Jesus said, “You pore over the Scriptures because you suppose that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to […]
Understanding God: His Divine Being (Essence) and His Energia
May 19, 2011 by
We have little problem recognizing, as a concept, that God exists as a Divine Being. God in His Divine Being is God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is God […]
Faith? Works? Yes!
May 12, 2011 by
This is an article that I wrote for the May 20th edition of the Stone County Gazette. Did you realize the Bible never says that we are saved by “faith […]
Lay Readers in the Lutheran Church: A Short Primer
May 3, 2011 by
Lay Readers: A Scriptural, Historical, and Lutheran Look By Pr. Rich Futrell Introduction Within our lifetime, we have seen “lay readers” become the norm when it comes to the reading […]
The Forgotten Battle of Spiritual Warfare
March 21, 2011 by
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil […]
Sample Sermon: 1 Maccabees 4:36-56 and John 10:22-30 (Easter 4C)
March 7, 2011 by
To go the first article in this series, click here. This is a “sample sermon” on preaching from the Apocrypha (Anagignoskomena/Deuterocanon), which is in a presentation I will lead […]
The Americanization of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
March 6, 2011 by
The process of “Americanization” within the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod began at its very formation. One of our founders, Wilhelm Loehe, noticed as much when he stated our constitution showed signs […]
Optional Supplemental Lectionary Readings from the OT Apocrypha
February 24, 2011 by
For my next pastoral conference in early March, I will lead a study on the Apocrypha. We will learn how it fell into disuse within Lutheran circles, and it will finish […]
Dealing with Our Spiritual Bullies
February 1, 2011 by
In this study, we find the spiritual and physical are not as separated as many of us assume. So it comes as no surprise that God uses physical aspects in […]
Multisensory Worship, Pt 2
January 25, 2011 by
Continued Thoughts on Multisensory Worship By Pr. Rich Futrell Last month we began to look at how God has always used all of our senses during worship. This month, we […]
