A certain lady who served on many civic committees, when asked to select carols suitable for a community Christmas-tree lighting, sought the help of her pastor. After she scanned the list he had selected, she exclaimed in dismay, "But they’re all so theological." That little story is quite ironic! A good Christmas carol must be about Jesus and thus also about God. We know this to be true, and so good Christmas carols are theological, of course.   Read More

For the past four years, members of Christ Lutheran Church have come together in November and early December with a very specific purpose in mind. Many have cheerfully given time, talents, and generous donations to support our Bethlehem Walk.   Read More

God speaks in two different ways. The Scriptures themselves call it Curses and Blessings. The Early Church called it the Law and the Promises. Lutherans have called it Law and Gospel. When reading the Bible, it is your job as the reader to always ask yourself: Is this Law or Gospel that God is speaking? This is no simple task, and it is easy to confuse them.  Read More

Advent has a special meaning all its own, which gently draws us forward into the whole Christmas season. It is a time of preparation and expectation that keeps Christmas and the incarnation, the birth, of Jesus in view, but beyond that, Advent looks forward to the second coming of Jesus on the Last Day.  Read More

Recently I heard a touching story about a young man who battled strong feelings of insecurity. His father had pastored a growing church for many years. The young man learned a lot under his father’s leadership. He even enjoyed his own small successes as the congregation’s youth pastor.   Read More

Have you ever run across a section of Scripture that seems very hard to understand? How can you gain understanding on something in the Bible that is not clear or needs more explanation? As we move onto the next Principle of Interpretation, we find out our answer: Scripture Interprets Scripture.  Read More

Musings at the Beginning of a Study of Studies on the Songs of SongsUndertaking a new Bible Study on a book of the Bible that I haven’t led a Bible study on before is quite a task. What causes it to be so difficult?There are many reasons. First, there are radically divergent interpretational opinions and approaches even among confessional and conservative Lutheran pastors and scholars, going back ...  Read More

A few weeks ago our Sunday School children watched a powerful Operation Christmas Child video called, “Dania and a Radio.” We learned about a little girl, Dania, from the Middle East who was raised in a Christian home with very few material possessions. Here is how Dania described it:   Read More

Here we are, back into how we can better read the Bible! The first Principle of Interpretation that I covered was: Context. The next Principle of Interpretation is a spin-off of context. The second Principle of Interpretation is this: Stick with the Plain Meaning of the Text, Unless Context says Otherwise. To shorten it, I will say: Plain and Simple.  Read More

During our Guatemala Mission Trip one topic of discussion was how to boil the perfect “boiled” egg. (Don’t worry, there will be more in-depth stories to come!) So, I did a little research when I got back and discovered the perfect way to do it, and it was backed by research no less. Here it is.  Read More

As hard as we try to be careful to protect our personal information, many experts believe that most of our Social Security Numbers have been compromised. I experienced this reality recently when my own identity was stolen.   Read More

I once read a story of a Calendar that had a Bible verse written on it each day. As you turned the Calendar, each day gave you a new, inspirational Bible verse. One day the Calendar had the following verse on it, “I will give you everything if you fall down and worship me.” Matthew 4:9 Sounds good right?   Read More