Norman Nagel on worship

Our Lord speaks and we listen. His Word bestows what it says. Faith that is born from what is heard acknowledges the gifts received with eager thankfulness and praise. Music is drawn into this thankfulness and praise, enlarging and elevating the adoration of our gracious giver God. Saying back to him what he has said to us, we repeat what is most true and sure. Most true and sure is his name, which he put on us with the water of our Baptism. We are his. This we acknowledge at the beginning of the Divine Service. Where his name is, there is he. Before him we acknowledge that we are sinners, and we plead for forgiveness. His forgiveness is given us, and we, freed and forgiven, acclaim him as our great and gracious God as we apply to ourselves the words he has used to make himself known to us. The rhythm of our worship is from him to us, and then from us back to him. He gives his gifts, and together we receive and extol them. We build one another up as we speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Our Lord gives us his body to eat and his blood to drink. Finally his blessing moves us out into our calling, where his gifts have their fruition. How best to do this we may learn from his Word and from the way his Word has prompted his worship through the centuries. We are heirs of an astonishingly rich tradition. Each generation receives from those who went before and, in making that tradition of the Divine Service its own, adds what best may serve in its own day – the living heritage and something new.

– Lutheran Worship (1982) Introduction by Dr. Norman Nagel

Being as gift

Luther writes on Psalm 118:

What is all the money and wealth in the world compared with one sunlit day? Were the sun to stop shining for one day, who would not rather be dead; for what would then be the value of wealth and power? What would the finest wine ... in the world amount to if we had to go without water for one day? What would our magnificent castles, houses, silk, satin, purple, golden jewellery, precious stones, all our pomp and glitter help us if we had to do without air for the length of one “Our Father”? (LW vol. 14 p. 48)

The parable of the King and the Maiden — Søren Kierkegaard

Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden. The king was like no other king. Every statesman trembled before his power. No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents. And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden who lived in a poor village in his kingdom. How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his kingliness tied his hands.

If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist — no one dared resist him. But would she love him? She would say she loved him, of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she had left behind? Would she be happy at his side? How could he know for sure?

If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross the gulf between them. For it is only in love that the unequal can be made equal.

The king, convinced he could not elevate the maiden without crushing her freedom, resolved to descend to her. Clothed as a beggar, he approached her cottage with a worn cloak fluttering loose about him. This was not just a disguise — the king took on a totally new identity — He had renounced his throne to declare his love and to win hers.

Review of N.T. Wright's “Paul and his recent Interpreters”

Here is a thorough and helpful review by Andreas J. Köstenberger of N.T. Wright's Paul and His Recent Interpreters: Some Contemporary Debates.

As Wright puts it, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither apocalyptic nor salvation history, neither participation nor justification: all are one in the Messiah”

http://www.booksataglance.com/book-reviews/paul-recent-interpreters-contemporary-debates-n-t-wright/

Easter poems

Love is that liquor sweet and most divine,
Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine. 
~ George Herbert

Salvation was bought
not by Jesus' fist, but by his nail-pierced hands;
not by muscle but by love;
not by vengeance but by forgiveness;
not by force but by sacrifice. ~ AW Tozer

Embrace Technology when Confirming the Faith (LCMS blog post)

I recently read this blog post:

​“Embrace Technology when Confirming the Faith”
http://blogs.lcms.org/2016/embrace-technology-when-confirming-the-faith

I thought there were some really great ideas, these in particular:

“Ask [your youth] to synopsize a sermon into a tweet, and then send it out for others to see. Let them Instagram photos of church art and share what that imagery teaches us about God.”

What do you think?

"Surprise the World" by Michael Frost

Enjoying reading "Surprise the World" by Michael Frost:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B012P6LDWA

"Faith, then, is not an act, a single choice, or even just a belief system; it is a habit. ... Missional habits are those habits we foster in our lives that, in turn, shape our missional outlook. ... The trick is to develop habits that unite us together as believers, while also propelling us into the lives of others. We also need habitual practices that don’t deplete our energy and burn us out, but rather reenergize us, replenishing our reserves and connecting us more deeply to Jesus."

The five missional habits (BELLS):

Bless: I will bless three people this week — at least one of whom is not a member of our church.
Eat: I will eat with three people this week — at least one of whom is not a member of our church.
Listen: I will spend at least one period of the week listening for the Spirit’s voice.
Learn: I will spend at least one period of the week learning Christ.
Sent: I will journal throughout the week all the ways I alerted others to the universal reign of God through Christ.