A sad time for the ELCA

The ELCA has opened up the office of the ministry to gay and lesbian people. This is a sad day indeed. I know people who oppose this will be branded as closed minded and mean spirited but how open minded and tolerant do you have to be.Issues ETC has covered this. Check the link below.

The Narrated Bible

I am currently using the Narreted Bible with deviontional commentary by F. LaGard Smith. It is an interesting devotion. It uses the NIV translation which is a plus for some and a negative for others. One feature that is both a plus and a negative is that it is sorted out in daily chunks. This is good because it gives you a goal for the daily reading amounts. The down side is that is is dated. I don't always start or end a devotion with the new year but you can always ignore that. The other problem is that the marking for each day is rather small and easy to miss while reading. My wife while she was going through it, put it the dates with a pencil to help mark and keep track.

Having it is chronological order helps put things in historic perspective. That's a good thing. the downside is that you go through the entire Old Testament before you get any New Testament. the other thing that is getting to me is getting a lot of Prophetic books at once. That is a problem just going through the Bible on your way but it is sticking out more for me right now.

It still is a neat novel way of going through No perfect way of going through i guess.the Bible even though i am looking forward to skipping around more.

Animal Chaplain

I am really wondering about some techniques concerning evangelism I have seen concerning evangelism. I was out walking the dog with my wife when a guy got out of his car said nice dog and introduced himself as an animal chaplain. It felt totally contrived, phony and like i was on his list of people to meet. Yuck! My dog is important to me but don't try some phony ploy to get me interested in your church. I am christian and sympathetic to evangelism and I was turned off by this.


Amimal Chaplain-not a good evangelism technigue.

Through Faith Alone

I am using the devotional book, Through Faith Alone 365 Devotional Readings from Martin Luther. This should not be a surprise to those who read this blog but it is from Concordia Publishing House. It is a refreshing thing to get daily snippets from Martin Luther. It gives a bit of a different look at Christianity and a different sort of devotion. Check it out here.

Treasury of Prayer

I have been using the Treasury of Prayer by Concordia Publishing House since Advent. It is a fantastic devotional guide. It has reading for the church year, ordera of service to help you set the setting of your devotions and many, prayers and other elements to help your daily walk with God. It can almost be overwhelming with the amount you can draw from in this book. It seams like it can be too much. It is a large book with a lot too offer. That's the good thing about it. It has a lot to offer but you don't have to use it all. I can see myself using this for many, many years and never getting bored wit it because it can change with the needs of my devotions as I go along and revisited parts as I need. The other great thing aboujt it s how much it fits with what was down with the new Lutheran Service Book hymnal. That makes it a great way of connecting Sunday service with the other sixdays of the week. Great Job CPH!

King James Onlyism

I was listening this this segment from Issues Etc about King James onlyism and I have to say is "YES! YES! YES!". Let me start off by saying I like the King James especially for the Psalms, but it is not the easiest translation to understand. It can be quit the barrier for the average reader. I have a feeling that even Christians don't read their Bibles enough and the King James does not always make that easier. As good as a translation as the King James is, it is not the inerrant inspired translation of God into the English. There are other translation out ther that are also very faithful to the original languages.

I know this will be a sour point to many, but the translation that got me reading the Bible regularly and as a child is The Way Bible. For all its weaknesses as a paraphrase, it was the one I could understand as a kid. The KJV and RSV left me in the cold and if left to those, I would not have started to read scripture regularly into my adulthood. Did I stay there? No. Was it the best translation I could have read? No. Did it get me reading scripture? Most definately. And for that I am grateful.

Christian Reading List

I have always thought that are certain books that are so good and such classics, that they are worthy to be on everyone's reading. I think that is true in general terms and I also think the same it true for Christian reading. I think I will try over a series of blog posts, to put together a list of reading. I doubt if it will be perfect, complete or free from debate but I will try to put one together. I will also try to explain why they are my list of books to read. The first hree without explanation are of follows:
1)Bible
2) Apocrypha
3) Book of Concord

Can Christians Be Intellectual?

I would say yes to the question of can Christians be intellectual. Christ himself we are too love God with our hearts and minds and souls. Issues Etc did a segment on this issue. It is embedded below.

Good Friday

St Patrick's Day

The following is the real reason for St Patrick's day.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through the confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the Judgment Day.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.