Mon, 13 Jul 2026 05:39:35 -0600WeeblyMon, 13 Jul 2026 10:30:00 GMThttp://www.pastorfrogge.net/daily-devotionals/07-13-26ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 13, 2026
Guest Writer: Rev. Dr. Terry Ewing
Overflowing
When My Heart Wins    
(a prayer in response to the daily news)
When a word of friendly greeting and thanks are needed, let me be the one.
When the healing touch of forgiveness is just a breath away, let me be the one.
When the cashier's sad life has become their sad day and my light is needed, let me be the one.
When the unhappiness in a friend's life becomes the mask they wear and a reassuring hand is needed, let me be the one.
When confusion becomes anger,
When loneliness becomes a barbed wire fence,
When tearing down becomes the substitute for building up,
When "boxed in" is the only "in" that is known,
When living in the darks seems normal,
When living afraid seems okay,
When trying to never, ever make a mistake becomes "forever never",
When the stranger, my best friend, my church friend, my work friend, my parent, my child -- seems without ALL your Grace, O God--let me be the one.
Amen.
]]>Sun, 12 Jul 2026 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.pastorfrogge.net/daily-devotionals/07-12-26ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 12, 2026
Have you ever thought you understood something completely, only to have your eyes opened? It can often be challenging to admit that what you perceived to be the truth was not accurate. Maybe it’s not so hard when it was simply a lack of information, and once the new information was available, you changed your mind. But what happens when people absolutely refuse to accept the truth? Maybe it’s out of embarrassment. We’ve all been there at one time or another. Or maybe it’s because they cannot imagine life beyond the limits of their old world view. There was an old guy that I got to know when I was in my 20s. In so many ways, he was kind and smart, but he was also racist. Nothing seemed to change his mind, even when his grandson started dating an absolutely wonderful woman who was African American. The bigotry was so much a part of his worldview. He could not imagine what might be found on the other side of a change. In his opinion, to leave behind what he had always thought to be true would bring chaos to his world. Sadly, he died without any sort of change… despite many people offering encouragement and opportunity. 

Today, I see lots of people clinging to utter foolishness. It’s not a matter of a nuanced disagreement, but a complete denial of what is known to be true. I share this, not to judge or belittle them, but to pause and prayerfully seek God’s help if there is any area to which I am completely unaware of my headstrong myopia that has me missing the truth that is right in front of me. It is sort of arrogant to expect others to face those needed corrections within their own lives if I am unwilling to name similar areas in my own life. It is unrealistic to expect from others what we’re not willing to do ourselves. 

Be for me, Holy God, the North Star in my pursuit of what is good, right, truthful, and life-giving. Where there is something I need to know, yet it is something that could be discomforting, I pray for peace and the capacity to trust you in this greater pursuit. Amen.
]]>Sat, 11 Jul 2026 10:30:00 GMThttp://www.pastorfrogge.net/daily-devotionals/07-11-26ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 11, 2026
Yesterday’s Etching was long, though I felt it was needed if I was going to make my point. Building on the same idea, there are those who will quote Mark 10:45, “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.” Jesus was using the title Son of Man as a way of communicating something about himself. There would be those who disagree with me, but I have always understood the title, Son of Man, as a way of saying the Ideal Human or Model Human. If we want to know how we are to live, then we look to Jesus who set the standard.

Yet the idea of “ransom,” from Mark 10, has been interpreted in some rather strange ways throughout Christian history. Some have argued that because of our human sinfulness, we belong to the devil. Some even say that God made an arrangement with the devil, and the devil could have everyone who was not perfect… which of course, is everyone. According to this theory, Jesus, who was perfect, paid a ransom with his life to the devil. The problem with that theory is that there is really no Biblical support for it, and as was mentioned in yesterday’s Etching, this theory raises a whole other set of troubling implications. But equally important, the word we translate as ransom from the original Greek is usually understood as a payment for someone who has been a prisoner of war or slave. When you think of the Biblical use of ransom, not as some literal concept, but as a metaphor within the context of Mark 10, it takes on a dramatically different reading. There are two major stories in this chapter that are, in my opinion, foundational for understanding what is meant by ransom. 

First, there is the story of the rich man who was trying to figure out how to inherit eternal life, and after he and Jesus went back and forth on some of the commandments, Jesus told him about one more step. The man had to sell everything he had and give the money to the poor. The story goes on to say the man went away very sad because he had many possessions. A short time later, two of the disciples wanted to know if they could have places of prestige on the day of Jesus’ glory. They didn’t realize that for Jesus, the day of glory would be his crucifixion. They pictured a coronation, where they would be recognized and honored as they sat right next to Jesus. 

In both stories, people were missing the point. They were stuck in the priorities of the world, including greed and power. When Jesus spoke of the Son of Man giving his life as a ransom, I believe he was speaking of how the Ideal Human was showing an alternative way, a pathway of humility that seeks life and joy apart from things of this world like greed and a hunger for power. The life and death of Jesus did not pay a literal ransom, but we’ve all known an experience where someone’s actions revealed something we had never previously imagined. Jesus countered the belief that people were subjugated by a world where wealth and power were the only ways to happiness. When you had previously been unable to imagine any other option of existing, it can feel as if someone has ransomed you (liberated you) from a way of living that felt limiting, even suffocating. 

If anything, those who seek to uphold a very literal reading of ransom are, in my opinion, placing some unhealthy restrictions on God and what it means to be human. That ransom might sound liberating, but in the end, we need to be ransomed from the ransom; liberated from the so-called liberation. Why? Because a literal ransom is all about some mythical agreement between God and the devil, but does nothing to transform the ways of living that continue to oppress us, such as living in an attitude of greed, a hunger for power, hatred, arrogance, etc. Jesus’ faithfulness in life and in death serve to break the chains that hold us in a world whose priorities and ideals are contrary to the ways of Jesus. 

We are in awe of the way you have and continue to liberate us, O Sacred Gift of Life and Love. Sometimes it feels as if a ransom needs to be offered if we’re ever going to break free, yet the so-called payment is the breathtaking and joy-fulfilling example of the Son of Man, the Ideal Human, by which we see a very different way of existing. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
]]>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 10:30:00 GMThttp://www.pastorfrogge.net/daily-devotionals/07-10-26ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 10, 2026
Someone posted the following:


Some Christians agree that Adam and Eve did not actually exist. Those Christians then admit that Jesus died for nothing.


If you’re a little confused, let me try to give it some context. There is a theological concept called Original Sin. It is the belief that we are all born sinful and deserving of punishment. So a nine-month-old baby is understood to be a horrible sinner by nature and deserving of eternal damnation. If you are troubled by this, you’re not alone. Yet many Christian traditions argue it as a clear Biblical idea, but there is nothing further from the truth. 


First of all, Judaism — the religion that first owned the Adam and Eve story — does not interpret the story that way at all. In fact, outside of a small hint to it in Romans 5, there is really no Christian argument for original sin until a guy named Augustine some 400 years after Jesus. From the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the church after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the faithful have tried to make sense of Jesus’ death. Why did he have to die? It is an excellent question, and over time, Christians tried to back their way into what they argued was a strong explanation. Of course, it ignored the declaration found in the Creation Poem of Genesis 1, where humanity is declared to be good, not sinful or evil. I’m willing to claim that every human being is capable of sinful choices and actions, but just because we have a faith story by which an ancient people tried to give an explanation of how they came into being, does not somehow create an eternal damning of all humanity. Of course, the Christian theory says that Jesus took the punishment we deserved, but that also ignores the centuries of history before Jesus where the message of God is one of love, mercy, kindness, and grace. 


There are times when you try to back into an explanation that might sound good until you play it out all the way, and then it raises more questions than it answers… most of the questions being deeply troubling. 


So returning to the quote at the beginning of the Etching: the assumption is that if you don’t believe in Adam and Eve, then there is no explanation for the death of Jesus. But notice how everything in this argument hinges on the assumption that the story of Adam and Eve is about Original Sin, and the argument would say that to be Christian, you must believe in Original Sin. Yet we have four Gospels that tell the story of Jesus, including his death. These four Gospels present   four different perspectives. I find this to be wonderful and helpful, but not one of them gives any impression that the death of Jesus was to pay the penalty of Original Sin, and thus saving us from eternal damnation. It’s simply not found in the Gospels. It was introduced into the Christian vocabulary by Augustine, and then slowly entered the Christian tradition, eventually becoming the normative argument. It sounded good, except that it goes against so many other parts of the Jesus story. Think about it for a moment—the parables of the lost (sheep, coin, and son) all reflect extravagant grace, a gift that did not require someone to die. The lost sheep was not punished for being lost. The lost coin was not put forth as an example of the damnable original lostness of all coins. 

​The death of Jesus was, first and foremost, an execution by the Roman Empire. Some will argue that God planned his death from the very beginning of human history, but I believe the explanation has more to do with the power of love, kindness, and mercy to disrupt the power of Empire. Those who believe the only way humanity can exist is with a clear top-down structure, reinforced by fear and the threat of violence, find themselves sort of dumbfounded by this alternative power that is revealed through a humble teacher who refused to play the games of the Romans. They killed him for it, yet his resurrection and the Spirit-empowered church is God’s way of saying, “Worldly power holds no ultimate sway over my unconditional and limitless love. In the end, my way always finds a way.”

So again, the idea put forth at the beginning of the Etching is based on a foundation which is, in my opinion, a house of cards. One little bump, and it all falls apart. This is the reason that those who have and continue to hold that belief often use fear and the threat of hell to keep people from raising questions. Deep down, I believe they know the argument won’t hold up. As I see it, Jesus’ death was an atrocious example of political power seeking to destroy anything that got in its way, while at the same time, it shows us how Jesus was unrelenting in his commitment to the way of love. I can build my faith on that!

Thank you for giving us a love that refuses to shrink or give up. Thank you, Merciful God! Amen.]]>Thu, 09 Jul 2026 10:30:00 GMThttp://www.pastorfrogge.net/daily-devotionals/07-09-26ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 9, 2026
There are moments when you witness something without pondering everything that occurred behind the scenes. We see the results without seeing much of the required work. As a friend used to say, “It takes a lot of effort to make something look effortless.” Last Sunday, we had three baptisms in worship. I really enjoy doing baptisms, but on those Sundays, the congregation enters the sanctuary to see the baptistry full of water. For this past Sunday, the baptistry was filled on Saturday and the recirculating pump was turned on for the purpose of heating the water (probably not as necessary last Sunday as it was last February). On Saturday, we realized our smallest baptismal robe was not small enough for our youngest baptismal candidate. So Pam Johnson adjusted it Saturday night and had it waiting behind the scenes Sunday morning. There were towels and baptismal certificates waiting for each candidate, and plenty of extra towels. Joel had put down some additional slip-resistant strips on the stairs to reduce people from slipping barefoot. After everything was done, Becca Clark gathered wet towels and robes and other leftover items. She took them home, washed them, and returned them to the Centrum all folded or placed on hangers. We are ready for the next round of baptisms. I get the fun part, while so many others do the real work beyond the eyes of the congregation. That’s true of so many things in the life of the church, but today, I am thankful for those who assisted in making Sunday a special day.

For the important, yet often unnoticed ministries of the church, we are thankful. God of Inspiration, bless those who without fanfare get important tasks done in pursuit of your good and sacred work. Amen.]]>Wed, 08 Jul 2026 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.pastorfrogge.net/daily-devotionals/07-08-26ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 8, 2026
I have clergy friends who talk about how quiet their church campuses are during the week. Quiet is not the word I’d use around Cypress Creek Christian Church. And it’s not just the church, but everything happening around this little community compound. Of course, we had VBS and kids that brought lots of energy. The museum had a youth arts camp, and the library seemed to be buzzing. Judge Goodwin at the Courthouse appeared to have a number of weddings, some of them coming over to our campus to take pictures. The George Bush Community Center had a couple of field trips that required buses, and so people were wandering around waiting until they could board their buses. And there were some community families on our playground enjoying the summer. It was definitely not a dull place, and it rarely is. In the Book of Acts, the Apostle Paul usually would gather with people in the Synagogue when he first arrived in a new town. Yes, the Synagogue was a worship space, but even more so, it was a community center and the center of community life. You didn’t just show up on the Sabbath, as it was an exciting place to be at any point during the week. In some small towns, it is the diner with the really good biscuits. Other places, it is the VFW Hall. Or there was a small town in Nebraska where the hangout place was the front porch of the hardware store found on the town square. Over the years, more and more churches have become rather protective of their spaces. They limit access to the community, outside of Sunday morning. Instead of the church being the center of life and culture, from an outside perspective, it looks uninviting. When I first arrived at the church in Florida, they had seventeen “No Trespassing” signs on their three parking lots. They were concerned that people were using their parking lots during the week. Well, first, if the church doesn’t need those parking spots, should we be gracious and hospitable? Even more concerning, despite the No Trespassing signs intended to keep people from parking, what do all those signs communicate to someone just driving by… or on Sunday morning? They didn’t take them down, suggesting that people understood. No, they did not! To anyone approaching the church, it said, “You’re not welcome here!” I kept two of those signs as a reminder. Cypress Creek Christian Church couldn’t be any more different, and I love it… as I sort of believe it’s what a church’s property should communicate.

Wherever the church gathers, the people should see you, O Merciful and Kind God. Even the small things should say to the casual observer: You are welcome here! Continue to bless us as we strive toward a Jesus revealing life. Amen.
]]>Tue, 07 Jul 2026 10:30:00 GMThttp://www.pastorfrogge.net/daily-devotionals/07-07-26ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 7, 2026
Guest Etching: Jim Cook
The God Who Broke the Box


A spoken-word meditation


I used to have God…


in a box.


Not because I didn’t love Him.


I did.


But a God in a box is easier to understand.


Easier to defend.


Easier to explain.


I built that box with Scripture,
with doctrine,
with certainty,
with all the answers I thought I had collected along the way.


It was a beautiful box.


Safe.


Orderly.


Comforting.


And I mistook my box…


for God.


Then life began to pry at the corners.


Questions I couldn’t answer.


Pain I couldn’t explain.


People whose stories didn’t fit my theology.


God pushed against the walls.


Until one day…


the box exploded.


So I built another.


Bigger.


Smarter.


More sophisticated.


Surely this one could contain Him.


But every time I thought I’d captured God…


He was already pressing against the edges.


Every new box lasted a little while…


until it didn’t.


Eventually, I stopped building boxes.


Instead…


I put God on a leash.


A long one.


Long enough for Him to roam through mystery,
through suffering,
through unanswered questions.


But not so long
that I couldn’t pull Him back
when He wandered too far beyond my comfort.


I still believed I was holding on to Him.


Then…


my son died.


Twenty-one years old.


Cancer.


In a single moment…


the leash snapped.


And it felt as though my right arm was torn away with it.


The arm that built the boxes.


The arm that held the leash.


The arm that believed it could somehow manage the Almighty.


Everything I thought I knew…


collapsed.


I didn’t lose my faith.


I lost my illusion


that faith meant certainty.


Now I stand at the edge of a wilderness.


God is there…


untamed.


He runs where He chooses.


Across mountains I cannot climb.


Into valleys I cannot see.


Through galaxies that leave me speechless.


I don’t chase Him anymore.


I couldn’t if I wanted to.


I simply watch.


I listen.


I wonder.


And somewhere in the mystery…


I discovered something I never found inside all those carefully built boxes.


The God I was trying to contain…


was never asking to be understood completely.


He was asking to be trusted.


The boxes are gone.


The leash is gone.


My right arm is gone.


But wonder remains.


And strangely…


so does hope.


Because the God who shattered every box I ever built…


also refused to abandon me
when my world shattered too.


Now I know.


I’d rather walk beside a God
who cannot be contained…


than worship one
small enough
to fit inside a box.
​]]>Sun, 05 Jul 2026 10:30:00 GMThttp://www.pastorfrogge.net/daily-devotionals/07-06-26ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 6, 2026
Prayer for the Week:
In a country still trying to understand how to move from a conceptual understanding of freedom to a lived understanding of freedom, with all of its complexity, we pray for your help, O Life-Sharing and Life-Inspiring Spirit. The Apostle Paul taught his readers that true freedom was not the unchecked ability to do whatever one wants, but the power, given by grace, to live righteously and selflessly. Yet I believe this understanding of freedom is different than a government’s judicial system, especially a system that honors and celebrates freedom of speech for all. As one seeking to be faithful, I pray for wisdom in knowing how to defend someone else’s freedom of speech while also offering a clear alternative, especially when that free speech is expressed in hateful rhetoric by marchers in our nation’s capital. Silence might appear to honor someone else’s right to free speech, but I ache when my silence appears to provide an implied affirmation of what is contrary to the ways of Jesus. Too many people are hurt and demeaned, yet you are clear where your disciples are to be found in such moments—present, loving, vocal, and bold. May it be so! Amen.
]]>Sun, 05 Jul 2026 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.pastorfrogge.net/daily-devotionals/07-05-26ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 5, 2026
I'm going to date myself, but how many of you remember the "Calgon, take me away" commercial? When work was crazy and the kids were screaming and the dishes were piling up, you screamed, "Calgon, take me away." And of course, the individual in the commercial was swept away to a luxurious spa-like bathroom with a bathtub that could seat twelve. And of course, this wonderful bath treatment seemed to quiet the boss, entertain the kids and get the dishes into the dishwasher. Or at least, it provided an escape. Last night, as the fireworks were still exploding at midnight, I sort of wanted to cry out, “Calgon, take me away.” 

Was Jesus into finding opportunities to escape? Did he ever want to cry out, "Calgon, take me away"? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I know he needed to pull away when things got intense. We read in Luke 5, “News of Jesus spread even more and huge crowds gathered to listen and to be healed from their illnesses. But Jesus would withdraw to deserted places for prayer.” Notice that it is a plural, "deserted places," with the emphasis on placeS. It was for the purpose of prayer, but it was more than just going through the motions. For Jesus, and I think for us, prayer can be a place and an experience where renewal occurs. It’s not necessarily an escape, but a pause from whatever it is that drains us. And in that pause, we spend some intentional time with God, who is the Source of love and life. When we pause long enough to acknowledge the divine presence, we are able to breathe in what is life-giving. Make sure you find a little time. Maybe worship will be that for you today.

Meet me, God of Immeasurable Grace. Help me make some space where I can just be with you for a few moments—a few moments to breathe in what my soul yearns for. Amen.
]]>Sat, 04 Jul 2026 10:30:00 GMThttp://www.pastorfrogge.net/daily-devotionals/07-04-26ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
July 4, 2026
I always appreciate the fireworks and over-the-top celebration of my ordination anniversary. Yes, I was ordained at First Christian Church in Lincoln, NE, on Sunday, July 4, 1993. It sort of seemed like a strange day for an ordination, yet there were people who had a long weekend and could travel. Plus, I had just started my first full time ministry gig, and though they were very supportive of me taking a weekend off for my ordination, they wanted me official ASAP so we could move forward. Over time, I have come to like the connection my ordination has with July 4. It was George Washington who famously described America as an “experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.” He shared those words in his First Inaugural Address in 1789, and I believe America remains an experiment that requires both caution and risk. At no point have we become the experts in democracy or what it means to live into the high ideals put forth in the Declaration of Independence. In a sort of similar fashion, I have been told that, as an ordained minister, I am the expert in this thing called Christianity. My four years of graduate school and now 33 years of ordained ministry taught many things, yet most importantly, I have learned just how little I know. I sometimes feel as if I am only experimenting with this idea of following Jesus, and like any good experiment, even the failures provide learning for those who are open to the possibility. Happy and safe 4th!

There are a handful of true experts in one field or another, yet as knowledge and the universe itself continue to expand at astronomical rate, teach us humility, Gracious One. It’s rarely about perfection. Most often, it’s about growth through questions whose answers may never be fully known. Amen.
]]>