Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
When you read the first two chapters of Genesis, you find that after God created something, He always said that it was good. Well, almost always–the exception is Adam. After God created Adam, He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). When God said that, we learn something about [...]
A good father provides for his family. He doesn’t do this by giving what he likes, or by doing what only happens to be convenient. No, he provides for his family by making sacrifices. The father sacrifices his time, pleasure, and personal preferences to provide for his wife and children. And from all that a [...]
Today, we hear Jesus tell us a parable. Yet, this parable is but the end of a long string of instruction that Jesus gives, so we would unclench the tight-fisted grip we have on our money. He starts with the parable of the unjust money manager who used his money shrewdly to make friends before [...]
How mysterious and strange is our God. Often, He makes little sense to us, and His ways often run afoul of our common sense. Think of Christ’s Incarnation. Think of baptism, that God the Holy Spirit uses water and the Word to plant the seed of faith into our hearts and bring us into His [...]
Pentecost was a feast that God told the Israelites to celebrate. The Jews celebrated Pentecost 50 days after Passover; that’s why it had the name “Pentecost.” That Old-Covenant feast was a joyous day, which, over time, became an entire week of celebration. The people thanked God and presented to Him the first-fruits of the wheat [...]
If historians are correct, the 20th century was the bloodiest century in human history. Of course, we understand that conclusion while the 21st century is still in its childhood. The 20th century saw the rise of three evil “isms”: Fascism, Nazism, and Communism. All three of those movements wanted to set up an ideal culture [...]
God put on the robe of human flesh, being born from the womb of Virgin Mary. As God, He knew all; as a human, He had to learn, grow, and develop. As a man, God, in the person of Jesus the Messiah, made Himself a sacrifice for our sin–for us and our salvation. He ascended [...]
In 418 AD, the Church held a council at Carthage, today in Tunisia, to deal with a false teaching in the Church. That teaching was called “Pelagianism.” Pelagianism taught that we humans are born neutral before God, neither good nor evil. And because we are neutral, someone’s own choices or efforts get him into heaven. [...]
The life of a Christian is often a hard life. Temptations abound, always trying to lure us away from God. The devil preys on our weaknesses, which are often way too willing to follow him instead of God. And so the book of Hebrews tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the source and [...]
Jesus practiced what he preached. He said: You have heard it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you [Matthew 5:43-44]. Jesus lived as He preached. Others cursed Him, but He blessed them in return. Others hated Him, but [...]