An LCMS pastor, who is a friend of mine, often says that he envisions his sermons like a father pulling up a chair to the kitchen table and saying, “Family? We need to talk about something important.” Missouri? We need to talk about In Vitro Fertilization or “IVF.”
Read MoreYou can get yourself in trouble when you set out to confess the Word of God. Take Stephen, for instance (see Acts 6 & 7). He had a holy calling, yet it was pretty ordinary and mundane. He and six other men had been divinely appointed to relieve the Apostles of waiting on tables, so they could focus on prayer and the ministry of the Word.
Read MoreWhat is truth? How do you know it? Who gets to determine it? Where does it come from? From morality to mathematics people look for it. From Aristotle to Einstein people contemplate it. From detectives to doctors people are constantly searching for the truth.
Read MoreIt’s 2025, and at long last – after 30 years of hard work and struggle – we appear to have reached a tipping point in the effort to once again acknowledge parents as the primary authority in the educational lives of their children. There have been many important milestones along the way – many judicial, legislative and public opinion victories - that have led to this new and very positive circumstance. But none of these carries the promise of the recently passed Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA).
Read MoreThat evening at sundown they brought to [Jesus] all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. (Mark 1:32-34)
Countless diseased, oppressed, and suffering people were healed and relieved. What was it like to receive instant relief? One moment your back is aching and throbbing, the next there is utter relief. One second your body is riddled by misery and disease, the next you’re healed and made well. One instant the devil is oppressing you, and the next you are free and at peace.
Read MoreIt’s called “The Johnson Amendment,” and since 1954, it has received criticism from a wide variety of religious folks. Indeed, it has frequently served as a prime example of the degree to which the religious liberty and free speech rights of the Church and her pastors have been unconstitutionally limited.
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