Letters On The Page

Benjamin L. Merkle and Robert L. Plummer. Greek for Life: Strategies for Learning, Retaining, and Reviving New Testament Greek . Baker Academic, 2017.   I took a year of classical Greek in College (Crosby and Schaeffer, Introduction to Greek), a three-week introduction to Koine Greek (Machen, New Testament Greek for Beginners) as the first class in seminary. I have tried over the years to retrieve and use what I learned for Bible study and sermons. I have benefited from good commentaries that provided useful linguistic, cultural, and exegetical information. But, I am in a time and place where I want to occupy my mind with the Greek New Testament and the Septuagint. I want more than a familiarity with the text. Is there a way to get going again, but also not flame out after three weeks?  For folks like me, Merkle and Plummer provide useful, practical advice with loads of antidotes. They address issues like time management, distractions (the Internet comes up A LOT), and how to ...

Vespers - Thanksgiving Eve at St. Luke, Rensselaer Thanksgiving Eve Psalm 67       Deuteronomy 8:1-10          1 Timothy 2:1-4 As we meditate on Psalm 67, we are aware that God is gracious to us, and that we blessed. We join with the Psalmist in praying that all people will praise the Lord and that every nation will be glad and sing for joy because of God’s kindness, provision, and salvation in Jesus Christ. Yet, we are aware that many people  do not know  to thank God, or even know the name of the one true God to credit Him with the many blessings in their lives. Instead of thanking the Lord God who created the heavens and the earth, us, all that we hold most dear and essential to our lives, they will instead speak of a “Higher Power”, or “the universe”, or proclaim that there is no god at all. But, the Church knows the truth of the situation. So, in behalf of those who do not yet know God as He desires to be known throug...

Video of service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   The Last Sunday of the Church Year          Isaiah 51:4-6 Jude 20-25  Mark 13:24-37   I have not had the pleasure of living in a residence that has a doorkeeper. But I have visited such places. Those door keepers are a first familiar face and voice of welcome to residents. They are also the first line of defense in keeping people who do not belong out. Those who do not belong may want in for a couple of reasons. One, they are curious how others live. They just want to see what they can see. Second, they have mischief in their hearts.   Jesus calls the pastors and leaders of the Church to serve as doorkeepers for the Church and her congregations. We are mandated to be careful about who enters and who exercises their influence. Those entering may truly seek God’s salvation through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Or, they may have a different agenda and work to sow discor...

  Sarah Smarsh.   Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class . Scribner, NY. 2024.   Smarsh offers personal essays that are written and published within 2013-2024. She publishes in a wide variety of venues. One value of this book is that her essays are consolidated into a single place.  A second value is that she writes about her life and family so that the reader may understand that when she writes about class division and identity, government economic and farm policy, business practices, insurance, health care, wages compensation, sexism, etc., it is all personal. These are not mere abstract ideas or policies that are developed. These are ideas and decisions that directly affect real, decent, hardworking people like her and her family.  I appreciated every essay collected in this book. My political and economic preferences and assumptions were challenged. My mind was not changed, but I felt that I was sufficiently argued with. Throu...

Video of Divine Service                                                                Image address 2024 Pentecost 26   Daniel 12:1-3          Hebrews 10:11-25             Mark 13:1-13 I shudder to imagine what horrors that Daniel saw in his vision that he is moved by the Holy Spirit to share with us: “ And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. ”  Daniel has already seen plenty of upheaval. As a young boy he and three of his friends witnessed Jerusalem besieged by King Nebuchadnezzar. In order to get that to stop the king of Jerusalem at the time, hands over temple vessels, parts of the treasury, and promising young people to serve as slaves in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court. Daniel a...

Video of Divine Service   Public Domain   2024 Pentecost 25   1 Kings 17:8-16       Hebrews 9:24-28      Mark 12:38-44 Yesterday morning, I received a phone call from a member of one of my former congregations. Bob wanted to let Marie and me know that his dear wife Carol died at 1:30 Saturday morning. In the course of our conversation, Bob reminded me that he and Carol have been married for 69 years.  He said it was going to be quite a change. He did not relish living alone. He does not want to be a widower. They were quite a team. A blessing and support to one another. I am blessed to have known both of them as well as I do.  I share this with you because in our lectionary readings today, we meet two widows. Now, the Bible does talk about widows and widowers. The death of a wife or a husband does bring about a sudden change in one’s life. The change can be crushing and debilitating. The household is not the same. God is c...

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer 24th Sunday after Pentecost    Deuteronomy 6:1-9  Hebrews 9:11-22  Mark 12:28-37   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. Jesus says to the scribe, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” This scribe that Jesus speaks to has just agreed with him about what is the most important commandment out of the 613 commandments that God gave to Moses.  When Jesus answered the question he began with the Shema, the Jewish confession of faith that is found in our first reading.  In the confession, “The Lord is One,” God reveals that there is only one God. There are no others. Unlike the pantheon of gods in Egypt, Caanan, Greece, and Rome.  After the confession that the Lord is one, Jesus says the first commandment. The confession of the Lord God as One and the first commandment demand complete obedience to God. The Lord dem...

  Holly Ordway.  Not God’s Type: An Atheist Academic Lays Down Her Arms . Moody Press, Chicago, 2010. Ignatius Press, San Francisco. 2014.  Inside the book jacket, the following statement is in bold letters at the top of the book description: This is the story of a glorious defeat. Indeed. Ordway chronicles God’s glorious defeat of her fervent atheism. And, because God has a marvelous sense of humor, he uses the most unlikely of people to bring the Gospel to her in a way that disarms her and allows the Word of God, that two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), to pierce her heart and mind and bring her to faith in Christ. The defeat took a long time. God’s chosen instrument of communication was Josh, Ordway’s fencing coach. He spoke to her in an intellectual language that she could understand. He exhibited patience and discipline in dealing with Ordway. Not only in fencing, which she readily concedes that she needed, but also during their discussions of the Christian faith. He let...