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August 2011

Christian Apologetics

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you…” 1 Peter 3:15

Morality and Ethics

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 (NIV)

“If God is all-loving, why is there so much evil in the world?”

is a common enough question asked to a Christian. After all, people generally know that God is claimed to be ‘good,’ yet they do see bad things in this world (disease, hunger, war, death, and so on).Read More »Christian Apologetics

Word Associations

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

If we were to play a word association game using the word education, what thoughts would first come to our minds?

Those who live in Wisconsin as I do, would no doubt have fresh memories involving a year of turmoil in our public school system. Words such as tenure, benefits, contracts, standards, recall, and vouchers have been bandied about.

But the problems don’t stop there. Along with challenging political issues come a myriad of social concerns. Words such as bullying, sexting, broken families, drug abuse, metal detectors, gay-straight alliances, early childhood sex ed, have also… and unfortunately… become commonplace when discussing the education of our youth.

What about Christian education? Is it immune to the political and social problems of society at large? … in our Christian homes children are besieged by the devil, the sinful world,and their fleshly desires (as are their parents and teachers).

What about Christian education? Is it immune to the political and social problems of society at large? Of course not. Both in parochial schools and in our Christian homes children are besieged by the devil, the sinful world, and their fleshly desires (as are their parents and teachers).Read More »Word Associations

Pastor David Pfeiffer and family

A New Pastor at Ascension Lutheran Church!

Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

How many of us young people (I think I can still call myself that!) find ourselves finishing high school and simply not knowing what to do with ourselves?

It used to be that a son would commonly follow in the trade of his father who had previously followed in the trade of his father. These days that is not the norm, or at least so I thought.

Some deliberate, some procrastinate, some are three weeks ahead, some are three days behind, yet to some degree we all plan our way.Read More »A New Pastor at Ascension Lutheran Church!

Christian Service to One Another

(first written for the pastor’s column of a local newspaper)

When someone speaks of menial labor, he’s probably talking about the kind of work that hardly anybody wants to do.

The word menial originally meant household, which brings to mind all the chores that get done because, well, somebody has to do them. Who, after all, really wants to wash the dishes after a meal? Isn’t it better to have someone else do that while you turn on your favorite TV program? Who really wants to mow the lawn and rake the leaves?

I once met a man who really did want to. The lawn on the property of the church I served as pastor was a lot bigger than it looked and involved some pretty steep hills. One hot summer Sunday as he was leaving church, this volunteer told me how he couldn’t wait to get started on the lawn that afternoon. “You’re joking, right?” I asked him.Read More »Christian Service to One Another