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Review on Demystifying the Proverbs 31 Woman
By Bethany Kilcrease Perhaps it’s just me, but I’ve always found the book of Proverbs a little baffling. Sure, I know it’s about Christ. I know that Christ is Wisdom incarnate (1 Cor. 1:30). On this basis I can work through the first nine chapters, in which Lady Wisdom contrasts herself to Dame Folly. Christ (Wisdom) is the way to life. Rejecting Him leads only to Folly and death. In chapter 8, Solomon gives an especially compelling picture of the pre-incarnate Christ calling out to foolish sinners in the persona of Lady Wisdom. But then what do we make of chapters ten through thirty-one? Despite having glanced at various commentaries,…
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For Holy Week
By Bethany Kilcrease If anyone is still looking for some good devotional reading for Holy Week and beyond, let me introduce you to a hidden gem recently written by a Lutheran woman. I have been reading and re-reading Carolyn Brinkley’s Bearing the Cross: Devotions on Albrecht Dürer’s Small Passion (CPH, 2012) for several years now and heartily recommend it to anyone. Deaconess Brinkley uses the artist Albrecht Dürer’s series of woodcut images called the Small Passion (1511) as the basis for thirty-four short devotions. As implied by the title Small Passion, Dürer’s extremely detailed woodcuts portray scenes Christ’s Passion, although Dürer and Brinkley also contextualize the Passion narrative with images…
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The Smalcald Articles Preface
Since Pope Paul III convoked a Council last year, to assemble at Mantua about Whitsuntide, and afterwards transferred it from Mantua, so that it is not yet known where he will or can fix it, and we on our part either had to expect that we would be summoned also to the Council or [to fear that we would] be condemned unsummoned, I was directed to compile and collect the articles of our doctrine [in order that it might be plain] in case of deliberation as to what and how far we would be both willing and able to yield to the Papists, and in what points we intended to…
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Open Letter to My Non-Christian Family and Friends
Dear family and friends, I am sorry. I have failed you. Time and time again I have let you down. I have not cared for you as I should. I have been selfish, putting my own comfort ahead of your well-being. Even now, I’m choosing the easy route, typing this out rather than saying it directly to you. Please forgive me. I know it seems strange that I became a Christian, that I attend church every Sunday, that I teach our children God’s Word, that I believe in God’s creation of the earth in seven days thousands of years ago, rather than millions. I know it probably seems like I…
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An Affair with Magic Mike and the Sixth Commandment
By Christina Hamilton While browsing around Facebook, I saw that Channing Tatum was on the Ellen Show promoting the new Magic Mike Live show. It will of course be traveling from town to town all across the US of A to entertain screaming women of all ages. Since the first appearance of Magic Mike on the big screen, it has become mainstream, an accepted and welcome part of women’s culture. The more I stopped to think about it, the more concerned I became. Ladies, before you protest, let’s think back many years ago before Magic Mike amazed and enthralled us and bear with me. Centuries ago, men enjoyed saloon girls’…
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Male and Female He Created Them
By Katie Fischer We live in confused times. Not only is the secular culture in which we live confused about what marriage is and when life begins but it also is confused on what it means to be male and female. The fact is that our culture is secular. While we may be frustrated or beaten down by its narrative we must stand for what we believe, what our words mean, regardless of what others say. Our words are of the Church and of the Bible, and we must speak in ways that guard against the words and meanings of the world. This is why we need to hold fast…
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Junk Food
By Allison Hull My kids love junk food. I give it to them all the time. Every meal they get soda with as much caffeine as it can have, candy with either chocolate or chewy gummies, cookies, cake, chips, and anything slathered in sugar. They love it. They beg for it. And when I see their eyes light up and get wide, their mouth dripping with chocolate and their body humming with energy I feel happy that they’re happy. Sure, there are the sugar lows, but that just means they need a little pick-me-up from a chocolate chip cookie. Yes, some people say you need vegetables and things for growing…
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Old Adam is Lazy but Adiaphora is No Excuse
By Vanessa Rasanen We learn a lot of new words when we start diving into our theological studies. For those of us not raised in the church it can be a bit overwhelming, but with time, patience, and the willingness to ask a lot of questions without worrying about how silly they might sound, it’s doable and, dare I say it, even fun. Soon enough we find the verbiage of our faith fits effortlessly into everyday conversation. Latin and Greek phrases fall out of our mouths with ease, and we find our groove and settle into our place among our brothers and sisters in Christ. We also have a tendency…
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Depths
By Mary J. Moerbe My family went on an outing to an aquarium and we marveled at God’s creation. A part of creation, mind you, that human eyes rarely see. Even to this day, there are depths unexplored and discoveries to be made. The wonders we saw reminded me that in a very real sense God made creation for Himself. He may have delights in creation we are utterly unaware of: sights, sounds, and textures known only to Himself. Yet, they are not withheld from us. They only await discovery. In Scripture, there is depth to the sea and depth to the earth. A quick survey indicates that the faithful…
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Can Doctrine Become an Idol?
By Vanessa Rasanen Now, I’m a fairly new Lutheran, and certainly no expert or authority on our beliefs, but I at least know we hold our confessions in high esteem. We are often passionate and perhaps a bit stubborn. I, personally, don’t see this as bad. I think this fervor has helped to keep us rooted in scriptural truth for centuries. Yet I have often heard the warning: “Doctrine can become an idol”. And typically from folks who have left the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, actually. For months, I pondered this, weighing it for any possible validity. Were my friends right? Was my church, were my pastors, were all the historical theologians possibly making an…
