My Christian life: Sharing God’s peace with Spanish speakers
A couple finds peace in the gospel and works to share that peace with other Spanish speakers. Aquí tu paz. “Here is your peace.” Ángel Otero spent his entire career in…
Jesus!
A magnificent church inspires a worshipful whisper. The word exploded from the man next to me. He tried to whisper the Savior’s name to himself. It didn’t work. “Jesus!” We…
Parent conversations: Answering a teen’s hard questions
Pastor Michael Ewart shares a template for discussing serious topics with our teens. QUESTION: Our family feels divided over the deportation debate. My teenage son (influenced by public school and…
Lutheranism in the United States
A look at changes in US Lutheranism over the last 40 years. Forty years ago, in 1986, WELS was the fourth largest Lutheran church body in the United States, behind…
What is there to be afraid of?
One of my seminary professors once recounted something from his childhood that he had never forgotten. He said, “When I was 12 years old in confirmation class, my pastor said,…
We are risen indeed!
“We were therefore buried with [Christ] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may…
Straight talk: Training and outreach
Has World Missions become all about worker training? I hear this question pop up every so often, and honestly, I get why people ask it. When we talk about seminaries…
Miracles in Mark: Lesson 4
Mark 9:14-29: Lord of the demons We have been looking at representative miracles that address different aspects of reality: death, physical healing, and Christ’s power over creation. Here, we arrive…
Please explain: What if I have doubts about what the Bible says?
What if I have doubts about what the Bible says? In 2019, a number of prominent Christian voices began to popularize the phrase “deconstructing the faith.” What was presented as…