The Crossings Blog

Co-missioners, Each month, many in the Crossings network gather via Zoom for Table Talk. Those who gathered in April were encouraged to read two articles from the Crossings library, both by Ed Schroeder and both about the “third use of the law.” Following the thought of Werner Elert, Ed clearly and forcefully rejects this view of ...

Co-missioners, Thursday Theology is devoted to “making full use of Christ’s benefits.” Of course, we have use of those benefits because of Christ’s death and resurrection. In today’s post, Fred Niedner offers a rich repast of his close reading of the Gospels and Paul’s letters, as well as a few verses of rabbinic teaching from the ...

Co-missioners, This week the clear prose and sharp insights of Lori Cornell once again give Thursday Theology readers much to ponder. In this instance Lori reviews an important book that recently became available in paperback: Jesus and John Wayne, by Calvin University scholar Kristin Kobes Du Mez. Lori’s astute review prods us to move beyond shaking ...

  Co-missioners, This week we bring you Part 2 of Kurt Hendel’s essay on Luther and the Jews. As he laid out in Part 1 last week, Kurt’s goal here is “to summarize Luther’s attitude toward and comments about the Jews, analyze the potential reasons why he wrote what he did, and offer necessary critiques,” while keeping ...

  Co-missioners, An eruption of racist slaughter left ten people dead in Buffalo last week. On Sunday another was killed and more were injured at a church in Laguna Woods, California, for the sin of being Taiwanese. Anyone inclined to think in Martin Luther’s categories will refer to this as the raging of the devil.  Comes a dreadful ...

Co-missioners, This week our editor, Jerry Burce, interrupts our publication schedule to pass along three items that caught his attention in recent days and weeks.  The first two pertain to the war in Ukraine. We’ve said nothing about this in Thursday Theology so far. “Chalk that up,” says Jerry, “to a diffidence born of distance from anything ...

Co-missioners, Last November we introduced you to a new contributor, Dr. George Heider, adding the hope that we’d hear from him again soon. We do so today, in a piece that comes with a special introduction by Bruce Modahl. Bruce, a member of our current editorial team, is the one to thank for having brought Dr. ...

Co-missioners, Today we follow up Carol Braun’s reflection of last week with one by another lay writer, Chris Neumann. Both prepared these for a series of midweek prayer services that unfolded over Zoom this past Lent. The series was organized by our Thursday Theology editor, Jerry Burce, for the congregation he serves in Fairview Park, Ohio. ...

Co-missioners, Christ is risen indeed! So we heard on Sunday and will continue to hear for the next several weeks, with reminders aplenty to take this fact and put it present use. This week we see Carol Braun doing precisely this in a meditation she offered at a midweek Lenten service last month. Her topic was baptism. ...

Co-missioners, For the purposes of Thursday Theology, today’s topic is best addressed in essay form. As it is, we deliver it via yet another sermon, this one preached at an Easter Festival service three years ago. It’s not a standard Easter sermon. Hence our daring to trouble you with it. You’ll find little if any reference ...