“The Church Has Left the Building

The Apostle Paul described the church as the bride of Christ, “without any sort of stain or wrinkle on her clothes … holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:27). Martin Luther said the church is where the people of God gather, where the Gospel is preached, and the sacraments...

“Practice Make Perfect Progress”

A peanuts cartoon opens with Lucy sitting at her desk writing line upon line of “I will not talk in class. I will not talk in class …” In frame after frame she repeats the vow ad infinitum. Finally, she reaches the bottom of the page. And under that impressive pile of...

“Shedding the Old, Adopting the New”

In the “City of God,” the great St. Augustine wrote, “God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands are full— there’s nowhere for Him to put it.”  Before we can be filled, we need to be emptied. We don’t put new clothes over the old. No, first we take...

“Is it the Best or Worst of Times?”

Happy New Year! I read about a guy who had just decided his New Year Resolution was to live a more “unplugged-life” including disconnecting himself from technology… including … you know, things like … uhhh … ? He ended up asking Google what kind of things unplugged...

“Refreshed through Prayer”

Following a busy December, some of us may be entering into the new year with the desire to select “refresh” somehow on our lives. Like a computer needing a restart, we may feel our faith journeys need renewal. Perhaps our prayer lives have been idle a bit too long. We...

“Glory to God in the Lowest”

On Christmas Eve, we celebrate God becoming man. We celebrate the good news for all, that a baby is born. Christ is born. Alleluia! Go and tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born today. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is...