Baustelle Berlin Archives

For those of you following our daily Scripture reading plan, maybe you noticed a common theme in the readings earlier this week was striving. In the Genesis 16 reading, strife takes over Abram’s household after … Read More

“As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” (Genesis 9:7) God said these words to Noah after the flood, repeating the imperative given to Adam in … Read More

Happy New Year, since I didn’t get a chance to say that to many of you! And Happy Dreikönigsfest (feast of the three kings)! Or, if you prefer, Happy Epiphany! (The Christmas season is officially … Read More

As I look at our Christmas tree leaning against the balcony wall, still in the netting and waiting to be put in the stand and decorated–Yes, I realize Christmas is four days away, and no, … Read More

The King James Bible often introduces events with the words, “It came to pass . . .” A former colleague in ministry used to apply this clause as a word of encouragement in difficult situations. … Read More

The Gospel reading for the first Sunday in Advent is one we might rather have expected for Palm Sunday. It is St. Matthew’s account of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey … Read More

Yesterday, I discovered a disgusting and infuriating injustice. My bicycle—my beautiful practically-brand-new-50th-birthday-present bicycle—was stolen from what I thought was a perfectly secure location: locked with an expensive bicycle lock to the steel railing directly in … Read More

In Isaiah 55, we read: 10 “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it … Read More

Reformation is the work of God’s Word both in and through the lives of His people. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who served a prominent role in the Reformation in the Church of England, emphasized the importance … Read More

This year marks the 500th anniversary of Luther’s Reformation in Germany, which makes this coming Reformation Day (October 31) a special one. But as many are celebrating the life of Luther and looking back on … Read More