Luther Wisdom

Many things I have tried to grasp, and have lost. That which I have placed in God's hands I still have.

Martin Luther, as quoted in "Patches of Godlight," by Jan Karon,

Bible in 90 Days

I apologize for the small thumbnail photo above. I found this Bible in a Goodwill store the other day. I was intrigued. Read the Bible in 90 days? I'd read the Bible in a year before.  But in three months? No way!

But as I continued to thumb through the pages I changed my mind.  I took it as a challenge. "I can do this," I told myself.  So for a couple of bucks I got with the program.

The guide says it will take about 45 minutes a day to read 12 pages of scripture.  I've found this is true.  Today is day seven so I've got a long way to go. And my reading today begins with Leviticus, chapter one.  I'm thinking that I can power through Leviticus and Numbers, I'll be rolling.

I don't believe that I'd recommend the Bible in 90 days to anyone.  This is kind of like eating a 60 ounce steak every day! In fact, if you never read through the Bible in a year, I don't think that you'll be denied entrance into the heavenly kingdom.  Faith is Jesus is what counts.  So read your Bible. Let the Holy Spirit do His sanctifying work as you let the Word of God penetrate your heart and mind. Then go out and put that Word into practice. And God be praised!

Open Access to the Gospel

I've just started reading a book that I purchased a year ago.  That's a little embarrassing! I purchased "Being Lutheran" by Trevor Sutton from Concordia Publishing House.  On their web page that have a section that offers book for sale that are slightly damaged or have some kind of imperfection that prevents them from selling the book as new.  I've purchased several of these kinds of book from CPH and, to tell the truth, I have a difficult time determining how the books are imperfect.  You should check it out - might find a bargain!

I'm only about 30 pages or so into the book and in one chapter Sutton talks about how Martin Luther took the Word of God, which had been closed to the people and, in essence, opened it so people could receive the pure Gospel of the Lord.  I particularly liked these words from Sutton:

Luther opened the Bible. He yielded his beliefs to God's Word. He led the church back to the source of salvation, God's grace in Jesus Christ. He directed people to rely on the source of eternal comfort, God's gift of faith. He led believers back to the source of their beliefs, God's Word in Scripture.  Being Lutheran is having open access to the Gospel.  (page 12)

I'm sure I'll be featuring more of Sutton's thoughts on the blog.  He's a good writer and really knows how to present the joy of the Gospel of Jesus.

It's hot...stay inside!

And you can start today at Life in Christ!

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In praise of the to-do list

I have a love-hate relationship with day planners.  I like to be organized.  I like to have an idea of what my work day might look like.  But day planners are like the 10 Commandments - all Law. There's nothing there that offers grace.  Nothing that jumps off the page and says, "Hey! If you don't get it all done, that's OK - there's always tomorrow!" Instead, the tasks and responsibilities are written down in black and white and you know whether you've gotten them done or not.  For me, there's a certain pressure there that I just don't like too much.

However, there I sat at my desk yesterday at 8:45 am.  My to-do list in front of me.  Since I'm going to be out of the office a few days this week I had a rather long to-do list.  But this time, rather than becoming depressed by all the things that needed to be done, I took the list on as a challenge.  I thought to myself, "If I keep my head down, and there are few interruptions, I can get all this done. And won't that be a great feeling?"

Here's the list:
  Get approved a free will offering so we can make more Blessing Bags
  Email to thank team for putting Blessing Bags together
  Make changes to the Music Schedule\
  Contact several families about scheduling baptisms
  Make arrangements to help a family take care of a debt
  Make arrangements to do a house blessing for a family
  Set up an appointment for next week
  Write to an interested individual about an Evangelism project
  Process Lay Leadership materials
  Prepare Sat/Sun Worship
  Prepare Treasuring God's Word devotional
  Review Attendance Cards and rebuild my personal prayer list
  Prepare Sunday morning Bible class
  Send information regarding Sunday's sermon to our power point team

At 6:45 pm I checked off the last item from the list.

So now, for a few days, I'm free as the breeze (so they say). And everything is ready for worship this weekend.  How did the Eagles put it? I got a "peaceful, easy feeling."  Feels good!

Here's what's so amazing about grace

I've finished going through Philip Yancey's wonderful book, "What's So Amazing About Grace." Given the condition of the world today, Yancey's last two sentences of the book are right on point: "The world thirsts for grace. When grace descends the world falls silent before it."

To whom might you show grace today? To a frustrated neighbor? A worried co-worker. To your troubled spouse or child? One reason grace is amazing is that it seems to come out of nowhere. Without any expectation someone shows unconditional love to you.  Another treats you with kindness even though you don't deserve it. Extending grace can be hard.  Often the people who need it are the ones who have hurt you or taken advantage of you or haven't even acknowledged you.

Sounds like some of the ways that we've treated our gracious God, doesn't it?  And yet, He continues to extend grace to us.  He, who has every reason to drop us like the proverbial "hot potato," keeps on loving us, forgiving us, caring for and helping us. What an amazing God we have!

So, to whom might you show grace today?

Hope For The Prodigal

You're a committed parent.  You've loved your child since the day they left the womb. You've offered equal parts affection and discipline.  Taught your child how to pray at a young age.  Made sure worship, Sunday school and youth ministry was a priority.  Like all parents you've made the usual mistakes.  But you have parented that child with all your heart.  And then, without warning, that child goes a different way.  A way from family and church and all the things you emphasized so much. Your child, like the son in the Parable of the Prodigal, has drifted away.

Jim and Bill Putman know and feel your pain.

In their new book, "Hope for the Prodigal" the Putman's share their story of dealing with prodigals. Jim, Bill's son, went through a season as a prodigal.  Jim has a son who went the way of the prodigal for a time. This honest and transparent book offers real hope to those who lament the wandering ways of their child.

In "Hope for the Prodigal" you'll find common sense advice supported by verse after verse of Holy Scripture.  The telling of the story of the Prodigal from Luke, chapter 15 was most enlightening and I found insights that I'd not captured before.  The Putnam's emphasize the importance of building a home that is hard for children to leave that they also find a home that, when they are ready, is easy to return to.  The Putnam's also write about the impact a broken family has on an entire church community.  They make it clear than when a family sufferers through the trials and conflicts of dealing with a prodigal, the church must be there for the prodigal and the family and offer unconditional help, support and love.

Know a family that is dealing with a rebellious child? Recommend that they read, "Hope for the Prodigal." Later, they will thank you for the recommendation.