Psalms in the Wild, and Christmas is not the beginning

and Luther on Meditation

1/ Christmas is Coming Down, John 3:13

2/ Worldwide Bible Class

Don’t forget to join us live for Worldwide Bible Class today. We start at 9a Central Time. We’re still letting Luther teach us about the life of Jacob. Today we begin in Genesis 35:6.

The link to join (and the old classes video and podcast) are all here: www.wolfmueller.co/bible

3/ The Kindled Heart, Luther on Meditation (by Dr. John Kleinig)

This little essay is well worth your read. Here area a few excerpts:

As a monk, Luther knew that the presupposition for fruitful meditation was the heartfelt love and desire for God. But the more Luther meditated, the more he became aware of how much he really hated God. The breakthrough came as a result of 'meditating day and night' upon Romans 1:17, and 'beating' like Moses upon the rock of that word. As he meditated, the rock suddenly opened up and yielded its life-giving water to him. What was given then changed his whole being. It didn't just change the way he thought about God but, more importantly, the way he felt towards him. He understood Romans 1:17 and the whole of Scripture as Gospel, and felt 'altogether born again' as if he 'had entered paradise through open gates.’ That experience, which came upon him through meditation, shaped all his subsequent teaching and his consequent practice of meditation.

Meditation involves a kind of extroversion. The written word, spoken out aloud, needs to occupy our full physical and mental attention. He says: “You should not only meditate inwardly in your heart but also outwardly by repeating the words out aloud and by rubbing (reiben) at the written word [like a sweet-smelling herb], by reading and rereading it, carefully, attentively and reflectively, to gather what the Holy Spirit means by them.” After paying full attention to the words, the reader may then go on a merry hunt as he compares them with other passages of the Scriptures which throw more light upon them.

The point of meditation for Luther is, quite simply, to let the Holy Spirit preach' the Word of God inwardly to the conscience of the believer. Now this preaching goes far beyond the intellectual exercise of working out the meaning and application of a portion of Scripture. It is the activity of the Holy Spirit who affects the person physically, mentally, and emotionally through the Word.

4/ Psalm 25 in the wild.

I was goofing around taking pictures of the verses of Psalm 25 floating around. Here are a few.

What a wonderful Psalm.

5/ For Rachel Preus

If you are hunting for a good cause, here is one. Rachel Preus, a sister of a member at St Paul, Austin, was recently diagnosed with cancer while pregnant with her 6th child. There is a GoFundMe set up to help the family here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-rachels-fight-cancer-pregnancy

6/ John the Baptist and the line between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of this World

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Please add your own theological recommendations in the comments.

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Thank you, again, for your time and attention, and for your prayers. Please keep in touch.

Christ is Risen! Pastor Wolfmueller

Psalm 27:4

www.wolfmueller.co

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