Concordia Chicago celebrates the Song of Songs this June in the festival of Scripture and the Arts. It will have music, poetry, art, and theologians! I’ve invited Drs Raabe, Steinmann and Elowsky to share the interpretation of the Song. Join us if you can. It will be amazing.
A police officer was shot watching a suspect in the hospital a couple weeks ago. Today is his funeral and local channels are broadcasting the service. Even in the VA waiting area, you can hear the Greek Orthodox chanting (in English) Christ is arisen.
In today's lesson, the Lord tells us we are the salt of the earth. Don't lose your saltiness. How can salt lose its flavor? Ancient salt wasn't pure. Exposed to moisture, the salt leached out, leaving the residue. May His Word always have a place in us that we may remain His salt
A poignant moment: at a hymn sing among church worker students, you notice that the student who lives with a life-threatening illness is always picking Easter hymns even in Epiphany. Thanks be to Jesus for the courage to face death in the knowledge that He triumphs.
(Panarion 70:15,1, written about 375 AD). This is the only reference I know of in which an early Church Father complains of a sectarian application of the principle of "prayer fellowship."
This may be of interest. Epiphanius complains against the Audians (who differed in that they believed God had a body) because they did not pray with other Christians:
"But the worst, most fearful thing of all is that they will not pray with someone even if he is plainly respectable and they have nothing to accuse him of—no charge of fornication, adultery or covetousness, but simply membership in the church."
I noticed several years ago that already 18 year olds arrived to the small Christian U where I taught terrified to speak any personal opinion. I labored mightily to convince them that they were in a place where we could disagree and still care for one another. HS taught them fear
Melanie Phillips delivers a chilling diagnosis of the West's intellectual crisis: Ideology has replaced knowledge, and reason itself is under siege.
Key points from her 4:37 clip:
- Modern orthodoxies (multiculturalism, lifestyle equivalence, etc.) are treated as absolute moral goods.
- Challenge them → you're not just wrong; you're evil, standing against human/planetary betterment.
- Dissent must be silenced: no platform, no debate, no hearing.
- Evidence contradicting the ideology is dismissed as lies or "not facts."
- Universities—once crucibles of reason—are now engines destroying it, while claiming moral superiority.
- Result: Civil discourse dies. Replaced by insult weaponized to shut people down.
This isn't just about politics—it's the erosion of objective truth, evidence-based reasoning, and the ability to disagree without demonization.
We're witnessing the destruction of reason itself.
4:37 clip laying bare how ideology has become inimical to rationality 👇
When ideology trumps evidence and disagreement becomes "evil," what survives of open society?
Where do you see this dynamic strongest right now—in academia, media, politics, or everyday life?
I went to bed after checking the Bear’s score vs the Packers. Hopeless. Our QB had even twisted his ankle and hobbled off the field. I woke up this morning and they had won! They’re going to make a believer out of me yet. This reminds me of the Lions a few yrs ago. Hope wins.
If the Iranian regime falls and stability follows, Iranians from all over the world will return, with their new and varied ideas. It will be quite a mix, with not a few well-taught Christians streaming in.
"Steinmann lays out here a foundation that doubtless will provide the basis for all subsequent discussions of biblical chronology, an indispensable preliminary to a proper understanding of the biblical narrative."
—Eugene H. Merrill, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Old Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary, Distinguished Professor of Old Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
I cheered for the Lions the last couple years and looked what happened. I’m now in Chicago for the Bears. What an effect! For the right price I’ll root for your favorite team. Results guaranteed. ;)