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We are suffering the ravages of a society turned in on itself; the “Enlightened,” turn-to-the-subject. This turn knows no boundary between the sacred and secular, it is pervasive among both the elect and reprobate, as it were. Biblically, this turn is the natural condition of humanity, the sin nature is woven deeply into the very fabric of our beings as humans in this fallen world. Thus, the organic way to live life is to do so by what Luther identified as the homo incurvatus in se (humanity incurved upon itself). We are oriented by what Augustine identified as concupiscence, or…

Dennis Sepper, Rosemount, MN Warm-up Question What is the greatest power in the world?  How did you come to your answer and why?   Humble Servanthood Just over one week ago, the Oscars were held in Los Angeles California.  While the televised part of the event covered the statues given, before and after the Oscars many special dinner events took place.  Famous chefs like Wolfgang Puck created outstanding meals for the celebrities and other “A-list” people. One famous chef who wasn’t in L.A. for the Oscars was Chef José Andrés.  Chef José Andrés is an award winning chef with a…

These prompts are provided for worship leaders as they prepare the prayers of intercession for weekly worship. The prompts are prepared by several leaders in the ELCA and reflect current world and national events. You are encouraged to adapt and add other concerns for your local context, including staying informed of events and concerns in your synod. Worship resources for the crisis in Eastern Europe: Worship resources are available to assist worshiping communities as they respond to the crisis in Eastern Europe. Visit this link to access a wide variety of resources and prayers for general use. Additional newly-composed worship…

Pure nature, I’ve referred to it before at the blog. In my view it represents all forms of ill-formed theological efforts in the history of theological efforts. There are attempts in something like the ‘mediating’ theology of the Novuelle Theologiae of someone like Henri de Lubac, wherein the hard edges of a Tridentine (and scholastic Reformed) development of pure nature are softened, but I believe the whole apparatus must be abandoned in favor of a genuinely Christ conditioned, and thus, Grace actualized notion of a God-world relation. But you might still be wondering what a natura pura (pure nature) entails….

The following is a newsletter update from Rev. Kyle & Ånna Svennungsen, ELCA missionaries in Slovakia.   Greetings dear partners in ministry! We are writing to you from Bratislava, Slovakia. At Bratislava International Church, our theme for Lent is ‘Walking with Jesus: Repentance, Reconciliation, Restoration.’ This theme was chosen before the war in Ukraine began and it has taken on a whole new meaning in these last four weeks. Not only is there need for repentance, reconciliation, and restoration with our Creator; but also with one another. Someone once said, “Sometimes in the worst of times, you see the best…

ELCA Worship has provided a worship resource responding to the war in Ukraine. These resources are available from the ELCA.org Worship Resources area: https://elca.org/resources/worship#Liturgy. As we approach Holy Week and the Easter season, you may desire worship texts that hold in tension the joy of the resurrection with the reality of violence and suffering in our world in Eastern Europe and around the globe. Below are three newly composed worship texts by Gail Ramshaw available for use in your context during Holy Week. Guidance for use precedes each selection.    For Good Friday From the third century on, a central feature…

I was contemplating the absurdity of the man who claims to be a woman, who then puts on a swimsuit, enters a woman’s swim-meet, wins the contest, and then is declared the fastest swimmer among some of the top-tier women swimmers in the world. As I contemplated this, I tweeted the following: “You can identify as a bird all you want, but the second you step off the Golden Gate Bridge physics take over.” I elaborated further on Twitter, this way: And just to be clear, physics isn’t the judge, God is the Judge. When people rebel, and physics, physiology,…

ELCA World Hunger’s 40 Days of Giving Lent 2022 In English and en Espanol Week 4: Transformed in the Wilderness “They ate the crops of the land” (Joshua 5:12) Read Joshua 5:9-12 Psalm 32 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 Reflect The reading from Joshua for this week is brief, but it recounts the time the Hebrews, who left Egypt under God’s care, had so longed to see: the end of their exodus and the beginning of their life in the Promised Land of Canaan. No longer would their food rain down from the heavens; now, they would be fed…

Today’s post is written by Julie Grindle, Assistant to the Bishop for Candidacy and Mobility in the Upstate New York Synod of the ELCA. A past president of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians (ALCM), Julie also served on the Hymnody Working Group for All Creation Sings. This post was previously published in February 2021. It has been updated by the author to reflect our context in March 2022. New Fire. Easter Proclamation. Ancient stories. Baptismal waters. Bread and wine. This is the night. As you plan worship for the Vigil of Easter, All Creation Sings offers many and various…

Karl Barth wrote: “What took place on the cross of Golgotha is the last word of an old history and the first word of a new.”[1] Keeping in theme with this apocalyptic motif, Samuel Adams writes the following, with reference to Dietrich Bonhoeffer: In his Ethics, Bonhoeffer progresses from the disciple’s conformation to the crucified one to the disciple’s conformation to the risen one: To be conformed to the risen one—that means to be a new human being before God. We live in the midst of death; we are righteous in the midst of sin; we are new in the…