Today is Ash Wednesday.  Whether it has been a part of your Christian practice or not, the imagery is simple enough:  Ashes.   Ashes are what is left of a fire.  Ashes are the remnant of what once was strong or useful.  The next time you are camping or using a fireplace, notice how much work it is to carry the solid, strong logs of firewood.  Take a moment to count the rings and consider how many years it took for the tree to grow.  And then see how little re...

  “Words With Friends” is one of the latest popular games with the facebook and mobile device crowd.  It is a game that you can play with friends of your choice, complete with friendly chat, from any online computer, smart phone, or tablet.  (A celebrity was even kicked off an airplane recently for refusing the stewardess’s request to stop playing before takeoff!)  I know quite a few people who play.  It seems quite fun.   But for those of you who m...

Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a decision that has implications for our ministry here at St. John's.  Without attempting too much detail, they intend to require that employers who provide health insurance include coverage for abortion and contraception, some forms of which can cause abortion.   They are NOT exempting religious employers from this mandate, particularly when a religious employer is served by someone who is not a member of their faith....

In his very popular You Tube video, evangelical Christian and inspirational poet Jefferson Bethke makes a distinction between Jesus and religion. He uses many of the arguments of the so-called "new atheists" in order to separate what God truly desires from His people vs. what some Christians wrongly think he desires. Many of his points are good, but some are terrible overstatements that have been taken the wrong way by some looking for more ammunition against the Christian church. ...

I received an e-mail recently that gave the real meaning behind the song about the twelve days of Christmas. It appears to be a meaningless song, unless you have the inside information.   From 1558 to 1829 Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly, so someone during this time period wrote a carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning and a hidden meaning known only to members of the church. Each elemen...

'Twas once a monk who was reputed To have seen the light, so he hooted:    "All my works are a bust,     But still I will trust, For it turns out that grace is imputed!"   (Want to try your poetic hand in the comment box?)...

I stumbled again onto an old pet peeve of mine again on Christmas Eve.   It is found in the translation of the Christmas story.  (Alas!  It even appears in the new and improved ESV translation.)    In Matthew 1 we hear again how Joseph was engaged to Mary, ("betrothed" in the older English), but before they had a chance to BE married, Mary was found to have conceived.  She was pregnant.  This was by the Holy Spirit, of course, but ...

I would highly encourage you to purchase a copy of The Lutheran Confessions. Look for some upcoming opportunities to study this collection of faith statements in the future...  - Pastor Makela Genuine, Historic Lutheranism To embrace the freedom of truth means rejecting the slavery of error. That is why this book uses two phrases to capture the essence of biblical confession: “we believe, teach, and confess” and “we reject and condemn.” One cannot believe, teach, and confess the truth...

I was introduced to a beautiful wedding hymn written by one of the greatest Lutheran hymnwriters in history, Paul Gerhardt, when I attended the Good Shepherd Institute on Church Music and Liturgy at Concordia Theological Seminary in November. This hymn is set to a well-known tune called Wie Schon Leuchtet. I share some of the stanzas with you here, in particular because this hymn makes the connection between marriage and procreation much more explicit than the wedding hymns in recent LCMS hymnal...

The estate of marriage is under attack in our country. Almost every Christian has heard that, and yet the divorce rate among Christians hovers near 50%. A recent USA Today article showed that 75% of Americans were married in 1960. Today, only 50% of Americans are married. A survey done by the Pew Research Center revealed that "marriage is becoming obsolete."    A survey done by TheKnot.com and the WeddingChannel.com revealed that 33% of couples used a family member or a fri...