I don’t know what will happen when we die. Among Christians, there is more than one theory, all based on what’s in the Bible. Some believe that it has all been predestined – who will go to heaven and who will not. Others believe that it has something to do with how good you’ve been,…
More than 600 years before Jesus was born, King Josiah ruled the land of Judah. He was the last king of Judah to be faithful to God. His father and grandfather had been horrible rulers. Under their reigns, many of the people had turned to idolatry. So, when Josiah became king, he tried to transform…
When you compare the story of Bartimaeus with the stories that come before it in the gospel of Mark, the first thing that might stand out is that nothing goes wrong.
When we last heard from Mark, he was reporting on Jesus’ conversation with the Judean mucky-mucks who wanted to know why the disciples were eating without washing their hands? Why were they not following “the tradition of the elders?” Why weren’t they following the rules for cleanliness?
One of those ongoing debates had to do with the words of institution at communion. In most Lutheran congregations, the pastor presiding at communion uses the words of Jesus, “Take and eat, this is my body. Take and drink, this is my blood.” These words have been key to our understanding of the sacrament for…