– By Jonathan Kopke. The second verse of Amazing Grace starts out like this: ’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear. What an odd thing to sing about! We can see how God’s wrath would make us fearful. But why is it that his grace — his favor undeservedly shown to us — would…
Posts by Pastor Erwin
– By Jonathan Kopke. Pundits are telling us that the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020 may be a major “hinge event” when things that we always thought were unchangeable will be permanently changed. For one example, now that millions of people have been working from home for a few months, many of them may never be…
– By Jonathan Kopke. For a few years during my career at the UC Medical Center, my assigned parking lot was out behind the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office, and when I’d walk from my car to my office every morning, it wasn’t unusual for me to see another big black hearse backed up to the…
– By Jonathan Kopke. “If God is so good, and he’s so powerful, why is he allowing this coronavirus pandemic to happen?” We’ve all heard that question by now. Maybe we’ve asked it ourselves. And, no doubt, there are solid, biblical answers available for that question. In his book The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis…
You’ve seen it a hundred times on TV cop shows; the suspect is being arrested, and the officer says, “You have the right to remain silent … you have the right to an attorney.” As human beings, we have many more rights than just our Miranda Rights. If you had to make a list, what…
(NOTE: During Lent our adult “Discovery Hour” class was based on the book Were You There: Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals, by Luke A. Powery which was made up of short but powerful devotions based on 40 different African American Spirituals. This post builds on the reflection on one of the best known Spirituals, “We…
Most of us don’t want to admit it, but I’ll bet you can remember a time you felt embarrassed or ashamed, right? Maybe it was something as innocent as getting caught sleeping on the job or in class. Or that time you finally worked up the nerve to ask someone out on a date and…
“The means of grace” is a beautifully compact phrase that’s a little bit like Hermione Granger’s magical handbag from the last of the Harry Potter series – on the outside, it’s about the size of her fist, but on the inside it’s large enough for dozens of vital items, including a tent large enough for…
This week, Eugene Peterson, the author of The Message version of the Bible, closed his eyes in Montana and opened them up in heaven. No one else has been more important to me for how I understand what it means to be a follower of Christ and a pastor. I met Peterson once, many years…
Watch What You Say Back when I was in college, a guy named “Moose” picked me up and threw me in a dumpster behind our fraternity house. I don’t hold it against him. I deserved it. I’d just spent the past 45 minutes following him around the house, intentionally irritating him by telling him a…