David Peterson

Here's a quote from Luther on the human capacity to cultivate civil righteousness, the capacity of all people to develop virtue and be relatively good people. Reformed theology speaks similarly when it talks of common grace. Luther is careful to distinguish this from being truly righteous before God. We must distinguish between the theological and the civil standpoints. God approves also the rule of the ungodly; he honors and rewards virtue also among the ungodly, but only in regard to the things of this life and things grasped by a reason which is upright from the civil standpoint; whereas the future life is not embraced in such reward. His approval is not with regard to the future life. We believe that man without the Holy Spirit is altogether corrupt before God, though he may stand adorned with all heathen virtues, as moderation, liberality, love of country, parents and children, courage and humanity. The declarations of the Holy Scriptures prove the same thing. The statement ...

(Below is my article for the March 2018 Salem Church newsletter.) This month we will journey once more to the cross, the place at which Christians claim history finds its center point. We claim that there, once and for all, the wrongs of history met their match. In the person of Jesus wrong was met and overcome. He rose three days later proving that he destroyed its power. The wrong we’re talking about is sin. At the heart of what we mean when we talk about sin is a conflict with the eternal, with God himself. It’s this conflict with the eternal that makes sin so serious. The whole message of the Bible is that human beings have become separated from their true source and grounding. Even more than mere separation, we are at odds with our true source, that which is really good, really right, really true. There is a conflict between humanity and God. This conflict was brought out into the open when humanity put God on the cross. The crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth made plain what’s i...

Here we're sifting the ashes and adding olive oil.

Our annual adventure of making ashes for Ash Wednesday. In this video we're burning the palm branches.