The Shepherds' Witness
The shepherds are the most unlikely people to play the role the angels cast them in.
Contributors
Ken Sundet Jones
Ken Sundet Jones, Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, loves teaching undergrads. He was born in Heidelberg, which must be why he likes Luther so much. He was shaped by the Sturgis motorcycle rally in his hometown and by summers at his grandparents’ cattle ranch. His doctoral dissertation covered 16th-century German evangelical funeral preaching. And he knows how to do knitting and Scandinavian flat-plane woodcarving.
Most Recent
The Antidote to "Sadvent"
If Jesus is indeed the same yesterday, today, and forever, everything his enfleshment brings is already assured: life, salvation, and forgiveness.
The Beatitudes are Ridiculous
Look the judge in the eye and pin your sin on Jesus, the divine judge’s son. Jesus knows you can’t do it, so he trades places with you and pits himself against God’s righteous demands.
The Death of Frederick the Wise
While Elector Frederick and Martin Luther never had a face-to-face meeting, the prince can be credited with the early success of the Reformation.
Luther, Jesus’ Body, and a Troubled Conscience
Luther saw that God demands not that we become perfectly righteous like God but that we simply receive the gift of righteousness; a gift that actually makes us worthy.
Relax, It's Me: How Jesus Saves Us From Doubt and Despair
For those of us who recognize the disciples’ despair in ourselves, Jesus comes with the same word: “Relax, it’s me. Peace be with you.”
Another 500th Anniversary: Luther at the Diet of Worms
The result of this day’s proceedings, in Luther’s mind, was likely to be a painful death at the stake.
Christ's Words of Comfort: Luke 12:32
You have this Shepherd who knows your voice, your cry, your incessant baaing.
Repentance According to the Scriptures: Mark 1:1-8
Repentance comes on account of suffering, loss, failure, and death. It happens when the promise of forgiveness of sin given in Jesus’ death is proclaimed to us down-and-outers.
A Q&A with Ken Sundet Jones on "A Lutheran Toolkit"
"A Lutheran Toolkit" is available for purchase today from 1517 Publishing
Starting with Christ, the God Who Shows Up
This is an excerpt from “A Lutheran Toolkit” written by Ken Sundet Jones (1517 Publishing, 2021), pgs. 23-25.
Conspiracy Theories, Law, and Salvation
Paul knew, and so do we: the law doesn’t change hearts or heal the world. More demands won’t do the trick.
The Sad State of My Backyard
The setting for Luke 2 is the first century analog to my backyard. The stage is dressed with rust and decay, guilt and shame, sin and death.
A Living Word
God's Word is the final word on you, and his claim on you as his people, his children, is the ultimate claim.
Who was Anselm of Canterbury?
On this day in the year 1093, Anselm was consecrated as the archbishop of Canterbury.
The Trouble with Dressing Up
The parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew hinges on whether a guy is wearing the right costume for the party.
The Role of the Gospel Amidst Change
I will continue to cling to the only hope I’ve ever truly had: that Jesus is my Lord and yours.
Unimagined Freedom and Forgiveness in Hamilton
In the quiet of your own uptown, where your own sins bear down on you and create a troubled conscience before the world, before others, and before God, your Lord reaches across the chasm of brokenness to take your hand.
Wellspring of the Joy of Living
The following is an excerpt from Ken Sundet Jones’ chapter in “Who Am I?” written by Scott Ashmon (1517 Publishing, 2020).
You Can't Handle God
The kingdom I seek is the lower-case realm ruled over by the almighty upper-case Me.
What Makes a Theologian of the Cross?
Christ isn’t preached in his glory but in his ignominy, his utter shame, degradation, and desolation.
Bible Stories Too Dangerous for Sunday Morning
Dangerous Bible stories show us a God who has no problem whatsoever using the muck and mire of our worst days to make his progress toward his good goal happen.
Elisabeth Cruciger: Hymn Writer of the Reformation
Elisabeth Cruciger is the first female Lutheran hymn writer. In fact, her hymn was included in the very first evangelical hymnal, published in 1524. With her life and her hymn, she becomes a witness, an example, and a proclaimer of the gospel to us almost 500 years later.
Temptation’s Green Pastures: The Sixth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer
The gospel promise is that God in Christ knows exactly what your temptations are and still bids you find protection from them in him.
In Memory of Katharina von Bora, Part 2
In some measure, if Luther had any success during his last two decades, it happened because of the woman who’d insisted on him as her bridegroom.
Upcoming Events
Here We Still Stand 2022
Consciences Captive to the Word of God