welcome. why "weak on sanctification"?

this accusation is often made about lutheran christians. because we focus so strongly on god's justifying grace in christ, and our continual need, as "sinner-saints," to receive god's gifts of grace through word and sacrament, people say we are "weak on sanctification." i prefer to say we are strong on jesus, whose sanctifying work in our lives is the fruit of the gospel all along our lifelong journey. i would much rather focus on what he has done than on anything i might do.

the weekly discussion

each week I set forth a topic to promote discourse about some aspect of Christianity, the church, or the spiritual life. i would love to hear your perspective and thoughts on each week's subject. these discussions are usually posted on mondays, so if you missed this week's post and would like to catch up on the conversation, just scroll down and join us.

February 7, 2010

saints!

1 comment:

  1. Dear Chaplain Mike:

    I assume you are handling iMonk’s mail. I am so sorry to hear of Michael’s failing health and am praying for him and his family. The giant hole in the blogosphere has been all too evident for months now.

    For over a year I had plans to enlist Michael’s possible assistance regarding a book of a friend of mine. After Mike’s problems I forgot about it but then it dawned on me that perhaps the divine plan was all along that we help Mike. I spoke to my friend and he was all for my proposal—that we offer the book through the internetmonk website and contribute a portion of the proceeds to Mike and Denise. Would you be interested in exploring this with us?

    My friend, John Simpson, wrote a book examining Charles Darwin and his theories titled, The Naked Darwin. It was intended to be available for the bicentennial of his birth and sesquicentennial of "da book", 2/12/2009, but it didn’t get done in time. It is ready for publication now and a few galley copies have been released. It is not a “bash Darwin mindlessly” book, nor an unquestioning affirmation of Darwin and his theories. It primarily sets forth how Darwin came to his conclusions—somewhat of a psychological biography in a sense. It mostly raises the question, “How did Darwin become to have such credibility and such a doting following given the gaps in the evidence and questions unanswered?”

    The chapter titles are:

    1. Before the Voyage
    2. Around the World
    3. Influences
    4. Malthus
    5. Annie
    6. Barnacles and Pigeons
    7. The Critics
    8. The Triumph of Evolution
    9. The Triumph of Propaganda
    10.The Fossil Record
    11.Lessons from Molecular Biology
    12.The Possibility of Design
    13.Lessons From Outer Space
    14.Lessons From DNA
    15.Final Thoughts

    I would expect nothing until you had a chance to examine the book. Would you have any interest in doing so and considering the idea? If so, please send me an address to send the book to and we can follow up later after you have had a chance to review it.

    Thank you,

    Duane Young
    29 Highland Lane
    Chatham IL 62629
    217 544-8500


    P.S. I note that you are from Franklin, Indiana—my wife’s best childhood friend is married to a chiropractor in Franklin—Jay Lumsden; small world!
    P.P.S. I was trying to bve discreet but find no email address for you so I am using this outdated post with no comments. I hope you get this.

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