During the months of June through August, Bishop Michael Rinehart will be on a three month sabbatical. His plans include travel, prayer, walking, reading, and writing. He will be out of the country for some of that time. 
He will return on September 1, rested, renewed, and God-willing, a new creation in Christ.
During this time, Pastor Don Carlson will be writing the weekly devotionals and podcasts. 

Dr. Matthias Henze, author and editor of “A Companion to Biblical Interpretation in Early Judaism“, husband of Pastor Karin Liebster at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Houston, and professor at Rice University in Houston.

He holds the Watt J. and Lilly G. Jackson Chair in Biblical Studies and is founding director of the Program in Jewish Studies at Rice.

He is also the editor of “Biblical Interpretation at Qumran” and the author of “The Syriac Apocalypse of Daniel” and “The Madness of King Nebuchadnezzar: The Ancient Near Eastern Origins and Early History of Interpretation of Daniel 4.”

Holy God, Holy and Glorious (ELW 637) sung during communion at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Houston, Texas on Christ the King Sunday, November 24, 2013.

  Stanza 1: All
  Stanza 2: Women
  Stanza 3: Choir
  Stanza 4: Men
  Stanza 5: All

Holy God, holy and glorious, glory most sublime, You come as one among us into human time, And we behold your glory. 

Holy God, holy and powerful, power without peer, You bend to us in weakness; emptied, you draw near, And we behold your power. 

Holy God, holy and beautiful, beauty unsurpassed, You are despised, rejected; scorned, you draw nearer, you hold us fast, And we behold your beauty. 

Holy God, holy and only wise, wisdom of great price, You choose the way of folly: God the crucified, And we behold your wisdom. 

Holy God, holy and living one, life that never ends, You show your love by dying, dying for your friends, And we behold you living. 

Words: Susan Briehl
Tune: Robert Buckley Farlee

The Dark Horse Consort, playing "Justorum animae" by Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) on period instruments during the offering at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Houston, Texas on Christ the King Sunday, November 24, 2013.

The Dark Horse Consort is a San Francisco group that specializes in music of the late Renaissance on period instruments.  

Getting to know Meredith Gould, a sociologist and digital strategist with decades of communications experience. Author to many great books, among them, "The Social Media Gospel: Sharing the Good News in New Ways", "The Word Made Fresh: Communicating Church and Faith Today" and "Getting #Married: Using Social Media to Celebrate the Sacred."

I spoke with Dr. Cheryl Peterson in her office at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, about her latest book, "Who Is The Church? An Ecclesiology for the 21st Century."

I interviewed Mark Allan Powell in his office. Mark is author of God With Us, Giving to God, Introducting the New Testament, Jesus as a Figure in History and many other books. He teaches New Testament at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. I asked him about his writing, about Matthew commentaries, and his new foray into Spanish. 

Daniel Forehand is a senior at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, Ohio. He is also Teaching Assistant for Dr. Cheryl Peterson, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology. I sat down with Daniel to hear first hand what life was like at a seminary, preparing to be a pastor in the church.