It is amazing to me how often I have people tell me that someone said to them, "I just don't agree with Pastor Erik's opinion on Halloween." I find it interesting that they don't actually talk to me about it, though. If you can actually - really - read the entire blog post below (all … Continue reading It’s Time, Once Again, To Post This Halloween Notice On the Church Door
I wrote this article for a local publication, and after some weird edit choices by them, it ran. For those who enjoyed it, here it is in its full, unedited, original brilliance... Lately, my mailbox has been overflowing, not so much with bills, but with political flyers. You’re getting them too, right? The ones that … Continue reading A Christian Voter’s Guide
Last week, I wrote about the need we have for help from outside of ourselves. I made the case that the help we receive has to come from a being that is perfect, and that this perfect being, call it God, has to find us. But maybe you don't buy that God is perfect. After … Continue reading The Revealed God
Last week, I wrote about the basic problem of the human condition: that no matter how much we try and tell ourselves otherwise, no matter how much the world tells us we’re perfect just the way we are, we are far from perfect. But if we’re all far from perfect, that means there’s only so … Continue reading Outside Help, Outside Hope
’Yet even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.’ (Joel 2:12) In the Church, we are nearing the end of the season of Lent. Lent is a time of repentance; of turning from our sinful ways … Continue reading On Lent and Sin
A cousin used to say about my grandfather, “If he can’t take it with him, he ain’t gonna go.” Grandpa made it 93 years, but in the end, he left it all behind. The cliché is a cliché for a reason: You can’t take it with you. We’ve heard it, we know it... and sometimes, … Continue reading Don’t Take It With You
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has … Continue reading Are Monsters Real?
No nativity scene would be complete without those three wise men, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, kneeling reverently before the manger while their faithful camels look on. And of course, there’s one African, one Caucasian, and one Asian in appearance. Who knew that the first Christmas was so diverse and inclusive, even before that was a … Continue reading We Three… Kings?
It surprises many to learn that the Twelve Days of Christmas (birds and all) are not the days leading up to Christmas, but the days of Christmas, beginning on Christmas Day and leading up to Epiphany. First off, the month of December – contrary to popular belief – is not Christmas time. The roughly four … Continue reading The Twelve Days of… Not Yet
Ah, yes. The topic everyone has an opinion on, and a topic most people even agree on: churches should spend a whole lot less time talking about and asking for my money. But why do churches take offerings, preach about giving, hold "Stewardship" Sundays and even hold fundraisers? The answer has to do with two … Continue reading Why Do We Do That: Churches and Money
Honest Musings from a Regular Guy... Who Also Happens to Be a Lutheran Pastor 