September 7, 2025 – Discipleship, Time, and Reordering Loves
Prepare (This section is preparation for the leader, not content meant for the whole group.) Luke 14:25–33 gives us two of Jesus’ hardest sayings: that anyone who doesn’t “hate” their family and life itself cannot follow him, and that disciples must give up all their possessions. These statements sound extreme, but some context helps. At the start of the passage a large crowd is following Jesus. Crowds have been gathering around him since the very beginning of his ministry in Luke. Each time, Jesus makes it clear that following him is costly. Here, he uses deliberately shocking, hyperbolic language to…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For an end to war and conflict, especially in Gaza, Thailand, Cambodia, Colombia, South Sudan, Myanmar, Ukraine,…
Multnomah University’s “Legacy”
A word on my (double) alma mater’s closure, Multnomah University (Bible College) and Multnomah Biblical Seminary. It was announced almost two years ago that Multnomah University would be “merging” with another Christian University (albeit a genuinely Christian liberal arts university), Jessup University, located in Rocklin, CA (a suburb of Roseville and Sacramento, CA, respectively). It was sold to the alumni, and students, and faculty and staff, as if Multnomah would continue on as an institution; albeit, under the aegis and funding of Jessup University. Or at least this is one way it left itself open to be interpreted (and it…
Worship Resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers
Augsburg Fortress is the publishing ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Each month ELCA Worship highlights resources from Augsburg Fortress Publishers that support worship leaders, worship planners, musicians, and all who care about the worship of the church. ELCA Worship also features resources from other partners in a monthly blog post. Revised Common Lectionary Expanded Daily Readings The Revised Common Lectionary Expanded Daily Readings resource helps connect daily biblical study to the Revised Common Lectionary. Biblical readings from Thursday through Saturday help prepare for the Sunday reading ahead. Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and meditate…
On Deacademizing the Christian Existence: Wake Up Christian, Rise from the Dead!
The examples given to us in Holy Scripture for living the Christian existence, particularly in the New Testament, are people like the Godman, Jesus Christ, the Apostles, like, Peter, John, Paul et al. Their lives, respectively, embodied the message, the Kerygma, the Gospel itself; indeed, as Christ in Himself is the Gospel by the Holy Spirit. So, when I look out at the Christian existences in the 21st century I scratch my head. The Christian existence is in fact a deeply theological existence. Theological existence is simply living participatio Christi (participant with Christ), it is thus, inhabitatio Dei (inhabiting God’s triune…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For an end to war and conflict, especially in Gaza, Thailand, Cambodia, Colombia, South Sudan, Myanmar, Ukraine,…
Reading the Bible Through and Through
Just finished again, by God’s grace and mercy. The way I do it is to just start at the beginning and read straight through. While I’m in the OT I am concurrently reading whatever NT books I feel led to read at any given time. Once I make it into the NT I just read the NT through until the read through is complete. At points, on this viatorum, I have read the OT in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) order. I read various translations (and I have read through the NT in the original Koine Greek), but my go to has…
A Catholic Ripping of the Protestant church / A Protestant Riposting to the Catholic churched
The following is from an X/Twitter account that identifies herself as THE Based Trinity. She is clearly a Roman Catholic, of the Latin Mass proclivity. And she was recently, or at some point, invited to a Protestant church service. Below I will provide her response to that experience, and then below that I will respectively present my response to her as I offered that on X. I got invited to a Protestant “service.” Here’s how it all went down. The intro alone was 40 minutes of the “worship” band finding the resonant frequency of all my internal organs, making me…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For an end to war and conflict, especially in Gaza, Thailand, Cambodia, Colombia, South Sudan, Myanmar, Ukraine,…
Reading Romans 1 Against Natural Theology
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the…