Higher Things is about to release its first ever Vacation Bible School program. See a Day 1 sample and find out more at http://higherthings.org/vbs.
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Preview Day 1 of “From Above” VBS
Category: News
Find the latest news about what’s going on in Higher Things.
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2013 Lenten Reflections Available
Higher Things announces the Lent and Holy Week 2013 Reflections, for February 13 to March 30. These Reflections key their thoughts each day on the Introit words of the Psalms during Lent, showing Christ as the one who prays these words, fulfills them and then gives them to us to speak and sing. You can download the Daily Reflections in a variety of formats from our website. As always, thank you for your support of Higher Things. The Lord bless your meditation on His Word in this upcoming Lenten season.
Printable Booklet (PDF)
“In Line” PDF
Nook and other readers (ePub format)
Amazon Kindle (may require file management software on your kindle device)
In Christ,
Pastor Mark Buetow
buetowmt@higherthings.org
HT Media Services Executive
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Purdue reaches 75% Capacity!
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HT Reception at CTS Symposia
Higher Things invites you to
Be Our Guest
at a reception on
Wednesday January 23, 2013
7:00pm to 11:00pm
Commons Building
Concordia Theological Seminary Campus
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Please RSVP to development@higherthings.org if you will be able to attend.
CHURCH AND STATE: Another FREE, timely, and Jesus-filled issue of Higher Things Magazine is hot off the presses and on its way to mailboxes around the world. This is our second issue devoted entirely to a single topic, in this case, Church and State. Articles in this issue cover all sorts of related issues, everything from what happens when your candidate doesn’t get elected, to whether or not America is a “Christian Nation,” Muslim sharia law, and the way in which the Lord works in this world through our callings (vocations). As with our Free Apologetics Issue, the articles form this Church and State issue will be highlighted on Tuesdays as well as available on this issue’s webpage here. As we prepare to inaugurate our President and mark the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade abortion decision, the Higher Things Winter 2012 Church and State issue is timely, relevant, and delivers the sure and certain hope and comfort, not of a political kingdom, but of the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. Check it out today!
In Christ,
Rev. Mark Buetow
buetowmt@higherthings.org
HT Media Executive
April 12-14, 2013
“I don’t believe in God. I believe in science.” Know anyone like that? Our understanding of the universe has helped us create computers, smash atoms, send spaceships to Mars and make viral videos of Korean Pop singers pretending to ride horses. Does Christianity still make sense in the age of the iPad?
Spend some time with Pr. St-Onge, and he’ll show you how good science should strengthen, not weaken, your faith in God and in Jesus Christ. Join him on a tour of the Creation Museum in Kentucky and learn the proper place of science as a servant of God’s Word. Pr. St-Onge holds two degrees in science and engineering. He currently serves as associate pastor at Memorial Lutheran Church in Houston, Texas. His upcoming book, How to Appreciate Science and Love the Bible, will be published by Concordia Publishing House in 2013.
When: April 12-14, 2013
Cost: $60 per person (Includes admission and lunch at the Creation Museum; overnight and meals at the church.)
Where: St. Paul Lutheran Church / 5433 Madison Road / Cincinnati, OH
RSVP: By registering online at www.higherthings.org/retreats
Sara Smith, Director of Human Care: humancare@stpaulcinci.org
or
Sandra Ostapowich at retreats@higherthings.org – Higher Things Retreat Coordinator
March 15, 2013
Forgiveness of sins. Rescue from death and the devil. A new set of clothes. Being alive when you were dead. Marked with God’s Name. Baptism is all that and more. Do you remember your baptism? Does it matter if you can’t? Is Baptism really that big a deal? This retreat will focus on Something About Baptism. In fact, we’ll be reminded why Baptism is really something because Baptism is all about Jesus and what He’s done for you.
Spend a day learning about the Word with the water of Baptism from Rev. Mark Buetow. Pastor Buetow serves Bethel Lutheran Church in DuQuoin, Illinois and is the Media Executive for Higher Things, Inc.
When: Friday March 15, 2013
Cost: $20 per person
Where: St. John’s Lutheran Church / 146 Sligo Road West / Mount Forest, Ontario
RSVP: Pastor David Saar: 519-323-4844 or prsaar@wightman.ca
or
Sandra Ostapowich at retreats@higherthings.org – Higher Things Retreat Coordinator
Higher Things is pleased to offer the next series of Daily Reflections for the Epiphany and Pre-Lent seasons, January 6 through February 12, 2013. These daily readings bring deliver the good news of Christ for all people over the next six weeks. You can download the Reflections in the following formats:
Printable Booklet (PDF)
“In Line” PDF
Nook and other readers (ePub format)
Kindle (may requires file management software on your kindle device)
As always, thanks for your support of Higher Things!
In Christ,
Pastor Mark Buetow
buetowmt@higherthings.org
HT Media Services Executive
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January 2013 Carlisle Retreat
God Dwells with His People
January 11-12, 2013
During Christmas and Epiphany, we contemplate that God dwelled with his people by becoming flesh (John 1:14). At this Higher Things Retreat, we’ll celebrate God’s dwelling among us by looking back on how God dwelled with His people of old, a dwelling that took place by means of a tabernacle. We’ll look at the tabernacle-its function and its furniture-to see how the tabernacle points us to the God who became flesh and dwelled among us to save us from our sins!
Join us for a weekend of learning with Pastor Scott Schilbe from Christ Lutheran Church in Rochester, MN!
When: January 11-12, 2013
Cost: $30 per person
Where: Holy Cross Lutheran Church / 1100 Market Street / Carlisle, Iowa
RSVP: via online registration at www.higherthings.org/retreats/registrations
Contact: Pastor Kevin Johnson johnsonknc@aol.com
or
Sandra Ostapowich at retreats@higherthings.org – Higher Things Retreat Coordinator
In case you haven’t already heard (and how could you have missed it?), our friend Rev. Jonathan Fisk has just published his first book with the intriguing title Broken – 7 “Christian” Rules that Every Christian Ought to Break as Often as Possible. When was the last time you saw a Christian book encouraging you to break rules?
Some of you may know Pr. Fisk from his ninja-inspired video podcast “Worldview Everlasting” (http://worldvieweverlasting.com). He is also a member of our Higher Things’ Board of Directors and a regular speaker at Higher Things’ conferences and retreats.
You really need to read his book. I’ll give you three good reasons why.
First, the book is weird. Just plain weird. This is not anything like your typical, dry as the desert dust Lutheran tome. No, this book is weird from the minute you open it. The typesetting would make Gutenberg spin in his grave. I counted at least a dozen fonts and typefaces, and I’m sure I missed a few dozen along the way. The art is weird too. It’s kind of Albrecht Durer meets Monty Python, and if you don’t know what that means, just “google it.” And the art isn’t neatly confined to tidy little boxes as in most books, but it kind of spills all over the page.
Even once you get past the typesetting and the post-modernist art, the text itself is strange, an odd juxtaposition of biblical theology and popular culture. Midichlorians? Really? Lutherans just don’t write this way. Pr. Fisk has more clever analogies and cultural allusions up his sleeve than most magicians have rabbits. The reading experience can be as herky-jerky as Fisk’s Worldview Everlasting videos, that kind of breathless stream of consciousness “now this, now that, now the next thing.” Does Pr. Fisk ever actually breathe?
Second, this is an important book. In, with, and under all the quirky weirdness is rock-solid theology. This book will make you think and think again. You will read something and say, “Hey, wait a minute!” and go back and read it again. In a way, this book is a theological Trojan Horse with a belly load of Lutheran theology. (If you don’t know what that means, just “google it.”)
“Broken” is not another Lutheran speaking to Lutherans book telling us how great we are because we are Lutheran. In fact, this book may cause you to wonder how Lutheran you really are and what’s been going on in our Lutheran churches. That’s a good thing. This book confronts our false gospels head on – mysticism, moralism, rationalism – and then proceeds to topple our cherished idols like Samson in the temple of Dagon. It exposes the underlying self-justifying old Adam who is running this phony circus of religion, and it reorients our thinking back to Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
This book will make you think, reflect, and perhaps even repent of your own faulty religious notions.
Third, “Broken” is written for, well, the broken. The brokenhearted, the spiritually hungry and thirsty, those who have been broken by bad religion, who are burned out on the latest self-help book or prosperity preacher. People who have been to the religious amusement park, bought the T-shirt, and gone off to the next thing. This is the kind of book to hand such a person and say, “Before you write off Christianity entirely, please read this.”
This is a gutsy book. Some people won’t like it. Others will love it. Personally, it makes my eyes cross just trying to read it, but as I do, I find my head nodding in agreement. There’s good stuff here.
Read it. And then give it to someone who is broken.
“Broken” is available from Concordia Publishing House. Click here to find out more.
The Rev. William Cwirla is the pastor of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Hacienda Heights, California and the President of the Board of Directors of Higher Things. He is also the co-host of the wildly popular podcast, “The God Whisperers.”
