arguments for each. What Luther keeps returning to however, is his Augustinian heritage. Augustine taught that sin was a curving in or turning in toward oneself. [1] That being the case, the human will was infected with evil and unable to choose correctly. Luther states unequivocally that “…free choice is a pure fiction. [2] Luther supports his response to Erasmus’ arguments using the scripture and reason. Arguing from Pauline epistles, Luther states that according to Paul , “Universal sinfulness nullifies free choice.” [3] His argument follows that all are under God’s wrath, even the very best philosphers and religious people, Jew and Gentile alike. That being the case,...