Back from the dead

The blog at least. Jesus, too, of course, but it's Holy Week; don't get ahead of yourself.

Holy week greetings from the "presiding bishop" of the Missouri Synod

Compare that to the Easter greetings from the presiding "bishop" of the Episcopal Church, Katherine Schiori.

One you can listen to uncritically, simply receiving the Word as it's proclaimed to you and for you. They both will cause you to give thanks to God for faithful, pastoral church leadership of the Missouri Synod.

Wow.

If the goal was to make me feel good, you failed, UCC.

Oops.

Turns out Jesus, not Harold Camping, was right: "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only" (Mt. 24:36).

Jolly Ol' St. Nicholas?

Not if you deny the divinity of Jesus. Then St. Nick is less than jolly.

According to tradition, at the Council of Nicea, Nicholas, then Bishop of Myra, dealt with the heretic Arius by crossing the room and striking him in the face.

Nicholas was temporarily deposed as Bishop and jailed until the rest of the Council decided that sometimes heretics are best dealt with with a good, old-fashioned punch in the face. No, you're not free to believe about Jesus whatever you want, not if you value your salvation or your pretty-boy complexion.

Prosperity v. Poverty

Jesus didn't come to make you prosperous, at least not in the same way your financial planner wants to make you prosperous. The prosperity gospel is no Gospel. And yet, it sells just as well in affluent white suburbs as in impoverished Ghanan villages.

The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

HT: The Museum of Idolatry