Whose Church is it Anyway?

Dear Folks, For the last Thursday Theology of the millennium (won’t you be glad when we don’t hear that word anymore?) I’m offering you two thoughts. The first is a one page “My Faith Journey” (normal seminary fare in the 90’s) which I wrote this past fall. I’m sending it because I assume most of you know …

“The Grace of God has Appeared.” Which Grace?

Colleagues, Back in the days of the old lectionary–before the three-year cycle came to be–we had the same readings year after year for every Sunday and festival day. And so it came to pass in THOSE days that Titus 2:11-14 was always the epistle for “Christmas Day, The Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord.” That text was …

Readers’ Response plus Two Macedonian Calls

Colleagues, For this week, two responses to past issues of ThTh plus two Macedonian calls. Peace & Joy! Ed THE TWO MACEDONIAN CALLS– First one comes from Klaipeda, LITHUANIA. In 1997 Marie and I were ELCA “mission volunteer” working at the Protestant Seminary in Klaipeda. For English-language worship and nurture Marie and I joined in Sunday evening …

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Lutheran-Roman Catholic Consensus

Colleagues, Two items again today.  Peace & Joy! Ed THE LCMS AND JDDJ Well, that was a surprise. Yesterday’s number of USA TODAY, not exactly one of the major religious journals in our nation, carried a full-page “Comment” by the president of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod [LCMS] with this banner headline: Toward True Reconciliation. A …

The Gospel as Advent Theology

Colleagues, First a correction. Second some Advent Archival Items. Third a word about the Tin Cup (again). CORRECTION:Two items of introduction were missing in ThTh 76 last week, Annemie Bosch’s essay “Memory and Forgiveness.” They were already missing in the original cyberspace transmission I received and then passed on to you. One was this notation: “This article was …

Mission in the New Millenium – A South African Voice

Colleagues: January 21-28, 2000 d.v., will find both of your ThTh editors In Pretoria, South Africa at the 10th every-four-years conference of the IAMS [International Association for Mission Studies]. Marie and Ed have been IAMS members for almost 20 years and have attended IAMS 5,6,7,8,9 during those years. This time Robin Morgan is also attending. For 8 days …

Readers’ Feedback: “How does Jesus on the cross make a difference?”

Colleagues, Here are some recent responses that have come back to us at this Crossings cyber-port. Robin and I think you would appreciate them. Peace & Joy! Ed [Lutheran pastor “M” in Western Australia] Just a little thankyou from remote rural Western Australia. Mission Exec “S” from New South Wales put us onto the Crossings method over …

Measuring sermons to see if they’re Gospel

Colleagues, Thanks for the good words from many of you following Robin’s report (ThTh 73) that I was both hospitialized and having a birthday in the same week. That’s a new form of “simul / et” for this Lutheran. Now continuing the antibiotic therapy here at home, I’m getting better and so I’m back to the computer for …

Some Reflections on the Theology of Bishop I Wayan Mastra

When Wayan Mastra, long-term bishop in the GKPB [Protestant Christian Church of Bali], confesses his faith, that confession is clear, crisp and Christocentric. His favorite way is to echo the words from Johns Gospel, Jesus own claim, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me. When Mastra articulates …