wisconsin rainbow

thirsty?

It's hot out there. And I'm not just talking about the high temperatures and the sweltering humidity. Our sin is what has left us parched and thirsty, wandering in a spiritual wilderness. No mere tap water can quench our thirst for God. We've tried the alternatives. The polluted puddles and cesspools of this world’s religions and spiritualities can’t quench the deep thirst we have for righteousness, for wholeness, for peace. Only God can provide the living water we really need. Only God can open up that stream to us so that we can drink of it and live.

Remember the woman at Jacob's Well? She was thinking of physical thirst, the kind of water that takes work to find, the kind you walk a long way for with a jug on your head. The kind of water you have to work for every day, the kind you work up a thirst just in order to get it.

But Jesus is talking about a different kind of water. A water that flows like a spring, the kind that comes to you, the kind you can drink from and never thirst again, the kind that wells up to eternal life. This is not the water you can draw from Jacob’s well, or from any other well. This is living water that flows from the Creator, Savior, and Sustainer of all things.

This is the water that comes from God, which flowed from the rock in the wilderness.
“They drank from the same spiritual Rock in the wilderness, and that Rock was Christ.”
This is the same water that flowed like a stream from Jesus’ wounded side on the cross.
This is the River of Life, the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and Son, flowing like a river down the center of the heavenly city and watering the Tree of Life in Revelation. This is the water that flows to you in Baptism, a water with the Word that brings forgiveness, life, and salvation.

"The water I give will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

"Let those who are thirsty come; and receive the water of life without cost.”

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post pentecost

post-pentecost acts 2 summary ... hear the word, repent of your sin, believe that jesus died and rose again to save you from sin and death, be baptized (if you're not already), worship with fellow believers, receive the lord's supper, live a life of devotion and prayer ... all with a glad and sincere heart.

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hubble

the newest deep field photograph from the hubble space telescope showing some 10,000 galaxies ...

"the heavens declare the glory of god" - psalm 19

ht - space.com

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ascension

"Now we must consider the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the first place, it is easily said and understood that the Lord ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand  of God. But they are dead words to the understanding if they are not grasped with the heart. We must, therefore, conceive of his ascension and Lordship as something active, energetic, and continuous and not imagine that he sits above while we hold the reins of government down here. Nay, he ascended up for the reason that there he can best do his work and exercise dominion. Had he remained upon earth in visible form, before the people, he could not have wrought so effectually, for all the people could not have been with him and heard him. Therefore, he inaugurated an expedient which made it possible for him to be in touch with all and reign in all, to preach to all and be heard by all, and to be with all. Therefore, beware lest you imagine within yourself that he has gone, and now is, far away from us. The very opposite is true: While he was on earth, he was far away from us; now he is very near. "

From a sermon by Dr. Martin Luther on the last chapter of St. Mark, 1523.

springtime at concordia seminary

ht - respublica

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seven word prayer

People will use just about anything in order to justify themselves. Money, work, family, sports, politics. These common forms of self-justification are there to assure us that "at least we're better than the next guy."

Most of us have all tried this to a greater or lesser extent, and we should know by now that it just doesn't work. But our society and our culture are relentless in their demands of us, and so it's easy to take the bait, especially if you're a fairly accomplished person and think you can "rise to the challenge".

To live without this kind of self-justification is difficult, because it can make us feel weak and vulnerable. But in reality, living this way can be extremely liberating. As you come to accept the fact that you've been accepted by a good and gracious God, you begin to realize that you don't need to prove yourself anymore. All of that old stuff is over and done with. God loves you and accepts you, and He is the only One that really matters. In Him is where true freedom and liberty are found.

There is a little prayer in the Gospel of Luke that gets to the heart of this. It is the seven word prayer mumbled by the tax collector in the parable as he stood at a distance and stared at the ground: "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner." When we breathe these words and throw ourselves fully upon the grace and mercy of God, we experience His love and forgiveness without limits or conditions. God's agape love for us in Christ is unconditional - no strings attached.

And so, understood correctly, the seven word prayer is the most important prayer we can ever say - the only prayer we really need. Why? Because it comes from a clear diagnosis of our human condition, and from a confidence in a loving God who welcomes sinners as well as self-righteous saints.

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