If you didn’t know, our Lutheran church body gathers for a “churchwide assembly” to do the business of our church. It is a like a congregational meeting for the entire Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Over 5 days the assembly: worships, learns, elects and set the course for our national church body. The delegates of…
Flawed American writer and intellectual David Foster Wallace once gave a commencement address before he committed suicide in 2008. This is what he said to the graduating class… “In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism …. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship….
I am distraught. Like you, I heard about the murders at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday evening and now the shootings in El Paso, Texas. I am not distraught because it is so close (Gilroy), I am saddened that mass gun violence is prevalent and a part of our culture and this event reminded…
Right now, I am at Leadership Lab. It is a leadership laboratory for Christian students to grow in faith and acquire leadership skills. I’ve been a part of this one week a year “camp” for 34 years or about 70% of my life. I personally witness changed lives year after year… including my own. I am…
Here is the video of all the fun and faithful things we did at Vacation Bible School this year! Enjoy!
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….
