On August 26, 1944 French General Charles De Gaulle led a victory parade of Allied troops down the streets of Paris. It was now clear that Nazi Germany was in its death throes. But the war was not yet won. American soldiers in parade formation marched right from the city streets into combat. Throughout the… Read More »Let Us Go Now, Even Unto Jerusalem… Read More

In the Fall of 1998 a political dark horse from the Reform Party, a man by the name of Jesse Ventura, came onto the scene of Minnesota politics and, as he said, “shocked the world.” He shocked the world with a fresh take and new ideas about politics and government in Minnesota. He shocked Minnesotans… Read More »A Man Who Shocked The World Read More

The Gospel’s Effect In Our Lives The verb form (Greek) of the word Epiphany means to “show, make an appearance, reveal.” We already have had an epiphany of sorts at the New Year. What did the change of the millennium reveal? Most likely it revealed that the millennium hype was just that–hype. Above all it… Read More »An Epiphany Devotion– Read More

“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. . . . She opens her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed;… Read More »A VIRTUOUS WIFE AND MOTHER Read More

Historians have little or no problem with the fact that a man named Jesus of Nazareth was crucified by the Romans in Jerusalem sometime around 30 A.D. History books will tell you that Jesus was stricken, smitten, afflicted, wounded, bruised, and chastised. Even the Jewish historian Josephus records this fact and the events that surrounded… Read More »History Repeated For Our Comfort Read More

Saying “thank you” is the hallmark of a polite society. We teach our children to say “thank you.” The waitress brings us our meal and even if the service was not the greatest, we say, “Thanks!” We even say “thank you” to people who thank us. If someone does something nice for us, we say… Read More »“Thank You” Read More

In Marquette, Michigan, which had record snowfall in 1997 of almost three hundred inches, Easter was indeed white last year, as snow lay on the ground that day. But whether you live in Marquette, Michigan, Phoenix Arizona, or Winter Haven, Florida, Easter will always be white for believers in Christ Jesus. The Color Of Mourning… Read More »I’m Dreaming Of A White . . . Easter?! Read More

“Wouldn’t a Christmas baby be just sooo precious?!” Parents who are expecting a child in December grow accustomed to hearing this. Certainly a Christmas birth is meaningful to Christian parents, as it should be also for that child. It should be, but for the child growing up with a birthday on or around Christmas, it… Read More »THE MOST PRECIOUS BIRTHDAY GIFT Read More

“Let the man who would hear God speak read Holy Scripture . . . “ — Martin Luther. What can one write about Holy Scripture that has not already been written? Not much, if anything. More has probably been written about this Book of Books than any other literary work in the history of mankind.… Read More »WHY READ THE BIBLE? Read More

Without a doubt the most famous quote of President John F. Kennedy’s presidency is, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Centuries before JFK uttered these words, Christians the world over had been putting them into practice. Countless Christians have died serving their country in… Read More »Ask God To Bless Your Country Read More

A SLICE OF LIFE IN THE CLC SNAPSHOTS OF CONGREGATIONS FROM AROUND THE CHURCH OF THE LUTHERAN CONFESSION In 1623, the hymn writer, Georg Weissel wrote, “Seek where ye may To find a way That leads to your salvation . . .” For the Bereans in Macedonia, that way was found in only one place:… Read More »Berea Lutheran Church Sioux Falls, South Dakota Read More

“I wish I could be rid of my sinful flesh once and for all! Then everything would be perfect!” Such thoughts are not foreign to believers. As the child of God looks about this world, he witnesses violence, drug abuse, hatred, and so many other sins. These things are not going on at a safe… Read More »“I wish Everything Was Perfect!” Read More

The following was written by a pastor for his own congregation as he was about to conduct his first funeral for a cremated member. — Editor It used to be that no God-fearing Christian would consider cremation as an option for Christian burial. One Lutheran theologian wrote, “Cremation is an insidious denial of the resurrection… Read More »THOUGHTS ON CREMATION AND THE CHRISTIAN Read More

The Bible says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” Theistic evolution says: “In the beginning God created the Big Bang.” In spite of what the Bible clearly says, just how God created has been the subject of much debate over the years. On the one hand, the Bible says that God… Read More »I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH Read More

What do you know about love? we say it a lot: “I love you.” Husbands say it to wives, wives to husbands; children say it to parents, parents say it to children. People say it to their boyfriends and girlfriends. What does it mean? Do we mean the feelings that we have one toward another?… Read More »WHAT IS LOVE??? Read More

What can be said about Christmas that hasn’t been said already? We hear it all every year: “It’s over-commercialized!” “It’s too expensive!” And that’s true of the “Christmas” of the world. The world has, of course, taken the Christ out of Christmas and replaced Him with an X-mas–which to them is only a time of… Read More »The Christmas Of The Christian Read More

News Anchor: "We go now 'live' to Jerusalem. Describe the scene there for us if you can." Reporter: "Well, Dan, it's really quite a scene. A man from Nazareth has been beaten bloody by the Roman governor in Jerusalem in an apparent effort to appease this angry crowd." News Anchor: "Pathetic pictures indeed. Who is… Read More »EYEWITNESS GOOD NEWS Read More

The following joke was told to this writer at a pastoral conference several years ago. Two Lutheran pastors met for their monthly study club. “How’s it going?” the one asked. The other answered, “Not so good. We have a problem with a bat in our church.” “Have you tried catching it?” asked the first. The… Read More »WHY Were We Confirmed?? Read More

This month we celebrate the Lutheran Reformation, celebrating what the LORD God accomplished through a man named Martin Luther. At Luther’s time the Roman Catholic Church had obscured the free gospel of salvation through faith in Christ alone. Instead, they focused man’s attention on man’s own works for salvation. Through Martin Luther God restored the… Read More »What’s In A Name? Read More

Again and again Scripture urges us to “repent.” We are told: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 4:17); “Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins” (Acts 2:38); “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mk. 1:15). Literally, repent… Read More »HE DIED AS HE LIVED! Read More