The good news of the Gospel is good because of some really bad news. We have been pronounced guilty before . . . an absolutely good being, an absolutely holy king, an absolutely righteous judge, an all seeing, all knowing sovereign who knows every thought and intention of our hearts, every behavior of our past, every secret … More Pronounced Guilty, and the Good News of the Gospel
An Excerpt from Bonhoeffer “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Eph. 4:26). It is a decisive rule of every Christian fellowship that every dissension that day has brought must be healed in the evening. It is perilous for the Christian to lie down to sleep with an unreconciled heart. Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 74. … More How Community is Protected
It is the beginning of a new year and that means the beginning of another rereading of Bonhoeffer’s Life Together. I am looking forward to this year’s reading more than others. I feel like after reading it so many times over the years I am at the place where I might understand it at a deeper … More Bonhoeffer: It Starts Again
It is part of my yearly pattern. I reread, Bonhoeffer’s LIFE TOGETHER. Recently, the book has popped up a number of times in mentoring or counseling situations so now seemed like a good time for me to begin the process this year. And every time I am humbled by its wisdom and understanding of the … More Brotherhood—It’s a Real Thing Not a Feeling
Day 5 Reading with the Pastor . Matthew 5 and Psalm 8 Day 6 Matthew 6 and Psalm 9 The sermon on the mount stretches from chapter 5:1 to 7:29. It is the greatest sermon ever preached from the greatest preacher who ever lived. It is a masterpiece … More “The False and Confused Language of Our Hearts”
A Monday Musings The gospel is a proclamation, not a sales pitch. Jesus called people to repent and believe. And he commissioned us to do the same. Some will, and sadly, some will not. I have been reflecting on this for a couple of days (honestly, for years) but recently two different authors have fueled my … More The Gospel is a Proclamation, Not a Sales Pitch.
Tuesday is for Preaching It is amazing how much you learn and relearn when reading great books. I have 10,000 volumes in my library. over 4,000 on shelves and the remaining ones in one digital form or another. Some are reference works that you don’t necessarily read but use to study other books. Others are … More How Costly Grace is Cheapened
Saturday Musings Jesus is the pearl of great price. The gospel of Christ is the treasure in the field. May we never recover from the wonder and the demands of grace. “Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly … More The Cost of Grace
Saturday Musings and Reflections “… it is imperative for the Christian to achieve renunciation, to practise self-effacement, to distinguish his life from the life of the world.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 44. Why does Bonhoeffer believe that it is imperative that Christians be different from the world? Why is it important that Christians … More Echoing Jesus, Bonhoeffer Speaks
Sunday Quotes “Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of … More Bonhoeffer Was Killed on This Day in 1945
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