“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” —Colossians 3:12-14 Few of...

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved. —Ephesians 2:4-5 A Navy Chaplain recently described the challenges and the joys of the spiritual...

“Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered.”—Psalm 32:1  Adam and Eve heard the sound of God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day. There had been no separation between God and His perfect creation before the fall. God and those whom He had created dwelt...

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. —Proverbs 31: 10-11, 28 However, let each one...

“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” —2 Corinthians 4:5 One faithful Lutheran school teacher once told me that everyday he would tell the students in his classroom that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for the forgiveness...

“Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ⁠—John 12:21Pastors are not called to be change agents. They are not called to be visionary leaders. They are not...

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.–2 Timothy 3:14-15The Baptismal rite...

“Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry come to you!” —Psalm 102:1 Hurts and brokenness among the chosen people of God is nothing new. While there is much more attention given to church worker health, the anguish of God’s servants fills the Psalms. Psalm 102 begins with a preface that notes,...

“O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old.” ⁠—Psalm 44:1What is one thing that congregations can do to strengthen both the church and our communities today? The answer is simple, but not easy....

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.—Psalm 32:1In the movie, Return of the Jedi, as part of their complicated relationship, Darth Vader says to his son, Luke Skywalker, “Your thoughts betray you.” How often the person who feels guilt over some dark deed has thought...