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The Defense of the Augsburg Confession
Philip Melanchthon Presents His Greeting to the Reader. After the Confession of our princes had been publicly read, certain theologians and monks prepared a confutation of our writing; and when His Imperial Majesty had caused this also to be read in the assembly of the princes, he demanded of our princes that they should assent to this Confutation. But as our princes had heard that many articles were disapproved, which they could not abandon without offense to conscience, they asked that a copy of the Confutation be furnished them, that they might be able both to see what the adversaries condemned, and to refute their arguments. And, indeed, in a…
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Augsburg Confession Conclusion
Conclusion 1] These are the chief articles which seem to be in controversy. For although we might have spoken of more abuses, yet, to avoid undue length, we have set forth the chief points, from which the rest may be readily judged. 2] There have been great complaints concerning indulgences, pilgrimages, and the abuse of excommunications. The parishes have been vexed in many ways by the dealers in indulgences. There were endless contentions between the pastors and the monks concerning the parochial right, confessions, burials, sermons on extraordinary occasions, and 3] innumerable other things. Issues of this sort we have passed over so that the chief points in this matter,…
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Withholding Forgiveness
By Allison Hull I’m sort of a free-range mom. I let my kids play outside in the front yard. And in the street of our cul-de-sac. Drives some of my family insane that I’d let them ride their bikes around our house without me watching them. But both they and I need the space to run free. The neighborhood kids from the block do the same. They all meet in the street to play, joke and chase each other around. And during this time at least once if not three times a day one of my kids comes in crying. I can handle it if it was because of…
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Forty for Lent
By Holly Scheer It’s almost time for Lent, and this year I’d like to invite you to consider giving up something. I’d also like to encourage you to add something. Stick with me for a moment. We’re all used to New Year’s Resolutions (that we don’t keep … or maybe that’s just me) and it’s not new at all to think of penitentially doing without something during Lent to remember Jesus and His sacrifices. This year, I’m not giving up chocolate or coffee or bacon. I’m not swearing off beer, and I’m not going to promise I’ll exercise. Instead, I’m going to work on giving up on stuff. The accumulation…
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You Are Not Enough And Never Will Be
By Vanessa Rasanen No, that’s not a clickbait title. It’s the truth. I realize it’s not the feel-good message we all crave and then share emphatically to our social media with a bold “THIS!” attached. But I don’t really care, because I’m not here to tell you what you want to hear. I didn’t wake up early and reheat yesterday’s coffee to type out empty words. So, sorry hon, but you are not enough. You never will be enough. If you’re like me, my friends, and pretty much any other human being on the planet, you probably — perhaps not always, but at some point — have felt that prickly…
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Christmas Campaign– Adoption & Hope for Donnie
By Hannah Payton Heath Two years ago when my husband and I sat down to work out how we could start the process for international adoption my husband said, “We can’t do this for every child, one child, one adoption.” My husband knows me — oh so well. Silently, I nodded my head in agreement. I knew his reasons were well thought out, but tears choked back my words. Finally, when I could mumble through the ugly cry I said, “Okay. But it will be so hard. It will be so hard to walk away from all those children. It will be the worst day of my life.” Fast-forward to…
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Finding Contentment in the Tough Decisions
By Vanessa Rasanen I sat uncomfortably on the couch — or was it a loveseat? No matter. The man across from me listened as I rambled a bit, my eyes shifting off to the corner of the room and then to my feet and then back to him. I’ve never been comfortable with eye contact when I’m speaking, and ever since I had someone call me out on my rude way of looking around during a conversation I’m well-aware that I am doing this now. The man chuckles slightly when I finally stop. “You are very black and white in your thinking. You seem concerned with whether you’re doing the…
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Who Am I Exactly?
By Vanessa Rasanen Trends come and go, especially in the world of social media. Some are awesome — I did love seeing friends’ “love your spouse” challenge posts. And others? Not so much. The latest one has popped up in both Facebook and instagram, and I rather enjoy it. Friends share the three fictional characters that match their personality. It’s been a lot of fun to get a glimpse of how my friends and acquaintances view themselves. Sometimes I nod and laugh at how spot-on their picks are. And others I’m surprised. But overall it’s been fascinating and entertaining. While I don’t participate in many of these things, I have wanted to with this one. Seems easy enough, I…
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I Do Not Care If My Children Are Happy
By Allison Hull and Vanessa Rasanen “As long as my children are happy, I’m happy.” We hear this often, don’t we? Whether it’s from secular folks who argue that it shouldn’t matter who our kids grow up to be, what they do, or how they act, or if it’s our own parents insisting they only want us to be happy, this emphasis on the pursuit of happiness is ingrained in our society. Everyone just wants everyone else to be happy, especially the children. We are constantly inundated with calls to “live and let live” and told “You do you; I’ll do me”. If we question this “whatever makes you happy” brand of parenting, we get…
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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’…
