A SLICE OF LIFE IN THE CLC SNAPSHOTS OF CONGREGATIONS FROM AROUND THE CHURCH OF THE LUTHERAN CONFESSION Millston is a community of 135 residents in west-central Wisconsin, sixty miles southeast of Eau Claire. U.S. highway 12, connecting Chicago to Minneapolis, runs through Millston. Today I-94, just at the edge of Millston, carries much of… Read More »Trinity Lutheran Church —Millston, Wisconsin Read More

T he “Coulee Region” of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa extends approximately fifty miles on either side of the Mississippi River for a distance of about two hundred miles. In the heart of this Coulee Region lie Onalaska, Wisconsin, and its larger, more famous twin sister, La Crosse, Wisconsin. Onalaska is on the Black River.  La… Read More »Peace With God Evangelical Lutheran Church Onalaska, Wisconsin Read More

How did it go today? Some days are a challenge from start to finish. Others seem monotonous. Yet always, it is the Lord Who brings us safely to the close of each day. It’s easy to forget the Lord’s role, to feel that each day just grinds along on its own, somehow dragging us with… Read More »At the End of the Day . . . Read More

I remember the summer I was a tour-bus driver in Glacier National Park. Drivers were taught park history, information, and geological features. It wasn’t any surprise to me that the “geological features” section was full of terms, time frames, and explanations from evolutionary geology. It got old in a hurry. How absolutely refreshing one evening, in… Read More »Refreshingly Uncomplicated Read More

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit”  (Acts 2:4).  An expression I remember from my childhood is Emma go ‘het. It didn’t make much sense, but I knew what it meant. Forward with zeal and determination! I suppose the words were a rendering of a German-English phrase Immer go ahead! Always forward! The Jewish festival of… Read More »The Christian Pentecost Read More

Fairchild lies thirty miles southeast of Eau Claire at the junction of Highways 12 and 10 among the woods, hills, and farmland of northwestern Wisconsin. Fairchild was founded in the 1870’s and became a thriving sawmill and railroad town. For years, Fairchild boasted The Big Farm Store, “one of the biggest retail mercantile institutions in… Read More »Morning Star Lutheran Church—Fairchild, Wisconsin Read More

The Transfiguration:  The last painting by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael. Commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de Medici (the later Pope Clement VII [1523-1534]) and conceived as an altarpiece for the Narbonne Cathedral in France, Raphael worked on it until his death in 1520. He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun,… Read More »The Transfiguration of Jesus Is Your Glory! Read More

WHAT’S NEW WITH YOU? Updates from congregations around the Church of the Lutheran Confession “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” (Acts 2:42) That’s the goal. One hundred fifteen Christians around Lemmon, South Dakota (population 1,200) gather themselves under the name “St. Luke’s Lutheran Church”… Read More »St. Luke’s Lutheran Church Lemmon, South Dakota Read More

Lent, as well as Advent, is a season of repentance. Advent: “Consider your actions! The Savior is about to arrive! Wash away your sins in God’s mercy. Live for Him!” It’s repentance in anticipation of and relief in the rescuing Savior’s arrival. Lent: “The Savior is about to die in agony in His mission to… Read More »LENT: REPENTANCE AND RELIEF Read More

Have you ever received a gift you didn’t need? What can make such a gift a joy anyway? —If it comes from the heart. Remember the time your little granddaughter gave you a pair of colorful (!) Christmas socks? The love behind those socks made that gift worth more than a wad of ten-dollar bills.… Read More »GIFTS Read More

Heaven brings to mind warm and pleasant thoughts. Even for one who has a non-Biblical concept of “heaven,” heaven is not, “Ugh, I don’t want to go there.” The true heaven, the Scriptural heaven, is filled with peace, joy, love, holiness, and life – in Christ. No evil and sin are present. Jesus says to… Read More »MILES OF HEAVEN TO COME Read More

“For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4) Sandwiched between Jesus’ death and resurrection is His burial. What is the… Read More »LAID TO REST Read More

When I was in college, an acquaintance asked me why I was studying for the ministry. I paused and answered, “I have a call.” It seemed like a really good answer! It satisfied the inquirer. It solidified my direction. The only problem was, the answer was wrong. Two years later I discontinued my studies. Confusing.… Read More »THE HOLY SPIRIT CALLS THROUGH THE CHURCH Read More

The mother cried out, “Thank God!” as she learned that her children had escaped harm in the car crash that could have been fatal. The family sighed, “Thank God!” when they learned that Grandpa and Grandma had been spared from the tornado that roared past their home. Such dire situations, where loss of life has… Read More »THANK GOD! Read More