Blog - Forgiveness

My two children, my father, and I, we really lived it up for our New Year’s Eve last night, I tell you what.

I have a new Jøtul F 118 Black Bear Stove.

I know Christmas is around the corner (even my family is starting to bust out the Christmas decorations), but Advent does yet have dibs on our attention for a short spell.

“And Lincoln says to the woman, ‘Madam, do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?’”

This year’s Advent launches us into the “Year of Mark,” the period when the primary gospel readings come from, well, Mark, obviously.

Ten years ago yesterday, all was mostly well in my world.

Tuesday, post Holy Week.

Daughter Else asks magnificent questions.

Dear all,

I have Reinhold Niebuhr on the mind these days.

We have been waiting for weeks now to sing that very first verse: “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!”

I was listening, the other day, to a man on the radio who said that he advocated “Value Based Voting.”

Today, at 10:00 p.m., South Dakota will execute a man, and another man within the next couple of weeks.

Below is the text of August 12th’s sermon for Springdale Lutheran.  The texts are below the sermon, and were captured at http://bible.oremus.org.

Last week, I got this query:
Hello Anna,

The other day, my good friend told me that she’d watched a show about the Rogue Wave Phenomenon.

Anna- curious of your understanding of Matthew 13:36-43.  Is this really telling of a one time judgement and not an eternal one?  I was thinking of our conversation at Outlaw Ranch this past week.  It sounds pretty eternal to me.

The problem I see every day amongst Christians is the inability to find a more practical explanation to those of us who don’t quite understand the meaning of giving up your only son to save a bunch of sinners. Why would anyone do that? And worse: no matter what kind of crook you’ve been your whole life,  just accept such a travesty and you secured a spot in heaven. And I’m supposed to reason with that?????  Come on!!!

Well, if you can read this, you too have not been raptured.

Question:
I was brought up being told that God is everywhere, and all powerful, that those who seek shall find, and that it is quite possible to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, while fearing no evil.