the view from the english-language latvian service* pew, 4-28-19

Sunday 11AM English language service at the Indianapolis Latvian Lutheran Church with Macitājs Lazdinš presiding. As you can tell by the picture above the hymns we sang were numbered 361, 390 and 363. Using the Evangelical Lutheran Worship hymnal it was easy enough to determine the titles: The Day of Resurrection (361); The Risen Christ……

the daily purge 4-29-19

There was a time when candles were easy. You make them, light them, and away you go. Ancient Egypt had them and there were no problems. Light it, see, and when you were done looking, blow it out and save the tallow. Pharaohs and keepers of the temple granaries used wax to seal important documents,……

the daily purge 4-26-19

Is it a razor or a scraper? It is both. Let there be no mistake, two things can be true*. If only The Purging Lutheran would show you the blade then maybe a more conclusive decision could be made. Have a bit o’ faith. I used this tool and it worked dutifully as a razor……

the daily purge 4-25-19

WARNING: Includes graphic content. It’s a bad whammer-jammer. The Purging Lutheran’s lungs have been wracked with lung-hacking industrial strength sputum this entire week. It began on Easter morning and has been with me since. Both ugh! and ouch! As the ancient saw states – “As lungs go so go you” – you will certainly feel……

the daily purge 4-24-19

Most homes include kitchen and bathroom cabinets, closets and shelf units where you can put your stuff. Big stuff like couches, beds, pianos and tables are usually too large to fit on most shelves so they are left on the homeowners’ floor for them to place them where desired. Homeowning is tough! But leave it……

the daily purge 4-23-19

So, do you think the fella on this game cover really is a saint? Ordinarily a regular man or woman would look at the guns, the big car and the tattoos and most assuredly say, “No, I don’t believe he is a saint”. But as we like to tell each other when it comes to……

the daily purge 4-22-19

Now that warm weather is back home again in Indiana My Sweet Rib has decided to attack the gararge and the mess therein and make sense of it. Toss it? Keep it? Donate it to the church rummage sale? Life is full of decisions like these. These are just small fry questions when it comes……

the purging lutheran 4-21-19

  … On the first day of the week according to Christian reckoning, which Luke employs on account of his readers, very early in the morning, literally at deep dawn, when the dawn was just giving way to the brightness of the morning, at just about the time of sunrise, the women that were mentioned……

the purging lutheran 4-20-19

  … During the first hour of the excruciating agony of the crucifixion, both malefactors had joined the surging throngs in reviling and cursing and mocking the man hanging in the middle between them, Matt. 27, 44. But the example of wonderful patience, together with the words which fell from the lips of the Sufferer,……

the purging lutheran 4-19-19

  … The servants of the high priest and the elders were meanwhile having their sport with the captured Prophet of Galilee, and their rude jests and blasphemous mockeries were committed unreproved. They derided Him, they jeered and sneered at Him, they struck Him, not only in the face, but on the body; they put……

the purging lutheran 4-18-19

  … It appears from these words of Christ that we Christians of the present time have more benefit from the work of the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, than the disciples had of the personal, visible presence of the Lord when He dwelt among them in the form of a servant. … And that Person,……

the purging lutheran 4-17-19

  … The Passover meal, which the Jews celebrated in commemoration of the deliverance from the bondage of Egypt, incidentally was a type of the eternal meal of joy and bliss in heaven, where the Lord will feed them that are His with heavenly manna and have them drink of the river of His pleasures.……

the purging lutheran 4-16-19

  … In the mean time they received the promise of assistance from an unexpected quarter. For Satan had entered into Judas, who was called Iscariot. Although this man was one of the Twelve, he had opened his heart to the love of money, he had given way to covetousness, he had become a thief,……

the cruising lutheran (and what he learned) 4-15-19

  1 Timothy 6:17-19 The Message       Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be……

the cruising lutheran 4-9-19

The Cruising Lutheran begins my vacation with My Sweet Rib with a bad case of ‘Led Zeppelin hair’. No time to comb or shave my eyebrows! Boarding The Majesty of the Seas. Which of these boat holes is our room? We are welcomed aboard with Cuban-flavored music. ¡Ay Carumba! After a nap and meal we……

the view from the pew 4-6-19

5:30 service with Pastor Sattler The songs we sang were “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”, “The Church’s One Foundation”, “More Precious Than Silver” and “Christ Is Our Cornerstone”. Thank you, Paul, for playing them on the piano so nicely. Pastor invoked God, Jesus and The Holy Ghost into our sanctuary. We admitted our sins. Pastor,……

the purging lutheran 4-5-19

The Purging Lutheran is just going to outright skip commenting on the inspector’s name and focus on the ‘d_mning with faint praise’ accolade from Newsday. “Chances are you’ll be hooked”. Really? I’m thinking the gang down at Newsday are probably inundated with hundreds of books from a handful of authors (I’m looking at you, Stephen……

the daily purge 4-4-19

Jesus is love. Absolutely. But what else is Jesus? One way to find out what else Jesus is to look for Christian websites and make a list of them. An other is to do a search for “Jesus is” and expect to find lyrics to a song listing the else things Jesus is. Which is……

the daily purge 4-3-19

  At first blush this looks like a leather purse. But wait! Why does ‘crocodile” pop up in my mind? It has that scaley crocodile/alligator look. Honestly, they’re really the same critter. Don’t get caught up whether it has a blunted snout or one or two humps or small or floppy ears. So, what was……

the daily purge 4-2-19

When My Sweet Rib worked for Big Pill she’d jet off to conferences or meetings to make deals with total strangers. As a thanks for showing up she’d receive a token of their esteem. Sometimes it was a pad of Post-It notes emblazoned with the company’s name. Other times a frisbee-like frisbee with the conference’s……

the daily purge 4-1-19

Back in August of 20-aught-18 My Sweet Rib and The Purging Lutheran bought a hots tub in which to relax and burble in while holding ice cold cans of beer. At times it feels like sitting in a crock pot harking back to The Twilight Zone’s “To Serve Man” closing narration: The recollections of one Michael……