Still in the insecurity of your childhood, running through the house. Crash! A prized piece of your mother’s fine porcelain lay broken on the floor. A few moments later, words are flying from your mouth on how you didn’t break your mom’s china. The contrived deception now spins its web around you, in your mind […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 14: 2 Maccabees and Purgatory
August 8, 2017 by
Recap After we had looked into prayers for the sainted dead in 2 Maccabees, one person in class wanted to explore the verse that followed. Your teacher tactfully avoided doing so to keep the Lesson on task. Today, to honor this person’s august wishes (it is August, after all!), we delve deeper in to what […]
Romans 6:19-23: Sin’s Wage vs. God’s Gift
July 30, 2017 by
All around us, whether infiltrating the air or intertwining itself into the tapestry of our culture, is an assumption. To be free is to be the boss, under no one else’s thumb. Now, at first, who will disagree? Oh, how gratifying and cathartic, until we realize we turn ourselves into self-made gods. Only scan human […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 13: 1-2 Maccabees, Pt. 3
July 30, 2017 by
Recap In 164 BC, with the ouster of Antiochus Epiphanes from Israel, the Israelites began to celebrate a festival every year to remember the dedication, or restoration, of the Temple. For the one who claimed to be God in human flesh was defeated and proper worship restored. Jesus used His celebration of this feast (John […]
Church History, Lesson 4: The Didache, Pt. 1
July 30, 2017 by
Recap In 49 AD, the Church met in her first council to resolve issues of incorporating Gentiles into, then, an ethnically Jewish Church. The Gentiles did not need to be circumcised for, as the Apostle Paul would later write, baptism supersedes circumcision in the New Covenant (Colossians 2:11-13). However, Gentiles did need to give up […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 12: 1-2 Maccabees, Pt. 2
July 24, 2017 by
Recap A representative of Antiochus confronts Mattathias in his town to be the first to offer a pagan sacrifice and become a “friend” of the king. When Mattathias refuses, another man steps in, hoping to receive favor. Angry, Mattathias kills both the opportunist and the king’s agent. The Maccabean revolt begins. At first, Mattathias focuses, […]
Matthew 5:20-26: Be Reconciled
July 24, 2017 by
In Nashville, Illinois, I served as a vicar before moving here to be your pastor. A few years before, someone collapsed during the Divine Service. With the ambulance called, the service stopped for about 20 minutes, and the paramedics soon arrived. A seriousness descended, a sense of “this is for real.” An impromptu prayer rose […]
Church History, Lesson 3: The Normalization of Church Practices
July 19, 2017 by
Bringing Gentiles into the Church Recap and Introduction Last week, we followed the Church as she spread to Samaria during Jewish persecution. Christians fled proclaiming Jesus as the world’s Savior from sin and the Deliverer of eternal life. The Church’s first pastors, the Apostles, however, did not flee with the others (Acts 8:1). So, […]
The Apocrypha, Lesson 11: 1-2 Maccabees
July 17, 2017 by
Introduction 1 Maccabees describes the attempts at Hellenization by the Seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (1:1-2:70), moving on to cover the exploits of Judas Maccabeus (3:1-9:22) and his brothers Jonathan (9:23-12:53) and Simon (13:1-16:24). Judas and his brothers battle to remove the Greek influence from Israel. The book was written after 134 BC since the […]
Church History, Lesson 2: The Holy Spirit Descends on All in the New Covenant
July 17, 2017 by
Faithful and Fervent Pentecost Day: The Speaking in “Tongues” Old-Covenant Pentecost: In the Old Covenant, Pentecost was one of three feasts God required Israelite men to travel to the Temple and celebrate (Deuteronomy 16:16). Pentecost was a harvest festival celebrated 50 days after Passover. God’s people set apart the first loaves of bread from […]
