The Gospel only makes promises

"Like the Law, the Gospel is also necessary; unlike the Law, the Gospel doesn't make any demands.  The Gospel makes only promises"

RJ Grunewald  "Reading Romans with Luther" page 49

To whom can you be the hands of Christ?

 n England, on the base of a statue of Jesus with arms outstretched were the words, "Come unto me."  After the war, an artist was hired to restore that statue, shattered by German bombs.  But he couldn't find Jesus' hands.  So he left the statue without them and changed the wording on the base to read, "Christ has no hands, but ours."

Richard E. Lauersdorf, Together with Jesus, March 23 devotion

+Mikayla Anderson+

We learned this morning that Mikayla Anderson, daughter of our dear friend, Grace Keedy Anderson, suddenly died this morning.  She was the recipient of a heart transplant three years ago.  A number of weeks ago she suffered a heart attack and had to be resuscitated several times.  Over the past couple of weeks she seemed to be improving, baby steps they called it, and her future looked hopeful.  News of her passing has left Sherri and me shocked and saddened.

There are no words that we can speak but the Commendation of the Dying includes this prayer: O God, the Father, fountain and source of all goodness, we give thanks that You have kept Mikayla in the faith and have taken her to Yourself.  Comfort Grace and her family by your Holy Word and give them strength that when their last hour comes they may peacefully fall asleep in You.  Through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Theology of the Cross vs. Theology of Glory

Prof. John Pless hits the proverbial nail on the head:

While Lutherans also confess that God is almighty, Lutheran theology does not begin with His majesty but with His mercy in Christ.

From Handling the Word of Truth, page 101

When should you buy books?

Whenever I get a little money, I buy books.  And if there's any left over, then I buy food and clothes.

Erasmus 

What happens when we make church about us

But when we make church about us, we can expect two things: shallow friendships and shallow faith.

Sharon Hodle Miller, "Free of Me," page 117

What original sin is

The original sin in a man is like his beard, which, though shaved off today so that a man  is very much smooth around his mouth, yet grows again by tomorrow morning...Just as original sin remains in us and desires itself as long as we live, but we must resist it and always cut off its hair.

Martin Luther (as only he could describe it)

from Trevor Sutton, "Being Lutheran," page 3