The Secret Wireless

This is not going to make much sense to some of you, but your church is probably doing a better job meeting your spiritual needs than you might think, at least at first. How often have people left a church because they did not think their spiritual needs were being met?  You hear things like: "I just didn't feel the Spirit there." or "I couldn't connect with anyone." or "It wasn't very uplifting." People get their spiritual needs confused with their psychological, emotional, and social needs.  We think that we need to feel, or connect, or experience, when the truth is much more simple, much more concrete. Jesus tells His Apostles what to do in order to meet the spiritual needs of those who will believe in their message: Baptize and teach them (Matthew 28), proclaim repentance and forgiveness (Luke 24), and forgive their sins (John 20).   You see, your real spiritual needs are to be called to repentance, forgiven, baptized, and taught th...

You stepped in it. You did. You stuck in your foot right into a big pile of mess. You became angry and shot your mouth off.  You got caught looking.  You thought no one would notice it was gone.  You assumed the worst of someone's words. And now you are going to do what every sinner's first instinct is in this situation: stand your ground. You are going to fight tooth and nail for your position.  You are going to scream, "Its not my fault!" until you are blue in the face.  You will run from every accusation, attack every accuser, and bit every hand that reaches out to help you. I've been there.  Trust me, it will only lead to one place: Isolation. Let me give you some advice: repent now.   I know you don't want to.  I know you feel vindicated.  I know you think all those people you had so much admiration and respect for two weeks ago are all dead wrong. But just repent.  It is a lot easier to simply admit your guilt. ...

To The Men and Women of Various Christian Denominations Who are Seeking Assurance of Salvation, I hear you.  I have heard you call into various Christian radio programs.  I have read your e-mails.  I have paged through your blogs.  You are out there. You want to know if you are really saved.  You call into the radio program and ask the Christian host, some scholar or pastor, for reassurance that you are truly a Christian. My best advice to you: ask a Lutheran pastor.  Because honestly, they are the only ones who can give you what you are seeking. The Roman Catholic cannot give you assurance because they will tell you to love God and love your neighbor.  But the questions you are asking is: how do I know I have loved them enough? The Calvinist will tell you that God is sovereign, that He is in control, and that you just need to trust Him.  But you are wondering how you can know if God, in His sovereignty, has chosen you.  And they d...

Lutherans have very distinctive beliefs and firmly held convictions about the radical nature and content of the Gospel.  This is a good thing.  Lutherans who confess the articles of the Christian faith as explained in the Book of Concord have a firm grasp of who Jesus Christ is and exactly what He has done for redeem us from sin, death and hell. This is not something they should give up.  This is a distinctive that must endure for the sake of the whole Church, for the sake of the whole world.The Good News of Jesus Christ must be proclaimed, and no other. However, this great positive can sometimes manifest itself as a negative when Lutherans become overly critical of other Christians (or non-Christians) who write books.  Our knee-jerk reaction is to criticize everything that is wrong with the book, and never to consider what it might have to teach us. The problem with this hyper-critical attitude is that it is a denial of the Gospel.  (More on that ...

There is one word that I cringe at every time I hear it applied to a grown man, especially to an elderly man.   Maybe you have heard this word, or you yourself have used it.   I know it has been used by different people in regards to my own grandfathers and grandfathers-in-law.   This man who has been faithful to his wife for 50+ years, who worked his fingers to the bone to provide for the upbringing of his children, who brought them to the font of baptism, who drove them to catechism classes, who showed them the value of an honest day’s labor, who forced them into the cellar and held the doors shut as the violent winds of a tornado passed by outside.    What word is used to describe him?   Good?   Brave?   Strong?   Virtuous?   No. The word is: “ CUTE .”   I hate that word, or at least when it is misapplied to grown men.   The word “cute” means basically the same thing as “pretty”.   And if there is one t...

As a community we have seen some awesome things lately.   I am using that word loosely.   A tornado is awesome, not because it is good or desired, but because when you see it and the damage that it leaves in its wake, it makes your jaw hit the floor.   Perhaps the better word is “fearsome”.                 Besides the destruction and devastation, however, there have been many awesome things.   There was the quick response of individuals to help their neighbors.   Many of you drove to New Minden to help pull people out of the rubble and to pick up the pieces of their lives.   You went to the various farms and outlying homes that had been hit and worked into the dark helping to make the clean-up that much more doable.                 And then you stayed.   You did not come for just one day, but...

(To the members of St John’s and Trinity, the citizens of New Minden and Hoyleton, to all those affected by the storms of life and seek from the Lord great and abundant mercy; grace, mercy, and peace be with you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.)                 How do you comfort someone who is almost literally going through hell?   That is the pastoral task that was before Jesus Himself as He hung on the cross between two thieves.   “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” begs the one.                What do you say to someone like that?   How do you offer them comfort, hope, assurance that everything is going to be ok?   What could even Jesus possibly have to offer this man now?             What could I possibly say to comfort yo...