Lutheran Spokesman

Does it seem harder each year to find just the right Christmas gift for the people on your list? You can’t repeat the great idea you had last year. Everything seems more expensive this time around. Maybe there are a few more grandchildren or other family members to buy for than in years past. And what do you get for someone who seemingly already Read More

FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

This past June a statue of Col. Hans Christian Heq, which had stood in front of the Wisconsin state capitol since 1925, was torn down by protestors and tossed into a nearby lake. It was just one flashpoint in a nationwide wave of protests in which countless statues were removed and put into Read More

“I don’t know, Pastor. I just don’t know.” I could count on hearing that concern on every visit to the home of an elderly shut-in. He had been a faithful congregation member for decades. At that time a widower in his 80s with health declining and his family’s lack of interest in spiritual matters a deep disappointment, he expressed his Read More

FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

Who likes going to the hospital? It’s a place for the seriously ill or injured. It’s a place where invasive surgeries are performed and patients are closely monitored in intensive care units. Yet there is one place in the hospital where the atmosphere is entirely different. People like Read More

FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

Has the Reformation become a victim of its own success?

Remember lying in bed suffering from the telltale red rash of measles, burning up with a fever one minute and shivering uncontrollably the next? How about being told not to scratch the itchy chicken pox scabs, but still Read More

It’s the service no one wants to miss. After forty days of somber Lenten reflection and repentance, everyone is hungry for the exuberant joy of Easter morning. It’s time to put on the best dress and suit. Trumpets, organ, and voices crescendo into one thundering “Alleluia!” after another. In many of our churches the service is preceded or Read More

FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

Have you thought of downsizing? It might sound a little negative. Advertisers and even our own nature suggest to us that more is better. However, downsizing has become trendy. Baby boomers who no longer need a large house and a garage filled with lawn equipment and sports gear are getting rid Read More

FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

“Your past is waiting to inspire you.” That is the intriguing tagline for a popular service which analyzes a person’s DNA in order to determine his ancestry. Have you tried it? Has a friend excitedly told you the results of her test? Does it really matter? Could the long-ago, Read More

FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT

Publicly post ninety-five theses critical of the church’s money-making practice of indulgences. Question and eventually oppose the Pope himself. Stand before the Holy Roman Emperor and other powerful officials and when ordered to recant, instead state, “Unless I am Read More

How is your mood on Monday? During the NFL season in the community I call home, the Monday mood of many hinges on what happened the previous Sunday afternoon. If our team won, there are plenty of smiles to go around, and total strangers are eager to talk about what a great game it was. On the other hand, with a Sunday loss still fresh in mind, Read More