In college, one of the churches I attended was a medium-sized Baptist church with a large college ministry led by a rocket scientist. Literally, Dr. Bob Langel was a rocket scientist regularly putting up rocket experiments into space through the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center outside of Greenbelt, Maryland. Inside the church, as I remember, … More How They Prayed for Missions
Sunday Afternoon Musings This, from chapter 2 of J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city” (Jeremiah 5:1). “I looked for a man among … More Rereading a Classic on Leadership
The essential ingredient to what? Discipleship of course. The opening paragraphs of Bonhoeffer’s Life Together “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Ps. 133:1) In the following we shall consider a number of directions and precepts that the Scriptures provide us for our life together under the … More Community – the Essential Ingredient
95 years ago, a professor of systematic theology at Concordia Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO compiled a devotional book for the faithful. On October 15th, this was part of the offering: “For it is utterly impossible that human reason should apprehend even the least article of faith. Nor can any mortal have any right … More Luther on How People Come to Know God
A Benediction for the 25th Day of April Sanctifying the day by directing the heart to God The story is told that one night Martin Luther, exhausted from a day of disputing with critics, preaching to his flock, and writing to defend his teachings, went to the window of his room and prayed, “Lord, there … More He Never Sleeps, So We Can Rest
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
Sunday Afternoon Musings The reformer Martin Luther described the Christian spiritual life as consisting of three primary operations under the guidance of the Spirit. In Latin, those three operations were, Oratio, Meditatio, and Tentatio – Prayer, Meditation, and Struggle/Affliction. The disciplines of prayer and meditation over the word of the living God is pretty straight … More Affliction: How a Good God Loves His People (Sometimes)
Friday is for Family The current cultural assault on the sanctity of marriage and the duties of husbands and wives is not a new thing. Whenever knowledge of the Bible grows faint and pride in human achievement grows bold, marriage and the family are denigrated. It has been so in the past. It is now … More What Did Martin Luther Know that We Have Forgotten?
Friday is for Heart Songs Luther on the Christian Life: Cross and Freedom, by Carl Trueman (Crossway, 2015) First, when I feel that I have become cool and joyless in prayer because of other tasks or thoughts (for the flesh and the devil always impede and obstruct prayer), I take my little psalter, hurry to … More Simplicity and Prayer
Friday is for Heart Songs It was 4 P.M. when Luther arrived at Worms, 40 miles south-southwest of Frankfort, Germany. Luther had been told that his views would be heard, but instead a stack of his books were arrayed on a table and he was asked two questions: Are these your books? Will you recant … More April 17, 1521: An Example for Believers in America on How to Change the World
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