Author Archives: Chaplainmike

Sermon: Are We Ready for This? (Luke 14:25-33)

Sermon: Are We Ready for This? Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow meContinue reading “Sermon: Are We Ready for This? (Luke 14:25-33)”

Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: To Relish the Generosity of God

Sunday with Walter Brueggemann To Relish the Generosity of God [To] deny self is taken too often to mean you should have some self-hate, feel bad about yourself, ponder your failure and your guilt, and reject your worth. But that is surely not what Jesus is talking about. Rather, he is talking about coming toContinue reading “Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: To Relish the Generosity of God”

Saturday Brunch, September 7, 2019

Hello, friends, and welcome to the weekend. Do you play golf? Here is a great, simple tutorial you need to watch. Actually, you need to watch it even if, like me, you consider golf the biggest waste of time since Freud. The descendants of Kaiser Wilhelm II are suing the state to reclaim palaces and artworks: “TheContinue reading “Saturday Brunch, September 7, 2019”

Teaching One Another: Luke 14:25-33

Teaching One Another Luke 14:25-33 We haven’t done this for awhile, and Sunday to come presents a good opportunity for me to revive the “Teaching One Another” category. I’ll be preaching in my congregation, and as we traditionally do in the Lutheran church, my focus will be upon the Gospel text. And what a textContinue reading “Teaching One Another: Luke 14:25-33”

Bad Objections to Evolution

Bad Objections to Evolution It’s back to school time, and this video from Genesis Apologetics has been making the rounds of… well… I don’t really know where it’s making the rounds.  Maybe Christian home schools?  Videos like these are pretty typically posted on Facebook by evangelical/fundamentalist parents so school kids can be warned in case highContinue reading “Bad Objections to Evolution”

“Getting the Great Big Kick”

“This isn’t how most people think they’re going to finish out their work lives,” said Richard Johnson, an Urban Institute economist and veteran scholar of the older labor force who worked on the analysis. “For the majority of older Americans, working after 50 is considerably riskier and more turbulent than we previously thought.” • quotedContinue reading ““Getting the Great Big Kick””

David Bentley Hart on Capitalism

David Bentley Hart on Capitalism Whatever else capitalism may be, it is first and foremost a system for producing as much private wealth as possible by squandering as much as possible of humanity’s common inheritance of the goods of creation. But Christ condemned not only an unhealthy preoccupation with riches, but the getting and keepingContinue reading “David Bentley Hart on Capitalism”

Labor Day 2019 — Another Look: Adam and Eve – A Failure of Vocation

Labor Day 2019 Another Look: Adam and Eve – A Failure of Vocation What the Bible offers is not a “works contract,” but a covenant of vocation. The vocation in question is that of being a genuine human being, with genuinely human tasks to perform as part of the Creator’s purpose for his world. TheContinue reading “Labor Day 2019 — Another Look: Adam and Eve – A Failure of Vocation”

Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: The counterexperience of creation in worship

Sunday with Walter Brueggemann The counterexperience of creation in worship One other peculiar practice in Israel’s worship life bears on our theme. It is evident in Gen 1:1–2:4a that creation and its gift of blessing are understood to be accomplished through (a) utterance, (b) separation of day from night and the waters from the waters,Continue reading “Sunday with Walter Brueggemann: The counterexperience of creation in worship”