Shooting Our Arrows
Those who lived during the really cold war might recall that there was a red phone in the White House connected directly to one in the Kremlin. You might also have heard someone compare the…
GOD’S OBSCURE SAINTS
(Eighth in a Series) This edifying series of chapel talks comes from the archives of our Spokesman Assistant Editor, Prof. Em. Paul R. Koch • Eau Claire, Wis. “The Elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom…
“Turning the World “Upside Down”
CLC President’s Report to the 31st Convention
Dear saints in Christ and fellow workers in His kingdom:
Does it matter? Does what we do here make any real, significant, positive, lasting difference? If it does, we have reason and incentive to get to work; if not, what’s the point? From a human perspective we have little chance of accomplishing anything lasting. We are a small group with no political capital to spend and few material resources. What could we possibly do?
However, that could also have been said of the Apostle Paul and Silas when they arrived in Thessalonica in the course of Paul’s second missionary journey. There was nothing impressive about these two itinerant missionaries of Jesus. Yet before long, the Jews were accusing Paul and the other Christians of “turning the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). Sent out from the living Lord of the Church, they upset the status quo. Hearts and attitudes were completely changed. Without question, they made a difference.
Praise Be to the Paraclete!
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.” (John 14:16, NIV 1984)
PARACLETE—It’s a name we probably don’t use too often in our prayers. It may ring strange in our ears when we sing it in hymns at church.
What does that name mean and why is it ascribed to the Holy Spirit? “Paraclete” comes from two Greek words: para (“beside”) and kaleo (“call”). Putting these words together yields the word’s basic meaning: “Someone called to be at your side.”
Camp Koyquin 2014
Camp Koyquin 2014 “Campers gather together after a fun and faith-filled week at Camp Koyquin 2014 in Pillager, Minnesota. 158 campers and 31 staff members made up the largest youth camp that has been put on…
God at work—FOR US!
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.…
Christ’s Rock-solid Foundation for Life
MEDITATIONS ON JESUS’ SERMON ON THE MOUNT: MATTHEW’S GOSPEL, CHAPTERS FIVE THROUGH SEVEN Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house…
Overextending?!
“For we are not overextending ourselves…” (2 Corinthians 10:15). You would be hard pressed to find another Lutheran synod that has the outreach overseas based on per capita stateside that the CLC has. We need…
May Each of Us Ever Confess: “Jesus is Lord”!
FROM A CONFIRMATION SERMON The Word of God that deserves special attention on this Confirmation Day is: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised…
Thank God for Your Spouse
“And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone;
I will make him a helper comparable to him” (Genesis 2:18).
Have you thought of the implications of these words of our God? Adam was living in the Garden of Eden. It was literally a paradise. Everything was perfect. Not just by human standards but by God’s standards. “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Everything must have been exquisitely beautiful—more beautiful than we can even imagine.
And Adam had it all to himself. He had everything the perfect world had to offer. What a life!
Yet what do we read? God said, “It is not good…” Something was missing—something so important that without it Adam’s life was incomplete. So what was not good? “…that man should be alone.” He didn’t have anyone with whom to share all the goodness of God.