1517 Blogcast

We may not know what Mary's opinion was about Elvis or horses, but we know that she was a good girl who loved Jesus, and her boyfriend (or her betrothed, Joseph) too. We might call him a fiancé even if by our standards she was way too young to have such a thing.

Have you ever been in some much trouble with your parents that they called you by your full name? How many of you have been in so much trouble you were accidentally called by one of your sibling’s names? What about the dog’s name? You know you’re in real trouble when the dog’s name gets thrown into the mix.

The “end times” are rarely thought of in close connection to preaching. Preaching, one might imagine, concerns the announcement of what has already occurred in the narrative of salvation. At its best, preaching is the application of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross to sinners in the present day, especially as His work is set forth or illuminated in a particular passage of Holy Scripture. But preaching is rarely associated with the last things.

On the afternoon of December 10, 1520, a number of faculty from the University of Wittenberg and a batch of students gathered outside the Elster gate on the east end of the city. A notice that had been posted in a nearby chapel inviting anyone who thought the Roman church’s teaching stank to join to together at the city’s rankest spot: the town carrion pit. There they could witness the burning of the church’s foulest books of Scholastic theology and papal laws, all of it organized by Martin Luther’s friend and colleague Johann Agricola.

This blog is a part of our Advent series on the hope we find in, through and given by Christ. Each week’s installment will look at hope from a different perspective with special emphasis on corresponding passages of Scripture.

In Catalonia, children usher in the Christmas season, with all its trimmings, lights, packages and treats, by celebrating with the poop log which defecates candy in front of the fire. Yes. The poop log might not be the grandest of traditions or held in the same esteem as say, a midnight mass or the care given to making Christmas dinner, but the poop log, or Tio de Nadal, is a tradition nonetheless.

As one who has served with (and benefited from) evangelical institutions for over thirty years, it is becoming increasingly clear that Luther’s Reformation has unique gifts to share with the world (though the other branches of Protestantism also have gifts to give). What are these gifts? How might they be a boon to Christ’s Church? The following is a partial list of six gifts, with a brief description of each.

The season of Advent is absurd when we pause to think about it. Advent declares to a world hell-bent on bookkeeping that God's salvation comes with no price tag. Advent declares to people who are arrogant, materialistic, and short-sighted that eternal salvation comes as a free gift. The God of justice, the God who punishes evil, comes as beggar-king to die at the hands of the evil, and the malicious, and the hateful so that they may see the kingdom of God.

As we enter into another Advent Season, it is good to be reminded that doing the unlikely and unreasonable is standard procedure for our God when He dramatically advances His redemptive plan. Perhaps, however, that description is too weak. When poised to accomplish work central to His plan of salvation, the Lord God usually chooses methods that border on the outlandish and impossible.

When we hope in Christ, we are no longer yearning for a particular event to happen, but rather stand firm in the one who brought about our life by delivering us from the uncertainty of death.