Tag: Questions

In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we read, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Yet other verses tell us that Jesus was "without sin" (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 3:18). How do we reconcile such verses? To begin, let me emphasize that Christ as God i...

A Tenebrae is a special service for Holy Week, that can be conducted on Wednesday in Holy Week, Maundy Thursday, or Good Friday. You can read a description of a Tenebrae service elsewhere in my web site. The purpose of this page is to help you design one. “Tenebrae” is Latin for “shadows,” so this i...

Second Peter 1:21 tells us that "prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." The phrase "carried along" in this verse literally means to be "forcefully borne along." Even though human beings were used in the process of writ...

In Mark 6:4-5 Jesus affirmed that a prophet is without honor in his home town, and in view of that reality, He could not perform any miracles in Nazareth except for healing a few sick people. The people of Nazareth were apparently plagued by unbelief and paid little attention to the claims of Jesus....

Martin Luther had a number of ideas for things that people could do at home to teach the catechism to their children. He certainly didn’t invent the wreath itself, because that goes back to ancient Roman times, and probably even earlier. People used wreaths as an Advent decoration long before Luther...

In 3 John 2 we read: "Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers." Some people have cited this verse in support of what they call the "prosperity gospel." But this is a misunderstanding of the verse. The Greek word for "prosper" here refers...

Many New Agers say that Jesus went to India as a child to learn from Hindu gurus. He allegedly later went to Israel and performed miracles learned from these gurus, and taught doctrines He derived from them. Such an idea is preposterous. To begin with, Jesus' teaching about God was not pantheistic (...

There are two types of sermons—prewritten and extemporaneous. There is no particular value in one type or the other, but there are occasions when it is handy to be able to preach a well organized sermon off the cuff. So if you prewrite your sermons, but you want to learn to speak extemporaneously, h...

The Revised Common Lectionary is an ecumenical list of scripture readings for use in Sunday worship. There are many, many advantages to using the lectionary. You don’t get stuck in a rut of your favorite passages.Your congregation gets a balanced exposure to the entire Bible over a three-year cycle....

These are my personal suggestions for Protestant ministers whose denominations don’t give them guidance on what to wear while they conduct worship. I am following the general ecumenical practice in the United States. Presbyterians can use these suggestions; however, if they wish to wear the distinct...

In John 14:12 Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." Does this mean you and I can do even more amazing miracles than Jesus performed while He was on earth. No way! In ...

Jesus is well known for His continued emphasis on love, forgiveness, and "turning the other cheek." It is therefore surprising to find Jesus advising the disciples to buy a sword in Luke 22:36: "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and ...