“That We Might Have Hope” (Rom. 15:4) First Kings, Chapters Twelve through Fourteen The Divided Kingdom While I was preparing to write this article on the dividing of the kingdom of God’s people in the Old Testament, my thoughts turned to the division that our country faced in the wake of the last Presidential election.… Read More »LESSONS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT Read More

CATECHISM SERIES: Studies in The Apostles’ Creed  THE APOSTLES’ CREED I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived  by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into… Read More »Jesus is True Man Read More

“As the head of the family should teach them in a simple way to those of his household.” (Martin Luther) Our local newspaper has a regular feature which uses symbols on a city map to indicate where crimes have been committed. This allows the public to “see” what crimes have been committed in different neighborhoods. It… Read More »THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT Read More

The recent bombings at the Boston Marathon highlight once again how quickly life can be lost. Even most of the unbelieving world would recognize that this act was wrong. Most would also agree that when the older brother was shot by authorities in a shoot—out, killing him  was not murder. The obvious question then is,… Read More »THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT Read More

PART THREE OF A SERIES  3) God is my Preserver and Provider Have you ever had a “near death” experience? If so, perhaps it involved a motor vehicle, a medication, an allergic reaction, an illness, or a war. And after your life was preserved, didn’t you have a sense of gratitude and a renewed appreciation… Read More »“This is most certainly true!” Read More

Introduction & Part One of a Series Let us first give some introductory comments, starting with the basic fact that “A creed is a statement (written or spoken) of what a person believes.” (p. 89, Luther’s Catechism, Sydow ed.) The Apostles’ Creed is one of the three ecumenical (general or universal) creeds of the Christian… Read More »“This is most certainly true!” Read More

Citizens on Earth Ever since Adam and Eve’s fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, every human with the exception of Jesus has been conceived and born in sin. Original sin is our ascribed status—in other words, one in which we have no choice. As the Apostle Paul writes to the Romans, “Therefore, just… Read More »Observing the Nation’s Independence Day Dual Citizenship Read More

“How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” (1 Corinthians 15:35) The above text presents us with two special questions to ponder this Easter season. Let’s examine the second first: “And with what body do they come?” If you are like me, every year brings with it evidence of bodily… Read More »Questions to Ponder Read More

How many of us recognize the words of the title?. I have often wondered what it must have been like for those who heard Jesus preach directly to them. Their hearts must have burned within them as the Holy Spirit used the Savior’s own words to create and sustain faith. As the risen Savior joined… Read More »Did Not Our Hearts Burn Within Us? Read More

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… Read More »Word Associations Read More

During the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century an insidious philosophy – namely, rationalism — spread throughout Europe and America. Rationalism’s proponents asserted that human reason, unaided by divine revelation, is the sole guide to all attainable religious truth. Human reason became the new god. The idea put forth was that if the human brain could… Read More »The Means of Grace Read More

The twelfth day of Christmas is January 5th, the last day of the traditional Christmas season. It serves to usher in the next church season — that of Epiphany. Historically, Epiphany was much more widely celebrated in Christian churches than was Christmas. Epiphany is not a word used in the Bible, but it does convey a … Read More »On the 12th Day of Christmas… Read More

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” — Psalm 100:4-5 I invite you to consider with me two common expressions with the word “thanks” in them,… Read More »Thanks, But No Thanks Read More

“Thesis XV—In the eleventh place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the Gospel is turned into a preaching of repentance.” Have you ever been misunderstood in a text that you have sent? One thing that texting has taught me is that words matter. Just because I understand what I am writing doesn’t… Read More »The Gospel Is Not a Preaching of Repentance Read More

“That We Might Have Hope” (Rom. 15:4) First Kings, Chapter Nineteen “Please God, let me die.” Have you ever uttered or thought the words in our title? As we travel through this vale of tears there are, no doubt, times when we wish the Lord would call us home to Him. Sometimes these words, however,… Read More »LESSONS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT Read More

“As the head of the family should teach them in a simple way to those of his household.”  (Martin Luther)  The Ninth & Tenth COMMANDMENTS: You Shall Not Covet The Ninth Commandment You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. What does this mean? We should fear and love God that we do not sinfully desire… Read More »You Shall Not Covet Read More

“That We Might have Hope” (Rom. 15:4) Second Samuel, Chapters Fourteen through Nineteen A Son Of David “Thus says the Lord: “‘behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. . . . ‘” (2 Sam. 12:11). Sin has consequences. In today’s lessons we will see how the prophecy spoken in the… Read More »LESSONS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT Read More

“That We Might have Hope” (Rom. 15:4) First Samuel Chapters Twenty-One To Thirty-One DAVID AND SAUL — HOW DIFFERENT WERE THEY? Both were chosen by God to lead Israel. Both started out as humble servants of their God. Both were wicked sinners, guilty of hatred, anger, pride, and jealousy. Both of them deserved to go… Read More »LESSONS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT Read More

“That We Might Have Hope” (Rom. 15:4) Genesis Chapter Twenty-four Jacob and Esau In Genesis 24 we are introduced to Isaac’s twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Like Abraham’s wife, Sarah, Isaac’s wife, Rebekah, was barren for many years. Knowing the promised Savior was to come from his seed, Isaac pleaded with God to bless them… Read More »Two Wrongs Did Not A Birthright Make Read More

I recently heard a national leader of public education being interviewed. The interviewer asked about what is being done to combat all the violence in public schools. The NEA leader said that many schools now include “conflict resolution” classes in their curriculums. The purpose of these classes is to teach children of various ethnic groups… Read More »CONFLICT RESOLUTION Read More