Pastor Foltz is Pastor Emeritus of Saint James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg, PA and author of the the Frontline Study content.
Recently I received a long Facebook post from a young man who grew up in our congregation and now serves as an officer in Iraq. He was responding to the incident when a lady in a burka was thrown out of a Trump rally after she stood up. I received the post while pondering why […]
When I was growing up, my assumption was that history involved periods of warfare followed by periods of peace. I believed that one of the goals of Christianity was to lengthen the peaceful times. Although I was not certain any of the conflicts after the Second World War were warranted, I swallowed hard and chalked […]
One of our young men training to be an Army Ranger remarked it’s a real dilemma trying to reconcile Jesus telling him to love his enemies and the Army teaching him to kill them.
We gather to celebrate another Christmas, to proclaim the wondrous gift, to acknowledge the hopes and also the fears that are met in this birth. In the silent darkness of this night, let us consider the hopes and fears of this world. In the stillness of this night, let us imagine that we are in […]
We have come once more to hear the story of Jesus’ birth. We have come to remember the turning point, when God came to rule his world, to make right what has gone wrong. We gather in darkness, listening for promise, the slightest whisper of hope. The story begins with Mary’s Song, “God scatters the […]
All Advent, we have been praying, “Stir up your power, O Lord, and come. Stir up your power, O God, and come.” Now on Christmas Eve, we hear God’s reply, “Okay. Here I come.” We jump back. We are afraid. Will we be able to control God if he really does stir up his power? […]
The creed ends with the affirmation that we shall share Jesus’ resurrection. Although there is some concern about when this will take place, there is agreement that Jesus’ resurrection appearances, as recorded in the Bible, indicate what ours shall be like. The gospels begin by anticipating our following Jesus in the near future. In fact, […]
At first, it might seem strange that belief in the forgiveness of sins appears so prominently in the Creed. Sin is not a popular topic in the modern world. To acknowledge a mistake is a sign of weakness. A failure is simply a learning experience on the way to success. We should be emphasizing the […]
Christians believe the Risen Christ is still among us. The Creed lists several ways this takes place in its third article that describes the work of the Holy Spirit. Whereas the Old Testament claims that Spirit filled certain leaders, the New Testament proclaims Pentecost made Christ available to all believers. Significantly, the article first mentions […]
Most of us can’t help ourselves when we speak the last part of the Second Article, “On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.” Conditioned by simplistic popular ideas, we think […]
Frontline Study is an online discussion of the scriptures, inviting you to share your comments and your reflections on each weekly topic. Simply click on the "Add Reply" text at the top of each post to see what others have posted and to add your thoughts.By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.
