John 8:31-36 Have you ever had a harder time discerning ‘truth’ than you are having today? Whether it is because leaders appear to no longer have a commitment to speaking anything near unbiased ‘truth’ or ‘truth’ itself is simply so difficult to discern against the seemingly constantly changing landscape which makes up our world, ‘truth’ …
Tag: John 8:31-36
Truth and Freedom
John 8:31-36 I visited at the prison this week. I had meant to go sooner, but other demands got in the way. This week a friend, a fellow pastor, was making the trip and she asked if I wanted to go as well. I did. If you have been tagging along with me for a …
Ever ‘Reforming’: But Still Sharing the Gifts of God!
Jeremiah 31:31-34 Romans 3:19-28 John 8:31-36 This is so. I was 17 years old when the Lutheran church body I called home adopted a new hymnal: The Lutheran Book of Worship. I loved it. The liturgies were updated and lively, at least compared to what I had known before. More than this, though, I was …
“If You Continue in My Word…”
John 8:31-36 It was some time ago when I first traveled to Germany to see the ‘Luther Sites.’ As I recall, on the first day of the journey I was sitting on the tour bus next to a friend who had skidded into that journey exhausted and so as soon as we stowed our luggage …
Truth and Freedom
John 8:31-36 And so what is this truth that makes us free? I was called upon to preach at our local Hospice Annual Memorial Service a few weeks ago. Those in attendance were primarily family members and friends of dear ones who had died in the past year. I knew their memories would be fresh …
On Truth and Freedom and the One Who Sets Us Free
John 8:31-36 “And you will know the truth and the truth will make you free…” John 8:32 I have to say that, like many, I have a rather checkered relationship with ‘the truth.’ And while I’m going back close to fifty years to make my point, it would, no doubt, be less than truthful for me …
Slavery and Freedom
John 8:31-36 Most of the time I really do understand Jesus’ first listeners today when they proclaim for all the world to hear that they ‘have never been slaves to anyone.’ For even though it may be obvious to anyone else that they are a people who should know what slavery is: As those whose …
“Messiest Pastor Ever…”
John 8:31-36 To be sure, I am not one who can speak deeply from a personal experience of ‘slavery’ — for it is not part of my own history. But then, as Jesus points out to his first listeners today, that sort of experience is not what he is speaking of at all. Rather, the …