December 2008
University Lutheran ENews - New Year's Eve →
A little bit of the auld lang syne
1 tag
With everything you've got
When I arrived at University Lutheran, I found something interesting about the way that they put their worship services together. The normal Sunday morning service was liturgical and Lutheran, but along with the typical organ/piano set up, there was normally another instrumentalist.
Florida State University, the campus that is right across the street from us, is a good school for music. ...
December 31: Malachi 1-4, Psalm 150, Revelation 22 →
1 tag
How much does a slave cost?
Most of us know that when Jesus was sold out by his treasurer, Judas, that He was sold out for 30 pieces of silver. I’ve never paid too much attention to the fact that it was 30 pieces of silver. I just figured that was the going rate for being an informant to the Jewish authorities.
Zechariah 11 gives us a little bit of context to Jesus’ betrayal at the hands of Jesus. In...
Chief Learning Officer magazine - Welcome to... →
Interesting website about education in businesses - which probably relates well to training adults (like the ones in churches)
FORA.tv - Videos Covering Today's Top Social,... →
This site ROCKS! It’s like TED.com, but not laid out nearly as well. But unlike TED, they have a religion section.
1 tag
Putting Mickey to Work in Your Church
Apparently everything from the Harvard Business Publishing blog comes in the form of lists…
This one, however, was too applicable to the church for me to not reblog it. How Would Walt Disney Market in 2009?:
Know the story is king. Humans like to read about humans and whether you are selling CAT scanners, or auto insurance, every message must have a story that resonates with the human...
1 tag
Church Leadership 2009 To-Do List
I ran across an interesting article today from Harvard Business Publishing. The article had 10 things that emerging leaders needed to cope with the challenges of 2009. I figured they probably wouldn’t be bad things to re-spin in terms of the church:
1. Listen to the Cry for Accountability
The church isn’t getting bailed out by the government anytime soon, but because every other...
December 30: Zechariah 10-14, Psalm 149,... →
1 tag
Big Brother 2.0
When I was in college I had a desktop computer. Believe it or not, this was before the days when everyone had a computer in their dorm rooms. I would estimate that about 50-75% of the rooms did.
That meant that there were a few people who did not have access to the newest hottest technology on the block - the internet and Web pages. Because I had a computer, I was one of the lucky people who...
1 tag
A tragedy in Mark
Right now I have the most recent video from ConcordiaTheology.org on pause. It’s a good video. You should check it out. Click the link and go halfway down and you’ll find a video thing that says “currents”. Unfortunately, they won’t let me me embed the video…bad idea Concordia Seminary :-(.
One thing that really struck me is the concept that maybe the...
1 tag
10 Men
The normal size of a criminal jury is 12 jurors. In the United States, jury selection often is taken out of voter registration. It’s an easy way of selecting who is best for a jury. Voters typically have at least some knowledge and passion for the laws of the land, and by choosing voters you automatically dis-choose some undesirable jury members such as convicts (who cannot vote).
In...
December 29: Zechariah 6-9, Psalm 148, Revelation... →
1 tag
A peeple...
So tonight I went out for a short little walk. As I rounded the corner, I saw a pudgy white guy wearing khaki pants and a blue polo shirt with a mustache. I didn’t think anything of it.
He seemed to be staring intently into some bushes that were on my right. I looked over and saw a light - something like the piece of junk reading light I bought at Borders the other week. “Watch...
“@jwinterscom I love Lutherans for precisely this reason (and others … ....”
– Leonard Sweet - Christian Author and Futurist, in response to one of my tweets
(who is apparently channelling my father’s tendencies of sounding like a Jamaican in text messages, maybe it’s a generational thing.)
“Those of us who are church leaders have two problems: 1. People do not want to...”
– Eric Bryant, upon hearing of a gunman (who was a church usher) dressed as Santa killing an 8 year girl and family Come to us Holy Spirit, and turn our hearts in repentance.
1 tag
Sermons: What gets you up in the morning?
Here lately around the office I’ve had less to do than what I do during the school year. Less counseling appointments and programming. Some of that has left me feeling a little listless. That’s part of where this sermon came from - a yearning to be as faithful as Anna and Simeon getting up every morning to pray for what might have seemed like a wild goose chase to some.
Text: Luke...
“Sure, a lot of what you do at Christmas makes you feel good and ‘stuff’ but does...”
– Christopher Stewart, aka Spiritopias.com
Evotional.com - Originality, Authenticity,... →
Some interesting thoughts about the habits that we get into and doing something different.
December 28: Zechariah 1-5, Psalm 147, Revelation... →
God’s Word for Today →
This is pretty good. A podcast and weblog on a Bible reading for every day of the work week.
generalscuttlebutt: A few year end questions →
I don’t know if you know the General, but if you’re a LCMS Lutheran, you’ll probably get a kick out of him.
1 tag
Hidin' out....
Zephaniah’s name means “Yahweh has hidden”. You may not know Zephaniah personally. He’s one of those little itsy-bitsy books in the back of your Old Testament.
Actually, nobody really knows anything much at all about Zephaniah. Even those that itsy-bitsy book is named after him, he doesn’t do any talking in it. The entire book is a monologue from God through...
emergingchurch.info > reflection > Jay Winters →
I’ve been re-published (sorta). A while back I was asked if this site could use my article. I just found it in a random google search.
December 27: Zephaniah 1-3, Haggai 1-2, Psalm 146,... →
1 tag
You wouldn't believe it if I told you
As you may have noticed, I’ve added a feed to my tumblr blog here. Tumblr is nice and allows you to import other feeds into your blog. That’s fun. It is especially fun because it allowed me to import the “Daily Reading Bible” from ESV.com into my blog.
I had a purpose in importing this feed…well…actually two. The first and most important purpose is that I...
1 tag
Seriously? Maybe you should go.
Recently I read an article that made me wonder if certain Texans were seeking to secede again. This time it wasn’t signing an pact to join the Confederate States of America. Rather it was kicking against the goad of my church body, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. With lines like the following in mind, I said in my twitter post, “Sometimes I’m surprised I don’t hear...
1 tag
Sermons: What were you expecting?
My Christmas Eve sermon. I chose to take a page out of Linus’ book. The most important thing is hearing - really hearing - the Gospel lesson.
Text: Luke 2:1-20
In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. ...
1 tag
Sermons: Funeral of Bob Culp
Funeral of Bob Culp
Text: Mark 12:28-34
One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that He answered them well, he asked Him, “Which commandment is first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all...
December 26: Habakkuk 1-3, Psalm 145:14-21,... →
December 25: Nahum 1-3, Psalm 145:1-13, Revelation... →
1 tag
Stuck in my Christmas Craw
Ok, there has been something stuck in my craw this Christmas, and that has been everyone deciding that they are going to be the person who puts “x” back in Christmas — sometimes literally.
This lady wants to put the “x” back in Christmas.
Gene Veith wants to put the “mass” back in Christmas.
This person wants to put grammar back in Christmas.
And of...
University Lutheran Enews - Dec. 24th →
It’s a warm, warm Christmas under the Unconqured Son
1 tag
December 24: Micah 4-7, Psalm 144, Revelation 4-6 →
1 tag
My Lord, What a Morning...
I always giggle at this hymn title. It’s a song about when Jesus returns, which the hymnwriter apparently thinks will be in the morning. I’d like to think Jesus isn’t one of those annoying morning people, however. He always seems to imply it will be at midnight…much more my time of conscious activity.
But the title of the hymn? Now that is something that resonates...