The Devil #2 The Power Of The Devil Last month’s article on the Devil had some bad news: The Devil is real; he’s against God; he’s our enemy. The good news is that Satan is LESS than God. Though he has impressive powers, God’s powers are superior. Though he is vigorous and resourceful, God has…  Read More

Induction of Four New Professors Opening ceremonies at Immanuel Lutheran College on August 26 reminded me of Jesus’ question to His disciples: “When I sent you . . . lacked ye anything?” And they said: “Nothing” (Lk 22:35). Four new faculty members inducted by Chairman Vance Fossum; organ accompaniment by John Reim; group singing; address…  Read More

Have you at any time wished that you could relive a day of your life and do it differently? People express such a wish after a costly mistake; they fantasize erasing guilt by the magic of a rerun. Yet who is to say that such magic would produce a successful or happy experience? That takes…  Read More

The Devil #4 The Devil Works To Deceive Deception is the operative word here, then the concept behind the word, then the malignant spirit behind that. Speaking of the Devil, as we are, today’s theme centers on his infernal successes by deception of humans. Being a liar from the beginning and the procreator of deceptivity…  Read More

— Matthew 28:20 “I Am With You Always . . .” Today as the fortieth day after Easter we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord and Savior. In the final verse of the last chapter of Matthew’s account, we hear the parting words of Jesus which ring in our ears and hearts even as this…  Read More

A View From The Back Row I had gotten used to being in the front row at graduations at our Immanuel Lutheran College in Eau Claire. Privilege. Responsibility. That has changed, and I think I’ll like the view from the back row just as well. Across the field of waving heads I noted on stage…  Read More

Through The Gospel We Have Victory Over The Devil It is not a well-kept secret among Christians that Satan is outmatched by the Son of God, Jesus the Savior. Though Satan can outmaneuver a weak child of God, and does so to our constant dismay, he never caught Jesus off-guard. Every contest between them ends…  Read More

From my viewpoint in the back row (again), I was pleased to hear how quickly the milling crowd shelved its social skills when school President John Pfeiffer invited our attention to the opening service at Immanuel Lutheran College (ILC), which included the installation for the new professor, Paul Sullivan. It was a good beginning. Good…  Read More

One of these days a new computer icon will replace the Help resource; with a flutter of cyber wings this electronic genie will encourage the keyboard novice to at least give Angel a try. Television moguls have already exploited angels for entertainment, and script writers have created brash/coy, flamboyant/humble, or wise/confused angel personalities, as the…  Read More

Matthew 13:1-23 The Sower And the Seed Just by way of introduction: as you read this text you note that vv. 3-9 give the parable; vv. 10-17 give instruction embedded in a riddle; and vv. 18-23 give what Jesus really meant by the parable. Some of this is pretty scary–not as scary as the Jesus’…  Read More

Immanuel Lutheran High School, College, and Seminary, Eau Claire, Wisconsin — Sorry that a few of you missed the concert at Immanuel Lutheran College on Friday evening, May 22. The willows and arborvitae in their containers on stage looked more alive this year. Like the choir concert on the eve of graduation, all was graceful…  Read More

“Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.…  Read More

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46 Kingdom Truths We have discovered that the thirteenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel is plumb full of kingdom-of-heaven parables. Anyone interested in God’s things can here acquire a better grasp of kingdom truths, for such was Jesus’ intent in this girdle of parables that produces a midriff bulge in Matthew’s Gospel. The Mustard…  Read More

Back “on-line” For over a year, a half-dozen Christian households in the Onalaska/Brice Prairie area (suburban LaCrosse, Wis.) had been deprived of their CLC home-page. That is, when St. Mark’s of Onalaska left the CLC with Pastor E. Albrecht, and this handful of souls could not follow, they found themselves without a pastor or congregational…  Read More

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” might be a good test question for instruction class–as the Christian pastor leads a soul to the arms of Jesus–but the expert in Jewish legalities who asked it was more interested in challenging Jesus’ theology than in searching for the way of salvation. It has not been…  Read More

“Do All To The Glory Of God” “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” — Matthew 6:23 This is the sort of word from God that we chapel speakers like to use at the beginning of the school year, for then it’s…  Read More

Immanuel Lutheran College Eau Claire, Wisconsin In my view from a seat near the rear of the Fieldhouse at ILC, the ebullient crowd needed to be shushed into the listening mode for an experience that was harmonious in multiple ways. There was the closing concert on Friday evening, of course, well-orchestrated around the Word in…  Read More

Luke 14:7-11 A Precept Parable The opening verse says it’s a parable, but it just doesn’t read like a parable. It reads more like a set of precepts about good manners at a Jewish wedding banquet. So . . . what are we to do when a Scripture doesn’t gel? Ask the Spirit for enlightenment,…  Read More

Coming Into The Light During the electioneering this month you may recall hearing something about a Wisconsin politician that was not good news. He got reelected. According to some reports, he has come out of the closet. Coming out of the closet means making public acknowlegement of homosexuality. For some folks, that step is considered…  Read More

Luke 15:1-10 The Lost Sheep And Lost Coin The lost (but found) sheep and the lost (but found) coin teach us to value God’s attitude. As the scene of the text (vv. 1-3) opens, a motley group of non-church-goers “drew near to Jesus to hear Him.” Right from the beginning we note that nothing characterizes…  Read More