- The Real Surprise of Matthew 25
Co-missioners,
We assume that even in these days of Covid 19 many of you are managing to check in at church on Sunday, if not in person then via the internet. And some of you are among the pastors tasked with making church-of-sorts happen on Sundays. In either case you’re noticing that Christ is dosing us ...
- The Folk Religion of God Bless America, FROGBA Revisited
Co-missioners,
This will reach you two days after the election of 2020. It’s being prepared for publication three days before the election, and the one preparing it has no idea what the outcome will be, reported trends notwithstanding. The shock of Election Night 2016 continues to reverberate. Perhaps we’ll have some comments ready to share on ...
- More from “The Lion and the Lamb”
Co-missioners,
Today’s episode is the second of two extended clippings from a keynote address we heard at our Crossings conference in 2018. Aside from welcoming newcomers and introducing the conference theme, the address focused on the distinction between Law and Gospel and on the challenge of putting the Gospel to effective use in the life of ...
- Reformation-tide Spin on Law and Gospel (1)
Co-missioners,
Lutheran congregations will celebrate the Reformation this Sunday. Or at least we hope they will. Here we think chiefly of ELCA churches and the pastors who lead them. One of the concomitants of ecumenical rapprochement is a tendency to downplay the distinctiveness of one’s own tradition and witness. To the extent that Lutherans succumb to ...
- Plain(s) Theology for a Pandemic Problem
Co-missioners,
Steve Kuhl has been writing a lot of reflections over the past several months for his Episcopal church in South Milwaukee. Last week he shared another one with us. It speaks to a dilemma that all too many congregations are wrestling with at the moment. We think you’ll appreciate the care Steve takes in addressing ...
- Preach the Gospel! It’s What We Need!
Co-missioners,
Early last month we brought you a review of N.T. Wright’s reflection on the pandemic, published this past June. The reviewer was Matt Metevelis, a hospice chaplain and parish pastor in Las Vegas. Matt is a voracious reader, as we mentioned. Luther and Augustine make his heart sing. He writes a lot too, often on ...
- Esau McCaulley’s Reading While Black. A Review
Co-Missioners,
Bruce Modahl, editor of our quarterly newsletter, sent us a book review to share with you this week. We’re delighted to do so.
A reminder that our new offering, Crossings Table Talk, launches next Tuesday at 1 p.m. Central Time (2 p.m. Eastern, noon Mountain, 11 a.m. Pacific). Steve Albertin will lead a discussion of Robert ...
- Offensiveness: Today’s Gospel Imperative. Its Gift Too.
Co-Missioners,
Our editor weighs in this week with some thoughts designed to scrape as they’ve scraped on him of late.
Before we get to that, allow us to invite you to Crossings Table Talk, a new offering conceived and organized by Steve Albertin and Cathy Lessmann. It’s a monthly chance to talk Gospel over Zoom with a ...
- Antiracism as the Way of the Cross
Co-Missioners,
Steve Kuhl, a frequent contributor of late, serves an Episcopal congregation in South Milwaukee, not all that from Kenosha, Wisconsin. He sends along a reflection he wrote for his parishioners about the recent turmoil there. He’ll provoke your thinking too—or so we trust.
Peace and Joy,
The Crossings Community
A letter from Steve Kuhl
Dear Christian Friends,
We witnessed with ...
- N.T. Wright’s “God and the Pandemic.” A Review
Co-Missioners,
“Discover a different way of seeing and responding to the Coronavirus pandemic, an approach drawing on Scripture, Christian history, and the way of living, thinking, and praying revealed to us by Jesus.”
So says the Amazon blurb about the latest book by N.T. Wright, the world’s busiest New Testament scholar. We asked the busiest reader we ...