One of the hallmarks of the Lutheran Church is its proper understanding and application of the Bible’s two main teachings—Law and Gospel. Dr. C.F.W. Walther’s seminal work, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel, is…
“But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your ‘Yes,’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No,’ lest you fall into judgment.” (James…
Several Old Testament prophecies declare that the Messiah would be a preacher. Jesus verified that, saying, “I must preach the kingdom of God . . . because for this purpose I have been sent!” (Luke…
Teachers of writing often encourage students to strengthen their writing by moving key ideas away from the nouns to the verbs; in other words, to put the action where it belongs—with the action words. For…
When we consider St. Valentine—the early Christian martyr for whom Valentine’s Day is named—his identity remains a mystery. There were numerous Christian martyrs named Valentine, and any number of them could have been the one…
It is hard to deny that our celebration of Epiphany has fallen on hard times. For most Christians, both the day itself (January 6th) and the season of the church year that follows pass largely…
And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my…
Out of the Depths (Read Psalm 130) The writer of Psalm 130 was “in the depths.” Not simply a mild depression or temporary problem, but deep trouble, deep pain, deep heartache. In fact, the Hebrew…
Ever wonder why we Lutherans use the form of worship that we do? In this series we examine the depth and meaning of the various elements of our worship service, beginning with the history of…
Most of us have a regular routine we go through most mornings to start our day. We get up, take a shower, get dressed; and we are ready to take on the day. If you…
