Forgiveness
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Love your enemies: Embracing mercy as a way of life
The enduring human tendency to hurt one another shows up time and time again. People in the Bible were not exempt from it and neither are we. But there are alternatives. There is a path that leads to life. Joseph’s choice to forgive his brothers and Jesus’ teaching to love enemies emphasize love as a…
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Building Bethel: We Do Stuff Here You Just Don’t Do Anywhere Else
From December 2015 Bethel Bell Tower newsletter And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs…
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Devotion: C’mon out! The water’s getting hot!
You’ve heard the story about how to boil a frog … if you try to put a frog into boiling water, it will immediately jump out because it realizes that the water is too hot for it. However, if you put a frog in lukewarm water and gradually raise the temperature, by the time the…
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Devotion: Moving On After Sin
Sin is not a great topic. To talk about sin is to necessarily raise our awareness of our own faults, where we have hurt people, and where we fall short. The reality is we all sin – we all fall short. It is our faith that makes a difference because it describes how we react…
Epicurious Lutheran 