When I first became Lutheran I understood it to be a theological movement. I was brought into a church by a pastor who said, “If you can mix your Catholic upbringing with your recent Evangelical faith, you will do well in the Lutheran Church.” That pastor went on to mentor me in the Lutheran Confessions, teach me how to read scripture, show me how to think theologically, and bring me up in the Lutheran Christian Read More …
Show them this video.
In Nadia Bolz-Weber’s sermon on Reformation Sunday (or “Lutheran Pridefulness Sunday” as she likes to call it) she articulates how to tell the difference between Law & Gospel. “You can tell the Law because it is almost always and if-then proposition – If you follow all the rules in the Bible God then will love you and you will be happy. If you lose 20 pounds then you will be worthy to be loved. If Read More …
Tony Jones has compiled all the responses from his “Challenge to Progressive Theo-Bloggers.” My article is included in the list, but more importantly check out the rest of the contributing articles. There’s some good stuff on this #progGod page. -jpserrano
A friend asked me what I thought about this article- Youth Pastor Panel: The Joys & Pains of Spiritual Growth. Here is my response: I think that self-care is an extremely important issue for people in ministry. Our job in ministry is to walk with people in their spiritual journeys and guide them along God’s path. So, I appreciate that this article realizes that in order to do this, the minister must first care for their own walk with Read More …
#progGOD Challenge #1 This is in response to Tony Jones blog post A challenge to Liberal Bloggers I agree with Tony wholeheartedly. …progressives have a God-talk problem. That is, progressives write lots of books and blog posts about social issues, the church, culture, and society. But we don’t write that much about God. That is, we don’t say substantive things about who God is, what God does, etc. I graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary and Read More …
Preaching is a form of communication where it is difficult for the preacher to utilize any feedback given from the congregation. With a single sermon there are as many opinions as there are listeners-sometimes more! With my own sermons, I realize that not every one is going to be a home run. But often, when I think one is terrible, someone will inevitably tell me how they experienced renewed faith though it. In seminary I Read More …
At PLTS, a popular phrase quoted is two words from Martin Luther. Students will triumphantly announce something like, “Well, Luther tells us to SIN BOLDLY.” It seems it is more often than not used as an excuse to allow sins (not Sin) to continue in the life of the believer. It has become a license to allow breaking the commandments–behaviors that transgress the way God would have us live as members of the Kingdom of God Read More …
I often hear in Lutheran circles (ELCA) a division between laity and clergy that is completely unhelpful. What I find particularly troubling is the degree to which some exalt clergy to such a point that the Pastor’s vary nature changed–somehow by the laying on of hands the person is now elevated and special in ordination. I had an experience a while back where someone told me that the Job of a Youth Minister and that Read More …