Grace Happens Always

  I do not have these thoughts fully formed. But during my last few sermons taken from our lectionary texts around the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, I have been wondering if the "dividing lines" in Christianity are ceasing to be Orthodox or Catholic, Catholic or Protestant, Mainline or American Evangelical, or Fundamentalist or Progressive. Instead, I wonder if what is evolving is a schism between those who experience grace as God gifting us faith to make a correct choice or choices and those who experience grace as God gifting us a journey of faith with Christ in which all choices are redeemed. And while some denominations or groups are more predisposed to one side or the other, I am starting to believe that such a distinction will continue to cut across ecclesial structures because, at its heart, such a distinction defines our future understanding of soteriology, sanctification, sacraments, and ecclesiology. And while both sides will turn to scripture to promote i...

I love to write and I write a great deal for my calling as a Lutheran pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. But I have not done a great deal of writing that feeds my soul. That is the goal of this blog. Even if no one ever reads it, I need a place to write, ponder, wonder, and simply be me. In the past, I have always been driven by writing for a certain purpose. Creativity and expression are my only purposes here. The name for this blog is based upon my understanding of the heart of Lutheran theology, which is always based upon grace first and foremost. This is a grace I need daily as I will express going forward with this blog. But for now, Grace Happens Always is simply my basic understanding of faith in which God has room and love enough for us all.