tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53621252024-03-15T12:36:25.026-07:00LuthermatrixThe blog of a lutheran pastor, writer, and political animal.Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.comBlogger1952125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-9796586860662021082024-03-15T12:35:00.000-07:002024-03-15T12:35:17.243-07:00Lent 5: The New Covenant It is said that when the sculptor Michelangelo was asked, “How did you sculpt the Statue of David?” He replied: “I simply chipped away everything that wasn’t David.” And for this season of Lent I’ve been doing something similar. Chipping Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-58627717359934581432024-03-07T13:50:00.000-08:002024-03-07T13:50:27.863-08:00 Lent 4: Our Whole Life a Gift from God
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Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-67957077503778187542024-02-29T12:01:00.000-08:002024-03-05T12:00:01.676-08:00Lent 3: Freedom in Community We’re in the middle of a sermon series, so at this point you’re probably getting tired of me telling the story, but here we go…
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mso-pagination:Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-74118650253917367062024-02-22T12:29:00.000-08:002024-03-05T12:00:19.792-08:00 Lent 2: God’s Covenant is not exclusionary rules, but trust permeated by hope As I told you all last week, there is a story that the sculptor Michelangelo presented his statue of David and was asked, “How did you ever sculpt such a magnificent masterpiece?” He replied, “I just chipped away Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-34098168655171729812024-02-17T12:55:00.000-08:002024-03-05T12:00:31.933-08:00Not a Weapon of War, but Proclamation of Peace There is an apocryphal story about the Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo; when he first presented the statue of David to a group, they asked him, “How did you ever sculpt such a magnificent masterpiece?” To which he replied, “All I did was chip away everything that Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-91464271944171421742024-02-17T05:40:00.000-08:002024-02-17T05:40:37.487-08:00The Devotional So Far Hey all.
I just wanted to start of by saying it is not too late to start
reading the 7 Central Things Lenten
Devotional Blog. At this point it is all preface, all building blocks and
road maps. Starting Sunday it’ll begin to follow its pattern.
So far, I’ve introduced
the blog in a broad sense, then pointed to two
pieces of
scripture that point to the 7 Central Things, and then shared my
Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-25080899348683137022024-02-12T05:32:00.000-08:002024-02-12T05:32:01.697-08:00 A Lenten Devotional BlogHey all. I’m going to be doing a daily devotional blog about
the 7 Central Things of Worship during the season of Lent.
This isn’t exactly a new direction for me. Back after
Hurricane Sandy knocked power out in my area for a couple of week, I created a prayer
pamphlet for my congregation that eventually became Read,
Reflect, Pray. Somehow this work launched me into a place where I was able
to Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-35985094652678701222024-02-09T13:48:00.000-08:002024-03-05T12:00:42.742-08:00 Elijah, Elisha, and the Bands of Prophets Have you ever heard of the Rule of Three?Simply put whether you’re telling a story or singing a song or coining a phrase—it will be more memorable if it contains groupings of three. Three things or events or people are enough to establish a pattern, or break it, or just surprise you in general! &Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-10785692995256490192024-01-27T11:44:00.000-08:002024-03-05T12:00:52.917-08:00Idols and Spirits Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit at his Baptism, having called his disciples, goes to Synagogue and runs into a man with an unclean spirit. The Spirit is surprised—there is a Clash Between Holy and Unholy, sacred and profane—and Jesus throws the Spirit from the man… And darn it, Mark’s Gospel doesn’t let us see this Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-77688009932002130692024-01-18T17:53:00.000-08:002024-03-05T12:01:01.465-08:00 Follow and Fish: Our Vocations “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” Follow me—notice how near God’s rule can be! Focus on that, not the extraneous stuff! Isn’t that good news? Turn to what God is up to, Trust that God is making you part of it,and be Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-87877501502827504642024-01-16T13:23:00.000-08:002024-01-16T13:50:25.817-08:00Revelation Chapters 2-3 as a handy dandy chart CITYEphesusSmyrnaPergamumThyatiraSardisPhiladelphiaLaodiceaJESUSThe One Who Holds 7 StarsThe One who is the first and the last, who was dead, but now lives!The One whose tongue is a Two Edge SwordThe One who is God’s Son, whose eyes are flame and feet are brassThe One who possesses the Seven Spirits and seven StarsThe One who is Holy and holds the Keys to the KingdomThe One Who is the Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-61778991021978777222024-01-13T09:00:00.000-08:002024-03-05T12:01:10.803-08:00Sermon: Butterfly Wings Have you heard of the butterfly effect? It is the idea that small events can have big effects. The term was coined by a meteorologist who explained that weather prediction is hard, because you have to take into account a butterfly flapping its wings… or to quote the title of his papers: Does theChristopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-73673203069986055452024-01-12T14:27:00.000-08:002024-01-12T14:39:26.877-08:00Reflections on "A Journey of Grace" by Herbert W. Chilstrom Reading
Chilstrom’s book was a joy and a revelation! It was both wonderful to learn
about the man who was the first Presiding Bishop of the ELCA, and to learn a
thing or two about the inner workings of my denomination from the time before I
joined, as well as some of the character of predecessor church bodies.
A Lived Theology
 Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-43928438445910253642024-01-06T08:02:00.000-08:002024-03-05T12:01:21.060-08:00Heaven torn, a new creation born. One of Lisa and I’s favorite shows is “For All Mankind” an alternative history of the Cold War where Russia makes it to the moon first, This puts space exploration front and center as the conflict point of the Cold War… One of the ever-present dangers in the show is the vacuum of space—a Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-56306586285578544542024-01-02T18:45:00.000-08:002024-01-02T18:45:12.184-08:00The Chilstrom Map of the ELCAI recently read A Journey of
Grace: The Formation of a Leader and a Church, the autobiography of Herbert
W. Chilstrom, the first Presiding Bishop of the ELCA. It was good! I’d
recommend it to anyone interested in modern Lutheranism, Christianity in North
America, or who just want to read the witness of one man’s faith and life.At the end of his time as Bishop he
offered a series of reflections toChristopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-83410297409550739542023-12-30T09:24:00.000-08:002023-12-30T09:24:26.592-08:00Get involved with a Mainline Church! Church is good for you
I’ve written
about this for quite a while, I am convinced the regular practices of the
church, the seven central things, can be a powerful good for a person’s
wellbeing and life. In my experience, because of Christian worship I: value and
can navigate community, have an increased sense of self-worth, have tools to
get over slights and make sense of life, and am more Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-43001383085241354932023-12-29T13:14:00.000-08:002023-12-29T13:56:17.345-08:00Praying for the Innocent in Palestine and IsraelPray for the Little Ones
We remember today,
O God, the slaughter of the innocent children of Bethlehem by order of King
Herod. Receive into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims. By your great might
frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love,
and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God,Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-20952512585382219412023-12-28T05:14:00.000-08:002023-12-28T05:14:38.573-08:0012 Books from 2023Apparently the
kids these days share 12 books, offering one for each month in the coming year.
Here are twelve books I can strongly recommend for your 2024 reading list that
I read in 2023.
Sci-fi:
-The
Book of Strange New Things—Michel Faber
-Exalaltion—Ted
Chiang
-A Psalm for the Wild-Built & A
Prayer for the Crown-Shy—Becky Chambers
Churchy
Books:
-A
Journey of Grace—Herbert Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-33042385470100836252023-12-26T06:16:00.000-08:002023-12-26T06:17:37.877-08:00Top Blogs of 2023Well, it’s been another year of blogging, mainly about the
church. Below are the top five (well six actually) most read posts of the year.
It’s kind of an interesting mix, on one hand some folk interested in what a
Renewed Lutheran Church might look like, a few more reflective posts where I
named my experience of worship and my experience of being a pastor, and then
the number 3 slot was a Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-70772915191117762972023-12-16T09:56:00.000-08:002023-12-16T09:56:43.865-08:00 John: Baptist & Witness, baptizer and pointer… What a strange figure, John out there in the desert, All Camel Hair and a proto-paleo diet… he is almost embarrassing to the early church—a fellow Jesus clearly looks up to, reveres, then mourns when John has died—what does it mean that we’re disciples of one who looks an awful lot like a disciple of John? &Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-35084332416208282412023-12-06T04:26:00.000-08:002023-12-06T04:26:58.662-08:0012 Steps to Finding a Partner for Your Congregation A while back I attended a seminar by an organization called Partners for Sacred Places. It was kinda
Philly-centric, but still had a lot of important and useful information for
congregations, especially ones with older buildings who are in the process of
discerning how to more faithfully use their space.
I took 14 pages of notes, but here is my synthesis of those
notes.
How to find a Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-43870701073417578972023-12-02T11:31:00.000-08:002024-03-05T12:01:49.025-08:00 Imagine with Isaiah Welcome to Advent—a time to wait for Christ’s arrival: -his birth, -his presence among us, -and his future return for us… making all things right All which has already happened in God’s time… Advent messes with time, it disordersChristopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-4109465261158653432023-11-17T11:33:00.000-08:002023-11-17T11:33:07.491-08:00The Parable of the Talents Parables are stories containing truth, that reveals itself gradually, then with a big ahah! They are like a tea bag, they steep in you until you are transformed. They sit with you until they become part of your story. You chew on a parable, until it starts to chew on you. &Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-72385969194694676982023-11-09T14:14:00.003-08:002024-03-05T12:01:56.514-08:00Keep AwakeKeep Awake warns Amos Keep awake so you don’t sleep walk into revenge. Amos hears his people praying for the Day of the LORD… they remember back to the time of the Conquest of Canaan, when the LORD of Armies was on the march and smote those who stood against God’s people… &Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5362125.post-17155413496133808752023-10-31T05:29:00.000-07:002023-10-31T05:29:06.649-07:00Who is the Pastor’s Boss? One of the questions that came up when I asked for topics
related to the Renewed Lutheran Church, was the question “Who is the Pastor’s
Boss?” as a way to talk about authority, transparency, and accountability.
On one hand, there are a few different places you can point regarding
who an ELCA pastor is accountable to and supported by. Firstly, we have our
baptismal vocation (I have a hunch Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07304298306127392428noreply@blogger.com0