Letters On The Page

Cheryl Swipe and Melinda Heine, Curriculum Resource Guide for Classical Lutheran Education   CCLE Press, 2015.  This is a remarkable resource that includes books, periodicals, and websites.  Each entry has a succinct description that includes age appropriateness. The authors are Lutheran and warn against doctrinal matters that need to be worked around.  For example, a Latin book may include prayers to Mary or a philosophy and theology book that may include a Reformed perspective.   The final pages include a section titled Classical Education Reference Books and More.  These resources provide a broader view of classical education in general and Lutheran Classical Education in particular. There is also a listing of online classes, materials for teaching children with special needs and a list of classical education publishers.   The website for the Consortium for Classical Lutheran Education is  https://www.ccle.org/  .  The website is load...

Last week Marie and I were introduced to the Fountain Park Chautauqua in Remington, IN.  A friend from Emmaus Lutheran Church invited us to join them for supper.  What a great place and experience!

  Icon of St. Paul the Apostle Click for video of service at St. Luke, Rensselaer Tenth Sunday after Pentecost   Genesis 9:8-17       Ephesians 3:14-21           Mark 6:45-56 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  In an age when our technology enables us to do remarkable things, the readings for today remind us that God has power beyond our abilities. We can inflict significant damage to our world, make a desert green, and build enormous buildings, but God is the one who has complete mastery over the world. God created the world from nothing. He can use the forces of the world that he created to bless or discipline His creation as He sees fit.  The reading from Genesis comes at the end of the Great Flood. The wickedness of men must have been ghastly and awful for God to feel the need to punish humanity ...

 The Apostle Paul preaching in the Synagogue in Ephesus Video of Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer                  The Nineth Sunday after Pentecost  Jeremiah 23:1-6             Ephesians 2:11-22                   Mark 6:30-44   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.    I don’t know the personal history of all of you, but I suspect that most of you cannot remember a time when you were not a Christian. Nor do you remember a time when you were not associated with the church. You may have gone through various feelings and thoughts about your association with the church, but you have always been connected to the church. By “feelings and thoughts” I mean “bored,”...

Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries: "It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. "There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion. "If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the 'medicine closet' and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That's why you should always have a nutrition choice! "Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer prod...

  Blessed to witness and be a part of Pastor Scott Woodhouse's ordination and installation at St. James Lutheran Church, Logansport, IN on July 14. God's riches blessings upon Pastor Woodhouse and the congregation of St. James!

Image is from Wikimedia Commons   Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer   2024 Pentecost 8   Amos 7:7-15 Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:14-29 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.  When I was a child in school, we often did team sports during gym class. The instructor would choose two captains.  The captains took turns choosing teammates. Sometimes, the choice was based on friendship, but most often it had to do with skill and ability.  No one wants to be the captain of a team that loses because he picked people with no skill or ability. Your first picks are the most athletic. You save the uncoordinated and less proficient for last.  As we go through life, we realize that we are often chosen because of certain skills, insights, characteristics that get us noticed. Merit, skill, accreditation, and relationships have a lot to do with our lives. It is very easy to transfer...