All you need to remember
When thinking about entering heaven, you don’t need passwords. You only need Jesus. Sweat beads up on my forehead and trickles down my cheeks. My breaths grow...
Everything’s going according to plan
We often need to throw out our plans and trust in God’s design for the future. It’s been almost a year since I retired from full-time ministry in the deep...
You are forgiven
A woman distraught over her sins finds Jesus’ love and forgiveness at the cross. She sits across from me. Hunched over. Shoulders slumped. Hands covering her face....
Different, not done
A pastor’s retirement means his life of service will be different, but it won’t be done. I reached up to the top bookshelf and pulled down volume 11 of The History...
It’s time to forget
God doesn’t remember any of our failures. Neither should we. I rest my hand lightly on my wife’s because it hurts her too much when I hold it. From her lift...
No hidden fees
When it comes to God’s gracious gift of eternal life, there are no hidden fees. When you live two miles beyond the end of the earth in Houghton, Michigan, you...
Now thank we all our God!
In 1617 Martin Rinkart, a Lutheran pastor, returned to his hometown of Eilenburg, Saxony, to serve as archdeacon—just as the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648)...
Step forward in faith!
Your heart is pounding and your stomach is attempting back flips in those tense moments before the ceremony begins. Gowns are donned, and caps are straightened....
In Christ
My handwriting is bad. So bad, in fact, that even doctors—infamous for the unintelligible scribbles—look at my handwriting and say, “What did you write?”...
Unprecedented
“COVID-19 pandemic, an ‘unprecedented wake-up call’ for all inhabitants of Mother Earth.” “Unprecedented damage by COVID-19 requires an unprecedented policy...
COVID casualties
More than four million infected and 148,866 deaths. Those are the coronavirus statistics shared by the US Centers for Disease Control at the end of July. Meanwhile,...
Sunk without a trace
Spurlos Versenkt. The phrase was emblazoned across posters featuring an artist’s rendition of the sinking of the British hospital ship Llandovery Castle by German...
Getting older. Getting closer.
As a young boy, sometimes I’d think, In the year 2000, I’ll be 45 years old. Wow, that’s old! Guess what? My perspective has changed—in part because the...
A man with unclean lips
The word “hell” keeps popping up in my reading these days. No, I’m not talking about my daily study of Scripture. I’m talking about the newsfeeds on my smartphone....
All I want for Christmas
Glenn L. Schwanke Age 7: “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, see my two front teeth.” Age 9: “I want an official Red Ryder,...
The Lord, our shield
Glenn L. Schwanke August 15–17, 1969. Woodstock. Over a half million people flocked to Max Yasgur’s 600-acre dairy farm in upstate New York. There they rocked...
On grief and grieving: A Christian perspective
Glenn L. Schwanke In 1969 Elisabeth Kübler Ross published her groundbreaking book On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their...
Frogs in heated recliners
Glenn L. Schwanke I wake with a start, and it takes a few moments for me to realize it was only a dream. The dream? I’m sitting at the supper table with my family....
Peace for the land of the free
We praise God for America’s religious freedom and continue to pray for peace in our land. The sky is blue, with a few wispy clouds here and there. There’s just...