By Thom Rainer Whenever I come across an article by Thom Rainer, I take the time to read it. He is one of the best church consultants and church “practitioners” I have come across. I have read many of his books and he is rarely wrong in his assessments. This past week, I saw an…
One month ago the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the church body of which I am a pastor) Elizabeth Eaton wrote a pastoral letter regarding the children at our southern border who are dying. When Bishop Eaton pens a letter, I take time to read it for several reasons: She is…
Salthaven Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Centre is located in both Mount Brydges, Ontario, and Regina, Saskatchewan. By the name I am sure you can deduce what they do. They rehabilitate all sorts of wild animals who need medical help… including mallard ducks. A four years ago, a mallard ducking was brought in that needed care….
Several weeks ago someone shared a sermon with me from a seminary graduation at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond Virginia. As a matter of fact, it was the last commencement of that school because it was closing due to low enrollment and financial instability. A very familiar scenario in this day and age. The…
In Martin Luther’s Introduction to Romans, Luther stated that saving faith is, “a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn’t stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing….
Last week an intern pastor of the ELCA and PhD student from The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This is from Emaus Lutheran Church’s Facebook page: Betty Rendón is a part-time intern pastor at Emaus Lutheran Church in Racine, Wisconsin. Last Wednesday morning, Pastor Rendón’s daughter was…
Max Lucado understands grace as well as anyone and can explain better than just about everyone. He tells this story in his book, The Gift For All People. Cinderella’s castle at Disneyland was packed with kids and parents. Suddenly – all the children rushed to one side. It’s a good thing it was a castle and…
In my previous article, I wrote about some of the “proof” of the resurrection of Jesus from the perspective of the disciples. You can read that article by clicking on this link: Article: Resurrection. In this article, I am going to write about another piece of evidence regarding the resurrection. It is still the Easter season…
On Sunday I said, “People don’t risk their life for a lie.” People may lie to save their life but that is a different issue. It makes no sense to me that the women who went to anoint (embalm) Jesus’ dead body would lie to the disciples. It makes less sense that the disciples would…
Do you have a class ring from high school or college? The tradition of having a class ring began over 200 years ago as a way to proudly remember the academic institution you attended. However, one class ring saved a person’s life. In Max Lucado’s book, A Love Worth Giving, we hear how a ring became…
