Everyday Lutherans

Walking in to a coffee shop, you know that you will go in there to pay for a service.  The person behind the counter will make a coffee beverage of your choice with a variety of flavors, sugar, or milk to go with it.  There is a menu placed on the board that clearly notes the cost of that beverage that you choose.  From the cost of that beverage, you know that you are paying the farmer for the coffee beans, the farmer for the sugar and even the farmer who gathered the milk.  You are also paying the wage of the person who served you along with anyone who is part of the path that brought all of these things together.   When you go into a bookstore, it is much of the same thing.  You know that you shall purchase a book.  The cost of the book will cover not only the paper and printing cost, but also part of the of money will go to the author, the person who works at the bookstore, and even some to the company. Along with anyone else who may have been a par...

When you think of church, what do you think of? Honestly, write it down.  It all down.  Maybe even draw a picture, to help you capture all that you are thinking of. Now think of the church that you attend.  How are the same? How are they different? Now for the truth:  That ideal church that you first wrote about, can not happen.  For one thing, it is in your mind.  It would only happen if everyone did what you did.  You would be the god of that church. The church that you attend is not perfect.  Why?  The people who attend there are sinners and saints.  Yes even you.  Don't get me wrong you are not a bad person but within our lives, things happen, we make choices that we find out later, hurt someone else or even ourselves.  That's ok, you are human.  Along with that, when you get more than one person in a room, there are different ideas, concepts, and thoughts of what this church should be.  When that happens, there a...

Ever since the beginning when Adam was given the power to name the creation, we have continued to label, name and define.  Now a name is a powerful thing, it is our identity, it is how people recognize, call us, and remember us. I believe it was Shakespeare who said, "A rose by any other name is just as sweet." Which is true, I mean the name that we have does not really define our characteristics. If I would list the name of a person, you may have someone come to mind because you know a person by that name.  You can think of their hair color, their height, if they are a good friend, good in school or some other characteristic about that person.  Or even an item, if I say a chair, you may think of a flat surface with a back rest with four legs for support. Yet even when we think we know of what something is does not mean that it is always that way or can not be changed.  Let's talk about a chair. A chair does not need four legs. There are times that our definitions ne...

When I was a kid, I grew up thinking that God was this old man with a long white beard.  He sat on a big throne and had a lot of people who were singing around him.  But I was always afraid, I thought that God was one who looking out for the things that I was doing wrong.  Yet then Jesus would come and tell me things were going to be ok.  That God had been sitting on the throne for a long time but really he meant well and loved me.  As time went on my understanding of God grew, as it should because my relationship with God grew as well. I began to realize how that understanding of God was so true.  God wanted what was best for me and wanted me to realize the LOVE that He truly shared for me. Yet in my teen years, while your whole body and world seem to be put into this blender of reality and nothing seems to work out right.  You can also begin to wonder, doubt, and be down right frustrated with God.  For these two voices of God looking out for wha...

I have talked to a lot of people who attend church every so often to not really a whole lot. In one of my most recent conversations, a person asked me, "So, what does a pastor do?" I started thinking of all the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly things that I do and I could have listed them all off , but that would take a very long time. Then there are the things that no one can plan for. How do you tell someone that you live a life of chaos and unknown, and help someone make sense of it??? Here is my attempt. A pastor does many, many things; largely depending on the congregation's size and whether or not there is more than one pastor. If the church is large and there are multiple pastors, then they are specialized into separate fields.  In a one pastor congregation, then he/she does most (if not all) of the following. Depending on where the congregation is located will also determine the work that the pastor will have as a focus or time for travel between p...

38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.” 39 “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. 40 Anyone who is not against us is for us. 41 If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded. 42 “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell i with two hands. j 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. k 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it ...

38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.” 39 “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. 40 Anyone who is not against us is for us. 41 If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded. 42 “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell i with two hands. j 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. k 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it ...

Within the Bible, the beginning says that God created the heavens and the earth along with that, God parted light from darkness. In the beginning….Here we are brought to the very beginning to understand how and why God created this universe and even you.  Within recent years, many have declared that the Big Bang Theory is the most probable theory of how the universe came into being.  However, these two theories then are not in opposition with one another but these two understandings of creation. Couldn’t God create this universe through the means of the Big Bang? What if God started the Big Bang and also created the various life forms within the world?  (How much time determines which theory but then again does time really matter in understanding the world compared to ones lifetime.) So what does that creation have to do with us?  EVERYTHING!! The creation is still happening all around us. Each year, we bear witness to the birth, life, death, and even resurrection wi...

Three days after Jesus' disciples witnessed him dying on the cross, the women went to go and care for his body and prepare it for final burial.  However when the women went to the tomb, they found the stone rolled away and the body of Jesus gone.  A messenger, an angel of God, told them that Jesus was not among the dead but is now among the living.  Jesus had been Resurrected. How did they react?  Like many of us do, they were shocked, amazed and basically confused.  Even among the disciples there were those who did not believe.  Not until Jesus appeared to them and they were able to see the wounds upon Jesus with Jesus living right before them once again. Then Jesus tells these men and women to go and share this news with everyone.  They do even when they were confronted with death, they would not go against the message that they knew to be true. So what was accomplished here within the resurrection?  Well that depends greatly on the faith tradit...