Colleagues, Something jubilant after last week’s somber posting. In the second year of our decade-plus serving as “Global Mission Volunteers” in the ELCA (1995), Marie and I were in Addis Ababa at the seminary of the EECMY, the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. Here “Evangelical” = Lutheran, and “Mekane Yesus” = Dwelling Place of Jesus. Our initial caretakers …
His Hand Was on Lincoln’s Bible, but . . . .
Colleagues, His hand was on Lincoln’s Bible. I too wept to be a TV witness of it all. For joy. But his theology wasn’t Lincoln’s. Nor the Bible’s. Obama’s first address from the famed Bully Pulpit of the American presidency was FROGBA, the Folk Religion of God Bless America. And God will bless America because “Yes, we can.” …
Christless Christianity
Colleagues, Bill Moorhead is Senior Pastor at Pacific Hills Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska. Back in the early 1970s we met as student and prof in the classroom at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. We’ve stayed in touch. He even brought me out to Omaha a year or two ago to do a Crossings gig with his congregation. He …
Mission from a Position of Weakness
Colleagues, Every now and then I do a book review for MISSIOLOGY, the journal of the American Society of Missiology. Couple days ago I sent this to the book review editor. So it’s also this week’s post for ThTh #552. Exactly one year ago today it was ThTh number 500. When/where will it end? Peace and Joy! Ed …
The Maasai Creed
Colleagues, Something short and to the point for the first day of The Year of our Lord 2009, the Day of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus. It’s the Maasai Creed, a creed composed in 1960 by the Maasai people–an indigenous African tribe of semi-nomads located primarily in Kenya and northern Tanzania of East Africa — in collaboration …