Letters On The Page

  Wikimedia Commons   Today is the commemoration of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession on June 25, 1530.  The Augsburg Confession, the principal doctrinal statement of the theology of Martin Luther and The Lutheran reformers, was written largely by Philip Melanchthon. At its heart, it confesses the justification of sinners by grace alone, through faith alone, for the sake of Christ alone. Signed by leaders of many German cities and regions, the confession was formally presented to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at Augsburg, Germany, on June 25, 1530.  A few weeks later, Roman Catholic authorities rejected the Confession, which Melanchthon defended in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession (1531). In 1580, the Unaltered Augsburg Confession was included in the Book of Concord.   Let us pray... Lord God, Heavenly Father, You preserved the teaching of the apostolic Church through the confession of the true faith at Augsburg. Continue to cast the bright beams of Your light upon Your

Wikipedia Commons   Cornelis de Wael - Calming the Storm Click Here for Video of Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer    2024 Pentecost 5 (Proper 7) Sermon  Job 38:1-11  2 Corinthians 6:1-13      Mark 4:35-41 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O   Lord , my strength, and my redeemer. Amen. Someone I read this week pointed out that if we ask questions of God, we should be prepared for God to ask questions of us. In the book of Job and the reading from Mark, questions are asked of God. And God does indeed respond.   You are probably all aware of Job’s situation. Job was a faithful and righteous man. The Lord blessed him with wife, children, respect of his neighbors, and a prosperous business. Satan took notice of him and in conversation with the LORD said that, of course Job is righteous, you have made life so easy for him. The LORD is convinced that Job will remain faithful to Him no matter what, so He permits Satan to do almost anything he

 Here is a helpful defense for reading good literature. We need to be reminded anew what the purpose of literature, good literature that explores our humanity and helps to explain all that makes us "us," in this day and age when humanities departments are being downsized or gutted.  Why Read Literature?

 This is a wonderful interview with Tracy Lee Simmons.  He wrote Climbing Parnasus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin and On Being Civilized .    

Wangerin, W. (2016).   Beate not the poore desk: A writer to young writers . Rabbit Room Press.   Should anyone ask for a recommendation of books to read to help him become a better writer, I happily add Walter Wangerin, Jr.’s  Beate   Not the Poore Desk: A Writer to Young Writers  to my brief list:  Stephen King,  On Writing: A Memoir Of the Craft Anne Lamott,  Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life William Zinsser,  On Writing Well   While not an intentional writing manual, I learned from Robert Pirsig instructions to his students about writing in  Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance .  Wangerin’s book has two parts. First Part: Art: It’s Dynamics and Its Potency. Second Part: Practical Advice. Both parts are equally valuable. Each chapter within is pithy. No word or image is wasted. His personal stories and illustrations from literature all work to persuade the writer to work harder and smarter at his craft. The result may transform a readers life.  What is needed

Click here for the video of the service 2024 Pentecost 4   Ezekiel 17:22-24   2 Corinthians 5:1-17       Mark 4:26-34 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O   Lord , my strength, and my redeemer. Summer months bring not only warm weather but also vacation time and vacation trips to destinations out of town. We welcome the break from routine. We look forward to enjoying the luxury of a holiday away. This normal pattern of coming and going is in contrast to the way that we enter the kingdom of God.   Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God. All three Scripture readings address the Kingdom of God. Ezekiel prophesies of the coming kingdom; 2 Corinthians 5 speaks of living within the kingdom; and Jesus prepares us for the kingdom of God by telling us that the kingdom of God begins with the smallest of things and grows to the largest.  We do not live in a kingdom; we live in a republic. We have towns, cities, counties, states, and a country with e

From Fine Books and Collections Newsletter Bibliophilic Factoids Last year we featured " 5 Facts You Might Not Know About the Bodleian Library ," a listicle based on Claire Cock-Starkey's book,  Bodleianalia . In that same sprit, we share five tidbits gleaned from her newest work,  The Book Lovers' Miscellany  ($17.50), a perfect little gift book of bibliophilic wisdom with topics ranging from how to identify a first edition to a brief history of the Frankfurt Book Fair to book towns around the world.   1.  The rarest book in the world  is a 1593 first edition of  Venus and Adonis  by William Shakespeare. The Bodleian's copy "is the only known copy of this book in existence." 2.  The first book ordered on Amazon  was a scientific tome called  Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies: Computer Models of the Fundamental Mechanisms of Thought  by Douglas Hofstadter.  3.  Agatha Christie is the  most translated author in the world  with 7,233 distinct translate

Click here to view the service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Wikimedia Commons - Lucas Cranach - Adam and Eve Paradise 2024 Pentecost 3  Genesis 3:8-15         2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1       Mark 3:20-35  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O  Lord , my strength, and my redeemer. Deception is a regular part of our lives. We must be alert to the possibility that the person contacting us is a scammer. We must judiciously guard our myriad usernames and passwords so that we do not get hacked and someone steals our identity and money. We learn to read and listen to the news with a certain skepticism. We ask, what is the hidden agenda here? We learn to read the fine print and to question what is said as well as what is left unsaid.   The Bible attests that deception has been with us since the near beginning. In the lesson from Genesis, we see the after effect of deception. I went back and looked carefully at what Satan did through the serpent. One o

The editor of Forum Letter likes to begin with a quote from someone in the wide range of church history.  For the June newsletter, he quoted from C. S. Lewis’ introduction to the English translation of Athanasius’  On the Incarnation  on the need to read old books. Where Lewis says old books, we should insert “classical” books, should be read. In another post I offer that quote.  This morning, as I was reading through C.S. Lewis’ introduction, I appreciated what he had to say about the Athanasian Creed.  Athanasius died May 2, 373. He did not write the Creed that bears his name. We do not know who wrote it.  The first Sunday after Pentecost is always the Feast of the Holy Trinity. Wherever I have served as Pastor, I have on that Sunday substituted the Athanasian Creed for the Nicene Creed.  Not all Lutheran congregations are in the habit of doing this.  I remember one congregation where several members were astonished by what the Athanasian Creed said. Professor Lewis comments on the w

Click here for Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer 2024 Second Sunday after Pentecost Deuteronomy 5:12-15     2 Corinthians 4:5-12                Mark 2:23-28, 3:1-6 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Amen. Some time ago, I was part of a small group of Christians that met during the week to visit, study God’s Word, and pray together. One of the men in the group was just going back to work after several months recuperating from a job related back injury and surgery. He was a hardworking, hard driving man in his mid 30s’- 40s’. He and his family were members of the church we all belonged to.  He was also in hot pursuit of the American dream of having it all. That meant owning an expensive looking home, boat, cars, clothes, taking exotic vacations, etc. He worked in alcohol distribution. In order to pay for his lifestyle choices, he worked lots of hours. Then, he got hurt and was flat on his back