The LCMS

Families in Times of Disaster

Families who experience disasters often find it hard to recover from them. How can traumatic events bring parents and children closer to God? by Rev. Dr. Rick Armstrong Throughout our lives, we have read or watched the events and aftermath of numerous storms, floods, tsunamis and disasters that have affected nations, communities, families and individuals.

To the Reader

Reflecting on the barrage of disasters in 2011 brings to mind the plea of the Psalmist: “How long, O Lord, will you look on?” (Ps. 35:17). Between floods and fires, earthquakes and tsunamis, tornados and droughts, famines and a nuclear power plant scare, many of us were left with questions. In the first magazine of

Q and A

by Rev. Dr. Jerald C. Joersz  Q: How do you respond to people who maintain that all sin is the same, thereby saying the sins of Hitler were no worse than a child taking a cookie from the cookie jar when he or she is not supposed to do so? A: The answer to your

The Gospel in Chile

In the midst of earthquake recovery, see how God use His people to plant two new Chilean Lutheran churches.

A Prayer Priority

by Rev. Dr. Greg Wismar The month of January brings a new start in many ways. New calendars are put up on walls. New pages begin datebooks and monthly planners. In short, personal decisions on how time should be spent are reconsidered at this time of new beginnings. Where and how are we going to

God Creates Calamity

by Rev. Larry Vogel I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides Me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know Me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides Me; I am the Lord, and there is no

Epiphany of Mercy

by Rev. Matthew Zickler With the start of the New Year, we celebrate the season of Epiphany. Epiphany comes from the Greek word epiphaneia, which is an appearing or appearance and, according to Danker’s Greek-English lexicon, can relate to “a visible and sudden manifestation of a hidden divinity.” An epiphany occurs “in the form of a

10 Minutes with . . . Bishop Walter Obare

by Adriane Dorr A food shortage, lack of water, starving Somalian refugees and hungry Kenyan Lutherans: Each of these hardships, caused by the current drought in East Africa, is cause for the Rev. Walter Obare Omwanza, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK), to pray. But Obare and the members of the

Ten Minutes with . . . Rev. Jeffrey Kuddes (Web-exclusive story)

by Melanie Ave The Rev. Jeffrey Kuddes is a Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) pastor of nearly 20 years who has developed an ongoing love for the people of Madagascar, a country 10,000 miles from his southeast Minnesota home. Kuddes currently serves a dual-parish, Trinity Evangelical Lutheran in Waltham, Minn., and St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran in

Nagging at the conscience

Thank you, Dr. Jerald Joersz, for addressingthe question on the certainty of God’s forgiveness in the November issue of The Lutheran Witness. I appreciated how you directed them to God’s Word and Sacrament and not to their feelings as the place to find theassurance of God’s grace. However, I alsowouldhaveencouragedthem totake advantage ofprivate Confession and

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