Month: November 2015

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

The Foundation on Which Life Is Built

Ceder Mountain, Lutheran Valley Retreat, Colorado

God’s Word guides the community of God’s people on Life’s journey.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners.
You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people.
You are members of God’s family.
Together, we are his house,
built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets.
And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.”
Ephesians 2:19-20 New Living Translation

This rock cairn is one of many cairns that play a significant role for people climbing Cedar Mountain.

Ceder Mountain, Lutheran Valley Retreat, Colorado
Ceder Mountain, Lutheran Valley Retreat, Colorado

Cedar Mountain is a popular hike for those staying at Lutheran Valley Retreat (more affectionately known as LVR). Though not a tall mountain by any stretch of the imagination, it is a fairly steep climb to a vista that looks out over the retreat as well as the 2002 Hayman Fire and the Rampart Range Mountains.

These cairns guide the way to the summit. They withstand gale force winds, rain and snow. From year to year they stand and lead people to an experience they might otherwise miss.

The foundation of the prophets and the apostles has withstood the challenges of history. This foundation continues to point people to the chief cornerstone, to Jesus Christ. Long before we entered history and long after we join the church triumphant this foundation will last. It will stand until Jesus returns.

That foundation of the apostles and prophets is the Word read and explored in the context of the God’s community. It forms our community and it commission this community. Without this foundation we’ll lose our way and never experience the life that God intends for us to live.

We can trust God’s Word to lead us to Jesus.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Categories
Podcasts

PWTE Podcast Episode 012: Fearless Conversation

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Thom Schultz, the founder of Group Publishing and the co-author of the book, Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore, joins Richelle Hecker and me on this episode of the Praying With The Eyes podcast. Thom shares his thoughts on questions raised by this title, as well as the four acts of love he and his wife, Joani, suggest are necessary for churches to incorporate into their DNA. Special attention is given to fearless conversation which is one of these four acts of love.

Click on this link to buy the book, Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore at Amazon.
Thom and Joani have also written an ACTION PLAN book as a follow-up to Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore.

Click on this link to visit the GROUP PUBLISHING website to find out more about their services.

You might also be interested in reading a Praying With The Eyes blog, Thoughts on Being Judgmental.

Click on this link to read Thom’s daily blog, Holy Soup.

Scripture

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

All Saints Day

Circular Congregational Church Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina

Today we celebrate the unity of God’s saints on earth and in heaven.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“And I heard a voice from heaven saying,
‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’
‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit,
‘that they may rest from their labors,
for their deeds follow them!'”
Revelation 14:13 English Standard Verison

This is not the first cemetery in which I’ve taken pictures but it is the oldest. In fact, it claims to be the first cemetery in Charleston (ca. 1695 which is only 139 years after Martin Luther’s death).

Circular Congregational Church Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina
Circular Congregational Church Cemetery, Charleston, South Carolina

Though some of these graves have been here for over 300 years, this is not the final resting place for those who have died in Christ. Too often we mistakenly call graves the final resting place. To do so we then must deny that the resurrection is real.

As many of you know, both my father and sister have died and joined the Church Triumphant. I know that one day their ashes will be raised from the dead.

Until then, there is a temporary rest for them from their labors: from pain and struggle, from sin and sorrow.

On this All Saints Day it is proper for us to celebrate the unity of the Church Militant (that’s you and me) and the Church Triumphant (those who have died in the Lord) in the mystery that is the Communion of Saints.

I thank God for my father who left a legacy of faith. I thank God for my sister who left a legacy of grace in a life lived with muscular dystrophy.

Think about those who have left a legacy for you and thank God for their testimony to Christ that lives on in your life.

“For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!”

Copyright Douglas P Brauner