A season of miracles
We tend to use the term miracle incorrectly. “It was a miracle that our football team won the game in the last seconds!” “It was a miracle that I didn’t...
Don’t miss the point
Sometimes it’s easy to miss the point. Jesus was talking to people who asked him about some Galileans whom Pontius Pilate had killed while they were worshipin...
Another humbling experience
The year was 2007. I had just completed my 18th year as president of one of our synod’s ministerial preparatory schools. I had the privilege of being part of ...
Our cross and crown
A portion of the “President’s report” that President Mark Schroeder presented to synod convention delegates on Aug. 1. As we embrace the cross and anticip...
The public ministry and the divine call
What does it mean when an individual receives a call to share God’s Word with other people? Every Christian has been given the task of sharing and proclaiming...
No fear of bad news
You can’t escape it. Bad news is everywhere. Open the newspaper or turn on the TV, and the bad news will come at you with full force—about the economy; a ma...
Big challenge, bigger blessings
The 2021 synod convention was presented with an ambitious proposal. The Board for Home Missions asked the convention to consider approving a plan to start one h...
Our worldwide fellowship
When you think of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), no doubt you think of it in terms of 350,000 people in the United States and Canada united by...
Seize the opportunities
When the apostle Paul, Silas, and Timothy were in Galatia on Paul’s second mission journey, they made the prayerful decision to head north with the gospel. Th...
The Lord takes care of his church
In 2015, there were 77 vacancies for pastor-trained positions in our synod. That represented a vacancy rate of about 5 percent. Today, there are more than 140 v...
Savor the rain
Martin Luther was not only a student of the Scriptures but also a keen observer of history. He was well aware of how the Christian church spread and grew from i...
Up close and personal
Nothing brings WELS’ world mission work to life like visiting those missions in person. I had such an opportunity last October. Along with WELS World Missions...
It’s never too early
Sometimes even the most terrible people say something that is undeniably true. A vicious and deranged dictator said, “He alone, who owns the youth, owns the f...
Thanks for not giving
Thanksgiving is a time when we pause to give special thanks to God for the many ways in which he has blessed us. We have many blessings: a Savior, our family, o...
Hope for the future
I grew up in the 1960s. Anyone who lived through those years will remember that those were turbulent, violent, and unsettling times, when events seemed to threa...
Our task is not over
Last June, the United States Supreme Court struck down the infamous 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that decreed that abortion is a right guaranteed by the United Sta...
Update on WELS’ effort in Vietnam
The COVID pandemic that began in 2020 affected the ministry and worship in all our WELS congregations. It also caused the temporary suspension of our synod’s ...
More workers for a bountiful harvest
Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest ...
150 years of fellowship
The year was 1872. Lutherans had been in America since before the revolution. At that time, Lutheranism in America could be described as a confusing and jumbled...
A unique system of schools
WELS enjoys a blessing that no other Lutheran church body enjoys: our ministerial education training system, which has existed in one form or another almost sin...
God’s cure—for everything
The word panacea comes from a Greek word meaning “all-healing.” The ancient Greeks worshiped the goddess of healing named Panacea, who was said to administe...
Lenten repentance, Lenten appreciation
Taking things for granted happens all too easily. The worst part about taking things for granted is that we fail to appreciate and remember the routine and ordi...
Pray for us
“Brothers and sisters, pray for us” (1 Thessalonians 5:25). With these words, the apostle Paul concluded his first letter to the Christians in Thessalonica....
Plan with wisdom and faith
In the new year, TV news channels often review the past year. The annual ritual includes significant events and achievements in politics, science, medicine, and...