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Lutheran Spokesman

“He Must Increase, but I Must Decrease”

DEVOTION – JOHN THE BAPTIST

Pick one of today’s more “popular” preachers with a large following. Maybe it would be Joel Osteen with his average attendance of 52,000. Or maybe it would be the “Purpose Driven” preacher, Rick Warren, with his average attendance of 22,000.

Regardless of the numerically popular preacher’s name, can you imagine him telling his followers to quit coming to his church and start following another preacher? What would ever cause a popular preacher to do such a thing? Why would a preacher voluntarily surrender followers by directing them to someone else?

Why? Ask John the Baptist.Read More »“He Must Increase, but I Must Decrease”

“All Praise to Thee, Eternal God” – TLH 80

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING

Have you ever noticed that “firsts” seem to have special interest for us? We remember them as being particularly notable. For example,

First humans: Adam and Eve, created on the sixth day of Creation.

First President of the United States of America elected after adoption of the Constitution: George Washington, elected February 4th, 1789.

First production gasoline-powered automobile: The Benz Patent-Motorwagon, patented by Karl Benz in 1886. It had three wheels, and was powered by a one-cylinder motor producing 2/3 horsepower.Read More »“All Praise to Thee, Eternal God” – TLH 80

“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS November 2018

Date Verse Reading Comments

Nov 1 TLH 383/LSB 671; Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 Human effort will ultimately come to nothing, but whatever God does will endure.

Nov 2 TLH 57 Zephaniah 3:14-20 The Lord would bring judgment on Judah, but He would restore them by sending the Messiah.

Nov 3 TLH 129/LSB 949; Acts 11:1-18 Peter learned that salvation in Christ was for all who believed, not just for a particular people

Nov 5 TLH 417 James 4:1-10 What causes arguments and quarrels? Very simply, they are clashes of wills. Learn to put your own desires away and do the Lord’s will.

Nov 6 TLH 35 Deuteronomy 3:1-11 As Moses recounted Israel’s history, he reminded them how God had even given Og, the king of Bashan, into their hands—giant that he was!

Nov 7 TLH 22 2 Chronicles 33:10-17 After being captured by the Assyrians, Manasseh finally humbled himself before the Lord. Often we must be brought low to be brought back to God.Read More »“BREAD OF LIFE” READINGS November 2018

What Is the World’s Expiration Date?

COVER STORY – END TIMES

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

(2 Peter 3:10)

It’s general practice, when people visit the local food market, to check the expiration date on products they are intending to purchase. By confirming that the expiration date is well out into the future, they can be reasonably certain that the milk they buy will taste good (at least for a while), the chips will be crispy, not stale, and the hamburger excellent for grilling. If they purchase an item with an expired date stamped on its label, chances are good that it will spoil soon and be unusable.

Most would agree that checking expiration dates on food products before buying them is a good idea. There’s another date that is critically important for all to be concerned about: the expiration date of the world, when the Lord will keep His promise to return in glory as Judge of all, to destroy the godless, and to take His believers home.

On what date will this happen? Though many have tried to prognosticate this, the truth is that no one knows when it will be, since the Bible doesn’t provide that information. Rather, the Bible teaches that the Last Day will come out of the blue, without warning, like a thief breaking into a house in the middle of the night. Since this is true, an important question for each person to ask is, “What shall I do to get ready for that Day so that, whenever it happens, I will be safe?”Read More »What Is the World’s Expiration Date?