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Where does our help come from? We know Psalm 121:2 answers, but where are we consistently pointed? In Extra Nos, Flame shares his journey to being pointed outside himself and to Jesus Christ as he transitioned from Calvinism to Lutheranism. I must…
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What makes Christianity Christian if not Christ? That is a self-evident question with an obvious answer; however, the church’s current status betrays that foregone conclusion. There is a spectrum of moralization and motivation that removes faith, grace, imputed righteousness, and…
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Sermon preferences are as varied as tastes in music. Should sermons be upwards of an hour or only thirty minutes? Is it better to systematically preach through books of the Bible or to follow a liturgical calendar? Everyone will not…
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Caricatures are exaggerations with a hint of truth. Perhaps the most common false image of Lutherans is that they are the church that abandoned all biblical moorings years ago. The inner circles of church talk don’t consider them apostate, but…
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In Greek mythology, Zeus condemned Sysiphus to push a boulder up a hill eternally because he cheated death twice. Sysiphus may be a myth, but we often live in the reality of never enough. We are the recipients of God’s…
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There is a spiritual famine in the land and perhaps in our hearts. It goes undetected mainly because of the pervasiveness of religion. There is a difference between religion being so widely available and consistently proclaiming Christ. What contributes to…
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The history of the Reformation has much to teach us in the present. But more importantly, the theological truths need fresh consideration and application. As we take time to remember and meditate on the implications of the protestant reformation, it…
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Distance is a cold reality on paper. It may be colder in matters of the heart, but our perception could be entirely off base. We may be far from religious piety, yet nearer to God than we could ever dream….
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My journey to what I now believe has included doubt, faith, struggle, failure, prayer, and study. The path from Free Will Baptist to Lutheran included stops within the Southern Baptist Convention and the Presbyterian Church in America. I’ve written and…
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Everyone brings bias to the task of interpreting scripture. The only way to mitigate that bias is to recognize it, identify it, and seek to interpret it while conscious of it and set it aside. Cultural, theological, and spiritual biases are…
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