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Review of Our Faith by Ruth Meyer
By Bethany Kilcrease and Tabitha Moldenhauer I love books. And now that I have a daughter, I have an excuse to purchase books from a whole new genre: children’s books. CPH is currently reaping the benefits of my newest interest. One of the books I recently purchased is Ruth Meyer’s Our Faith from A to Z. This book teaches children the Christian faith by going through the alphabet and explaining an aspect of Lutheranism for each letter. For example, A is for Apostles’ Creed, B is for Baptism, C is for Catechism, D is for Doctrine, etc. Each letter has a short didactic poem like “A is for Apostles’ Creed,…
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Heresy: What does this mean? (Part 2)
By Sarah Arnold There are a number of categories for heresies. Major heresies are those which change the essence of Christian doctrine substantially enough to effect salvation; minor heresies are deviations from understood Christian doctrine without necessarily corrupting the faith enough to effect salvation on their own (although they are still mostly false teaching—some heresies listed here have been condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, but are not considered heretical outside of the RCC, like Heliocentrism). For the purposes of my own research and subsequent posts, I’ve categorized heresies in the following manner. Major: Antitrinitarian (heresies that deny the Trinity in form or substance) Arian (heresies that deny the divinity…
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What To Expect When You’re Not Expecting
By Holly Scheer Dear Sisters, I found out that a friend is having another baby. I’m not right now. Pray for my jealousy? –a baby loving Lutheran mama Dear mama, It’s really hard when we find ourselves in the position of being the sister who isn’t expecting when it seems like everyone else around us is. Babies really are amazing, aren’t they? There are many reasons why we might find ourselves not expecting a baby, and none of them are really less painful. I’m so sorry that right now you are praying and hoping for a baby and that right now you’re having to wait. Praise be to…
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Why Anne Doesn’t Say Prayers
Why Anne doesn’t say prayers, why Marilla says she should, and why we ought to (or ought not to) pray Part III in a series By Mary Abrahamson When Marilla took Anne up to bed that night she said stiffly: “Now, Anne, I noticed last night that you threw your clothes all about the floor when you took them off. That is a very untidy habit, and I can’t allow it at all. As soon as you take off any article of clothing fold it neatly and place it on the chair. I haven’t any use at all for little girls who aren’t neat.” … “Say your prayers now and…
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Worship and Eternity
By Elisabeth Urtel He handed each student a Lutheran Service Book, and instructed us to open it to a random page. “Try to find a hymn that doesn’t end up in heaven.” Each of us in the church music class tried, but every example we landed on mentioned eternal life in some way. Finally, a student thought she had found one, but as a class we located a heavenward reference in a middle verse. My professor then used this to explain one mark of a strong Lutheran hymn: it recognizes that the singers are not only the Church Militant, but also the future Church Triumphant. Go find your hymnal, and try…
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Part III, Article XV. Of Human Traditions
1] The declaration of the Papists that human traditions serve for the remission of sins, or merit salvation, is [altogether] unchristian and condemned, as Christ says Matt. 15:9: In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 2] Again, Titus 1:14: That turn from the truth. Again, when they declare that it is a mortal sin if one breaks these ordinances [does not keep these statutes], this, too, is not right. 3] These are the articles on which I must stand, and, God willing, shall stand even to my death; and I do not know how to change or to yield anything in them. If any…
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Part III, Article XIV. Of Monastic Vows
1] As monastic vows directly conflict with the first chief article, they must be absolutely abolished. For it is of them that Christ says, Matt. 24:5,23ff : I am Christ, etc. 2] For he who makes a vow to live as a monk believes that he will enter upon a mode of life holier than ordinary Christians lead, and wishes to earn heaven by his own works not only for himself, but also for others; this is to deny Christ. 3] And they boast from their St. Thomas that a monastic vow is equal to Baptism. This is blasphemy [against God]. Source.
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My Old Friend, Anxiety
By Heidi Goehmann I have had a long history with anxiety. So much so that I tell people it’s like a backpack. I take it on and off, but it’s always at least sitting in the corner of the room, staring me down. I have tried for years to shake off the weight. Years ago a friend told me that “Do not be afraid…” is the most often given command in the Bible. So, I took it to heart and when anxiety would well up, I’d push it down, way down, telling myself over and over, “Do not be afraid, do not be afraid.” Sometimes I’d even take on a…
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Transitions
By Paula Miller Life is full of transitions. We move from one season to another, sometimes gently, and sometimes forcefully ushered along with conditions over which we have no control. Transitions can be hard physically, emotionally and spiritually, in particular if you’ve been pushed into it by those forceful conditions. Listed as some of the most stressful events in life are moving, marrying, the death of a person close to you, and the birth of a child. We all will experience some or all of these things in our lives. Transitions have similar stages. First, there’s the preparation stage. Planning as we can for what is to changing makes it…
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Stressed out? Try these tactics
By Mary Abrahamson Sometimes life is stressful. OK, let me rephrase that. Most of the time life is stressful. But sometimes the stress is the kind you can feel in your throat, your gut, behind your eyes. It can seem like every part of you is trying to erupt from the bound up ligature into which you’ve knotted yourself. Or into which your children or husband have knotted you. Perhaps your neighbor, coworker, finances, extended family, society or politics has brought on this tight compress. Or maybe your particular knots come from trying to get done everything that needs to be done. These are some of the regular every-day stressors.…
