It had to be frustrating. God had been so good to the people! He had blessed them in so many ways! But the worship was half-hearted, the offerings were disappointing. Most disturbingly, at least some ...
Prof. em. Forrest Bivens manages Grow in Grace’s mentoring program. In late August he sent a devotion to the mentors; we thought it would be much appreciated by our entire ministerium. Our thanks to Prof. ...
King Herod had thrown a huge party for himself and his guests. As part of it, he “invited” his step-daughter to dance for them. She danced so well that Herod made a rash – and ...
“Did I sign up for this?” I know I asked that question on occasion. You too? The Gospel reading for this Sunday is the end of a lengthier segment. Jesus is about to send out ...
It’s easy as WELS pastors to read the first paragraph of Sunday’s gospel (Mt 7:15-29) and mentally check off this pericope as having no rebuke for us. Jesus urges his hearers to be constantly watching ...
“Give what you command [O Lord], and then command whatever you will.” In St. Augustine’s Confessions, that was his memorable way of capturing this comforting scriptural truth: God himself effectively works in us to will ...
What fears do you, like the two Marys in Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 28:1-10), bring with you to the tomb this Easter week? Perhaps never in our lifetimes has it been as easy to identify a ...
Isn’t it quite stunning in Sunday’s gospel (John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39) that the only one besides Jesus who seems to see things clearly is a blind-from-birth beggar? The disciples see this blind beggar, but they ...
My sinful nature needs little nourishment to feed smug self-satisfaction, but an unbelieving world provides a smorgasbord. If it’s not another mass murderer semi-automatically butchering people, then it’s the drug deal gone bad with bullets ...
In Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 3:13-17), it’s not hard to grasp why John would have sought to change Jesus’ mind about who would baptize whom. John had just finished confessing that he was not worthy to ...
