The word “orthodox” means “true teaching.” It is the opposite of “heterodox,” which means “other teaching,” that is, teaching other than that which God teaches. So the comparison is true-teaching versus false-teaching. It is used to describe the character of an individual or assembly and the doctrine which they espouse. One Intended Meaning Every sincere…  Read More

‘If You Don’t Use It, You’ll Lose It’ This statement was overheard recently in a hospital. For the patient it seemed too soon after surgery to be getting out of bed and trying to walk up and down the hallway. He would have preferred to lie in bed a few more days resting. The therapist,…  Read More

“And He shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth” — Micah 5:4 Though He may appear lowly in His Bethlehem birthplace, Jesus is true God,…  Read More

A Christian cannot be unmoved when contemplating the scene presented in Gethsemane. Here we behold our beloved Lord Jesus in an agony so intense that His sweat became great drops of blood falling to the ground. The sight truly fills us with sorrow, but we are also cheered by it. How can the Lord who…  Read More

“Make a joyful noise!” Joy is a very important subject in God’s Word. Words like joy, joyful, rejoice are found over 300 times in the Bible. God makes it very clear, particularly in the Psalms, that He wants His people to be noisy when they are joyful. What the Lord desires is for us to…  Read More

Minnesota Pastoral Conference Place: Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, Detroit Lakes, Minn. Dates: Tuesday-Thursday, October 26-27, beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday Agenda: * Old Testament Exegesis, Obadiah -- Pastor Wayne Eichstadt * New Testament Exegesis, 2 Thessalonians 1:6ff -- Pastor Stephen Kurtzahn * A study of issues related to dying which could be assembled into…  Read More

” . . . But speaking the truth in love, may (we) grow up into Him in all things, who is the head, even Christ.” — Ephesians 4:15 The truth hurts. Boy, don’t we know it! Think back on a time when someone bluntly pointed out some flaw in us or some deficiency in our…  Read More

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). “The king is coming!” This announcement was received with mixed feelings in olden times. If the…  Read More

“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this…  Read More

Do you remember your Confirmation day? Many of us remember how spring was in the air. How exciting it is when everything seems to be coming to life after a long winter! It’s a new beginning. That is quite fitting for confirmation, don’t you think? We should think of confirmation as a new beginning. Often…  Read More

As the word Christian means different things to different people, so also does the term Christian education. Many of the catalogues advertising Christian schools will say that they are “Christ-centered” and “Bible-based.” That certainly sounds good, but experience teaches that further investigation is required to discover whether or not we would agree with those claims.…  Read More

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.” — Luke 1:68-69 White lights delicately outlining the shapes of palm trees. Bright red bows tied around stately saguaro cacti. Temperatures dipping down…  Read More

(Zechariah 12:10) It is a long way from our home to Jerusalem. My family and I made this journey because we desire, at least once, to celebrate the Passover in this city. Though we are not Jews, we have come to faith in the God named Jehovah. As we approach the city this Friday morning,…  Read More

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) What makes for a truly happy home and a functional family? There are many things that can contribute to this, but one thing stands above all the rest–living according to the gospel of Christ. This…  Read More

“Do you think that the words of Scripture mean nothing when they say that the Spirit who dwells within us jealously longs for us? But He gives us more and more grace. Therefore, He says: ‘God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.’ Submit then to God. Resist the devil and he…  Read More

“For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:5-6 The…  Read More

“Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened unto us the Scriptures?” — Luke 24:32 BY OPENING UNTO US THE SCRIPTURES When Jesus rose from the dead, it was a glorious victory! Death had been routed, sin nullified, and Satan’s power crushed. Yet that…  Read More

“Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed,…  Read More

GEMS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT (SIXTH IN A SERIES) To Trust or Not to Trust “Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip…  Read More

“When he [Samson] came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting against him. Then the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that is burned with fire, and his bonds broke loose from his hands. He found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached…  Read More