Archive for September, 2006
Love Yourself, Hate Yourself, or Both?
There is now hard scientific evidence that celebrities are narcissistic. Really?! See here. I think I also read about a new controversial study which has discovered that water is wet and another one that heat is hot.
An interesting sub-point of this study reveals that professional musicians – arguably the most highly [...]
Memorable Preaching
When I departed from my con-gregation in Pittsburgh, people said they hoped I’d still have occasion to preach. I will, but for now I am enjoying hearing good preaching for myself.
I have often thought about what are the necessary ingredients for good and effective preaching. Most fundamental, of course, is that the message [...]
Two Outstanding Sermons
I heard two outstanding sermons today from two different preachers.
This morning at Redeemer, Pastor Petersen offered a homily on Luke 10:25ff. Jesus said to love our neighbors as ourselves and the man asked, “who is my neighbor?” Pr. Petersen reminded us that everyone is our neighbor. No loopholes and no exceptions. Everyone is Jesus’ neighbor [...]
More Jesus Movies
16 year old Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) plays the mother of God in the upcoming film due out in December 06. It’s called The Nativity Story. Originally the title was going to just be Nativity. I wonder why the name change.
Readers of this blog know that I am a fan of the [...]
How Do You Address Your Pastor?
When I was a pastor in Pittsburgh, lots of people in the community called me “father.” Pittsburgh is a heavily Roman Catholic area. I never stopped anyone or “corrected” them for this. Although addressing a Lutheran pastor as “father” is uncommon in the US, there is nothing wrong with it.
If someone asked [...]
Patient in Persistent Vegetative State is More Aware than Imagined
So here is a case in England of a woman who has been diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state, similar to Terri Schiavo. New tests now show that this british patient has more mental awareness than her doctors had thought. The article states:
Lead researcher Dr Adrian Owen said: “These are startling [...]
Where’s Your Delight?
At a meeting on Tuesday, President Wenthe led a devotion on Psalm 1. The english translates v.2 this way:
But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
The word for “law” there, of course, is torah. The point Dr. Wenthe made is that the [...]
The Artist in You
Are you the next Jackson Pollock? Find out by going here. Change colors by clicking your mouse and hit refresh for a clean slate.
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Schlomo Dylan
So is Bob Dylan recovering his Jewish identity? Looks like a hasidic hat.
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God Called Me (I Think)
In the previous blog post, a reader commented that the seminary should not call the qualified but qualify the called. Initially, I think his point was that we should remember that pastors (and pastors-to-be) are sinners too. I’m a pastor, and I am all too dreadfully aware of my own inadequacies and [...]
