ProtestantBeliefs.com

The following is a blog post I first posted in September 18th, 2009. I posted this at another blog of mine from back in the day. I think what is really important to understand is that if the student doesn’t understand the entailments of classical Federal or Covenantal theology, they won’t grasp the weight of what we are offering as an alternative and counterweight in Evangelical Calvinism. Evangelical Calvinism isn’t actually a counter to five point Calvinism, per se; but instead, it is a counterweight to the thicker theology behind five point Calvinism as that developed in the Post Reformed…

Session 3 — Psalm 95 “For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” —Psalm 95:3 Let’s get this out of the way: Psalm 95 is a weird psalm. It’s so odd, in fact, that choosing a single verse to use as an epigram for this session was difficult. Yet even from its most perplexing language we might still be able to glean insights that help us better understand the work of God in the world. In The Social Visions of the Hebrew Bible: A Theological Introduction (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2000), J. David Pleins…

“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 peace and an end to violence in our world, especially between Ukraine/Russia and Israel/Palestine… For refugees…

Εἰρήνην διώκετε μετὰ πάντων, καὶ τὸν ἁγιασμόν, οὗ χωρὶς οὐδεὶς ὄψεται τὸν κύριον, Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord . . . Hebrews 12:14   ὄψεται (lexeme: ὁράω), translated in the NKJV above as ‘will see’ is in the future tense third person middle indicative. I have a theological-exegetical theory: P1. Divine holiness and peace are required in order to have vision and knowledge of God. P2. Knowledge and vision of God are eschatological realities available now and for eternity to come. P3. Only Jesus Christ for us has divine holiness and peace to…

Holocaust survivor Mariia Simian, her granddaughter Anzhelika Bielova, both from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, and Phiren Amenca staffer Anna Daroczi at a memorial for Roma victims of the Holocaust, Mariia Simian, from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, is living through war for a second time. Just three years old when World War II tore across Europe in the 1940s, she says the memories haunt her. “I remember everything,” she says. “I often remember. My mother hid our whole family from this horror wherever she could – in the basement, in fields behind the house – because the Nazis were looking for Roma.” Simean, who is…

Light of Grace Lutheran Church’s story If you visit the Saturday-morning farmers market in Federal Way, Wash., you might see Kay (Kyong Yon) Mattingly smiling and dancing with her friends from Dasom Bi-Cultural Cooperation, a ministry of Light of Grace Lutheran Church. The ministry hosts a booth with a variety of Korean goods for sale, but the members also seek to bring joy to those around them – and create it for themselves. About midway between Seattle and Tacoma, Federal Way has a large population of Korean immigrants, and services to this community are limited. Given the aging population, demand…

I was planning on writing a blog post on what death is; what Incarnation Anyway entails; and life everlasting. But for lack of energy, and time at the moment, I am going to simply post three separate Facebook/Twitter posts I just posted; as you’ll see they are thematically related. It was really prompted by a video I just watched made by Lonnie Frisbie’s best friend. If you don’t know, Frisbee was the catalyst that started the ‘Jesus People’ movement with Pastor Chuck Smith at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa back in the late 60s early 70s. As an aside: I attended Calvary Chapel…

You can be and are part of the exciting 67th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) taking place March 6-17, 2023, in New York city. The annual gathering is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. The Lutheran Office for World Community (LOWC) and Lutheran World Federation (LWF) have assembled and prepared for a delegation and partners to take part in CSW67 both in-person and virtually, including our ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellows. This role has involved many hours of…

“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 survivors, victims, and loved ones of those involved in the train crash in Greece… For victims…

Being a genuine Christian theologian starts at the point that we become Christians. The same confession made to become a Christian, is the same confession that remains as the ground of our theological witnesses as Christians. The fact of our sin never leaves us. We are constantly sinning, and the person who says otherwise “is a liar and the truth is not in them.” But the Good News, indeed, is that we have an Advocate with the Father; we have a Savior, and His name is Jesus Christ! This is the ground of all Christian theologizing; the only other ground…