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	<title>This Side of the Pulpit » This Side of the Pulpit</title>
	
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		<title>Fasting Fast Approaching</title>
		<link>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2196</link>
		<comments>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2196#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:23:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Hall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fasting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Theology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://christopherdhall.com/?p=2196</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[I haven&#8217;t been good about fasting for the past&#8230;.well, let&#8217;s just say a while. But with Lent approaching fast, the fast is fast approaching.
Here is a link to a document I prepared for my congregation. It includes Scripture and the Confessions on the value and command to fast, articles from the Lutheran Witness and the LCMS website, as well as (simplified) guidelines for how and when to fast as we do in the western tradition.
The more modern practice is simply &#8220;giving up...<br/>
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		<title>Patience and Evil Deaths</title>
		<link>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2188</link>
		<comments>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2188#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:56:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Hall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://christopherdhall.com/?p=2188</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[I think it&#8217;s sometimes better to be blindsided than to see it coming. To have the future, your fate, your new life or calling come crashing onto you rather than sitting and waiting and waiting for it to arrive, seeing the rain coming and waiting, seeing that train chugging and puffing and grinding in the distance waiting for it to make its way into the station. Waiting is nuts, especially when there&#8217;s not a cotton-picking thing you can do about it.
We went through all this last...<br/>
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		<title>Practicing what You Preach</title>
		<link>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2182</link>
		<comments>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2182#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:34:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Hall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://christopherdhall.com/?p=2182</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[God can be so&#8230;fair at times. Often we accuse Him of being quite unfair&#8211;giving good things to evil people, allowing disaster and illness. But other times He does what He&#8217;s asked to do in such a fair and even way. You pray for patience, so He lets you practice by raising up infuriating obstacles.
Or He does like He did me Sunday. I preached on the Theology of the Cross, the necessity of taking up your cross and following Jesus, of the sufferings that befall all Christians. And...<br/>
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		<title>Power and Humility</title>
		<link>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2179</link>
		<comments>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2179#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:51:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Hall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christianity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[church growth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[consumerist worship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[quotation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://christopherdhall.com/?p=2179</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Rachel Held Adams writes about Mark Driscoll* and such mega-church consumerist evangelicalism:
When you build your church and your culture around hierarchy and power, you are naturally going to be 1) highly-organized, and 2) personality focused. But when you build your church and your culture around humility and service, you are naturally going to be 1) organic, growing at the grassroots level, and 2)  less dependent on one or two flashy personalities and more dependent on the daily...<br/>
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		<title>A Rant which May not Impress You, if Read Correctly</title>
		<link>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2172</link>
		<comments>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2172#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:44:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Hall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastor's life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rant]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[repentance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scripture]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://christopherdhall.com/?p=2172</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[&#8220;How many of us have actually ever read through the Bible? We get bits and pieces of it, but never read through chapter-by-chapter.&#8221;
A layperson said this to me the other day. The more I think about it, the more upset I get. I get upset with myself for not reading Scripture devotionally as often as I should. But I get really upset with others if its true. Is it true? Are you all completely ignoring the Word of God to such an extent that your only exposure to it is the readings on...<br/>
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		<title>Law/Gospel Outlines?</title>
		<link>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2170</link>
		<comments>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2170#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:07:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Hall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law and Gospel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lutherans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preaching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sermons]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://christopherdhall.com/?p=2170</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[I preached an unusual sermon Sunday. It was the infamous Law/Gospel outline. You probably have heard thousands of these. I&#8217;ve preached my fair share. Here&#8217;s the way they usually go:
Here&#8217;s the Word of God. Oh, there&#8217;s law. God says you should be doing such and such. You don&#8217;t. You need Jesus to forgive you. Conclusion.
It&#8217;s not a horrible outline, but I think it should be generally avoided. While Lutherans are supposed to properly distinguish Law and Gospel,...<br/>
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		<title>Sermon Writing Advice</title>
		<link>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2167</link>
		<comments>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2167#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:09:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Hall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[church stuff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[inside baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preaching]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://christopherdhall.com/?p=2167</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[This is inside baseball, folks, so your mileage may vary.
Whatever lectionary (sequence of readings for Sundays) you use, you&#8217;ll end up with three readings and propers (introit, gradual, etc) for the Sunday. Often they work together, with a common theme bridging all the propers together. This is very common in the One Year lectionary, especially with the collect, introit and Gospel.
But don&#8217;t assume they all go together the same way, or that you have to connect them. Look,...<br/>
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		<title>Dare we Neglect the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity?</title>
		<link>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2161</link>
		<comments>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2161#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:50:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Hall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heresy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holy Trinity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mormonism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[worship]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://christopherdhall.com/?p=2161</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[This article shows us why the worship of the Holy Trinity is at the heart of our Christian faith. Because we have failed to affirm the One in Three and Three in One at every time and place and place Him in the center of our worship and thought and sermons we have this false religion which denies the essence of God&#8217;s Being and Nature, denies the eternal Sonship of Jesus and yet thinks themselves as Christians.
You can talk about Jesus. You can love Jesus. You can believe Jesus died for...<br/>
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		<title>Unionism and Worship</title>
		<link>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2157</link>
		<comments>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2157#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:42:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Hall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LCMess]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[worship]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://christopherdhall.com/?p=2157</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Why is it that the LCMS seems more concerned with &#8220;joint worship&#8221; and &#8220;serial prayer&#8221; with other ministers than with the forms of worship? I mean, some congregations&#8217; worship is identical to worship at any number of protestant churches down the street from them and there are no &#8220;rules&#8221; or CTCR statements regarding this. What sends a bigger message of false unity? My saying a prayer next to a Methodist at some community event or me leading worship just...<br/>
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		<title>Admitting Inexperience and Leading Nonetheless</title>
		<link>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2142</link>
		<comments>http://christopherdhall.com/archives/2142#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:58:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Christopher Hall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Theology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[humility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pastor's life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Weddings]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://christopherdhall.com/?p=2142</guid>
		
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Some of the Lutheran pastors and I were supposed to study Greek this morning, but instead, we spoke about causistry and pastoral practice&#8211;wedding stuff, mostly. It is fun and thought-provoking, to consider what I usually do and how it differs with some of the other pastors&#8217; practices.
But one bit of discussion stood out for me: the importance of being earnest, of just speaking the truth. Admitting ignorance, admitting inexperience, admitting weakness. It&#8217;s actually quite...<br/>
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