Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
An honest reading of the creation stories quickly reveals the authors are not interested in particulars. Once you acknowledge that there are two very different, even contrasting accounts right next to each other, you recognize the editors are not trying to write accurate historical accounts. They are obviously more interested in what the ancient stories […]
Let’s do a series on what Genesis has to say about our present situation. We tend to think of the Bible as beginning with the Genesis creation and ending with Revelation’s last days. Then we remember it is really a library with books gathered in categories. When we do that we can consider that we […]
Perhaps it is time to wind up this little experiment. Five months ago, I set out to discern some marks of a gospel community. At the time, I was not sure where I was going. People kept telling me the church had changed drastically since I retired twenty years ago. Many were no longer worshipping, […]
The church has always maintained that one place where the Risen Christ encounters us is in the Eucharist. In the gospels, Jesus was constantly sharing meals and this has continued with his coming to us in the Communion meal. One of our readers, Paul, has observed that my treatment of this challenged two theories of […]
It’s Christmas time. Time for one of my favorites: The Conclusion to W.H. Auden’s “For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio.” NARRATOR: Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree, Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes Some have got broken and carrying them up to the attic. The holly and […]
It’s Christmas time. Time out for one of my favorites. “The Oxen” by Thomas Hardy Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. “Now they are all on their knees,” An elder said as we sat in a flock By the embers in hearthside ease. We pictured the meek mild creatures where They dwelt in their […]
After receiving the response to last week’s lesson, I decided to comment further on eating together as a mark of the church. It was an easy decision as I think it addresses one of the biggest spiritual problems in our time, the failure to eat meals together even with our own families. Certainly, as the […]
Another mark of the church evident in the Gospels is eating together. Luke points to that in Acts when he describes the early church worshipping at the temple on the Sabbath and sharing meals with each other in their homes on Sunday. That practice developed into the sacrament we know as the Eucharist, Lord’s Supper, […]
My intention was to draw up marks of a gospel community, intending to come up with characteristics of a community that followed Christ Jesus. It seemed simply common sense to begin with accounts of what Jesus himself identified as his message. It quickly became evident to me that a primary mark of Jesus’ message and […]
After reading the gospels, you realize the early church understood their relationship with the Risen Christ meant they could continue enjoying the community they shared with Jesus of Nazareth. Even a casual reading of the first chapters of Acts indicates this is what happened. The Jerusalem community is pictured going together for worship in the […]
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