Theological Thursday

HEAVEN

"Even the best lives someday come to an end. The only thing that will matter then is whether or not we'll get to heaven. I believe in miracles, that God can & does heal people, but more important than that, I believe in the eternal hope of heaven. When I die, that's where I'm going, because heaven is my home."  Dave Dravecky, Men's Devotional Bible

LENT

At some profound level, the season of Lent takes us to God’s death as well, perhaps for some in more ways than one during this present moment of global fear and suffering. Like the Incarnation, the crucifixion leaves most of our ideas in ruins at the foot of the cross. The journey to death and Golgotha is an offensive journey to take with God. But blessed are those who take it. Blessed are those in pain over the death of their Gods. Blessed are those who mourn at the tombs and take in the sorrow of the crime scenes. For theirs is somehow the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom somehow able to hold Golgotha, a kingdom able to hold death itself.  Jill Carattini, Slice of Infinity

TEACHING 

"Our task is not to teach Christ for culture or against culture. Rather, we teach all things Christ has commanded us in the face of an unbelieving world. In view of this, it will do us no good simply to be culturally relevant. More than that, much more than that, we must be faithful to the Christ of Scripture. We must be orthodox. And we must love the people for who Christ died. Orthodoxy toward God & love toward the people around us is the surest way to plant a culture in which the Gospel thrives.  David Preus, The Lutheran Witness, February 2020