Lutheran Spokesman

Forged In Fire is the name of a current TV show. Several bladesmiths are given various hunks of steel, and each one is asked to forge and create a knife of his own design. Their blades are then tested for sharpness, strength, and durability, by which tests the field is narrowed to two finalists, who then are challenged Read More

GEMS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

Any Sunday School student worth his salt knows of the three men in the fiery furnace. They might even remember their names — Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego—and that these three men had refused to worship a huge golden image set up by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Daniel 3). Read More

With Christmas just past, we are reminded that the event of the birth of God’s Son was surrounded by prayers and songs—especially songs of praise. The choir of holy angels over a Bethlehem field was preceded by Mary’s Magnificat and Zacharias’s Benedictus, and followed by Simeon’s Nunc Dimittis. All thanked and Read More

“Politics is the art of compromise.” Thus politicians and pundits advise that the way things get done is through compromise. No one gets everything they want, but both sides get something. Compromise is necessary and good for the country, it is said. Perhaps, but not always. The founding fathers compromised on the issue of slavery so that Read More

Many people follow the Academy Awards show to see which nominees did the best at playing their respective roles. The winners are much applauded for their craft and professionalism. But at the end of the evening, what they gave us was just a movie, a work of fiction. There once lived in Israel a wise woman who also turned out to be an amazing Read More

Students of the Bible, and even many who are not, have heard of Judas Iscariot. What they may not understand is that his greatest sin was not his thievery or betrayal, but his rejection of his Savior’s mercy and forgiveness. In his despair, Judas committed suicide by hanging. Neither do most people know that tragic Judas had a brother—not a Read More

It is certainly true that without miracles there can be no Christian Church, no saving faith, no redemption, no life. Foundational are the miracles of incarnation, resurrection and sanctification. Following these are a host of other miracles—all meant to be purposeful and instructive. The miracles done by Jesus are described as “signs and Read More

I thought it a bit surprising, if not embarrassing. A lady had commented that it was too bad that the editors of The Lutheran Hymnal didn’t have spell-check available to them. When I raised my eyebrow in question, she bemoaned the fact that in the Sanctus (p.26), Sabbath had been misspelled. Turned out Read More

Abigail is an outstanding example of a beautiful, intelligent, God-fearing woman and wife who remained loyal to her husband for better or worse.

Summer traditionally is a time for weddings, joyous in their circumstance and hopeful in their outlook. But soon the reality of sin surfaces, even to the point of comment, Read More

If God has a sense of humor, I can imagine He would have been chuckling over what occurred in the temple of the Philistines during the days of Samuel (1 Samuel 5:1-5). These enemies of God’s people had defeated the Israelites in battle, captured the ark of the covenant, and brought it to their temple in Ashdod. Flush with the arrogance of Read More