Whether a Christian enjoys high church, low church, or something in between, aesthetics in the Church are not about any one individual person and their particular tastes. Aesthetics are, fundamentally, not a matter of legalism, but of edification—that the Gospel of Christ might be preached and taught to all peoples, unhindered by its medium.
Let us live by walking with Jesus, so that our Neo-Pagan neighbors, the witch, and frankly a lot of us Christians, can put down our crystals, our superstitions, our vision boards, and our bound sage in order to live out a liturgy of life, with rituals, practices, and behaviors that reflect who we are as followers of Christ.
While earthly kings demand that their people make sacrifices to them, and Zeus demanded sacrifices because he needed them, the true God made the ultimate sacrifice for you.

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Sometimes I think we should be more tempted to laugh at the gospel than we are, not in derision but in sheer surprise and awe.
History is the painful realization that we aren’t the ones who can save the world but, rather, we’re the ones who get saved.
The undercurrent of Scripture is the sheer fact that Jehovah God is a God of his word.
The worship service is less like servants entering the throne room to wait on the king’s needs and more like a father joining his family around the dining room table.
In the face of abject evil, these two faithfully cling to the words and truths of he alone who is Good, Jehovah God.
On May 2nd, Cantate Sunday, in the year 1507, Luther celebrated his first Mass.
Sometimes loss is gain. Sometimes defeat is victory. Sometimes weakness is strength. Sometimes death is life. Sometimes, that is, when Christ is at the center, on his cross and not in his tomb.
This is the patient love of God. He is stubborn about the salvation of sinners. He will not be rushed even if his name is mocked, and the trustworthiness of his promises are called into question.
This world of unbearable grief and accidental calamity is being renewed and, soon, will be completely bereft of every pernicious foe.
Excerpt #3 from the new book “Withertongue Emails" by Donavon Riley.
The firestorm of the Reformation which turned Europe upside-down was not Luther’s doing. It was the Word, and the Spirit working through it.
Excerpt #2 from the new book “Withertongue Emails" by Donavon Riley.