Happy Spiritual Birthday
Dear Brothers, November 15,1959 was not a date my family taught me to celebrate. In some ways I wish they had. On that date God's eternal plans forged with my name on it first ...
Stoop to Sandal-Level
Dear Brothers, There's an element of last Sunday's gospel that a preacher would highlight if speaking to fellow preachers. "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I ...
The Oil of Grace
Dear Brothers, Five foolish. Five wise. There's a sobering warning aimed at me in those numbers in Jesus' parable. If only Jesus' warning in the gospel for Saints Triumphant hadn't been spoken in the ...
Cash or Credit
Dear Brothers, "A few dollars." That's the NIV84's footnote in Sunday's gospel suggesting a contemporary equivalent of a 100 denarii debt. Doesn't that miss the point? 100 denarii was 100 days wages for a day ...
Little Words
Dear Brothers, Sometimes, small words make all the difference! In Sunday's gospel, the parable of the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43), there are two small words to which I pray the Spirit enables me to cling! ...
With Jesus’ Eyes
Dear Brothers, "Man looks at things; God sees through them" (Christian Dogmatics, Vol. I, 448). Want evidence of Pieper's point? Observe Jesus in Sunday's gospel (Mt 9:35 - 10:8). In town after town Jesus doesn't ...
Divine Communication
Dear Brother, "He will not speak of his own; he will speak only what he hears" (John 16:13). Did you catch the glimpse of an astounding mystery of the interaction of the persons of the ...
Voice Lessons
Dear Brother, How are your voice lessons going? "His sheep follow him because they know his voice" (John 10:4). One way to summarize our calling as God's children is to speak of it as voice ...