A happy, terrible act is Baptism — a rebirth of life and, at the same time, a drowning and death. We see this contrast in Romans: “We were buried therefore with [Christ] by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
If you’re looking for some spiritual significance to the total eclipse, why speculate? Rather than guess that it’s a harbinger of the future apocalypse, look back instead to the cross. Let it remind you of the Lord’s death for you, when even creation convulsed as the Creator suffered for your sins.
![By Oregon State University (Solar eclipse) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://witness.lcms.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Total_solar_eclipse_1999_feature.jpg)
A solar eclipse is one of the most spectacular astronomical events observable with the naked eye. But what does it look like to a Lutheran scientist?
How can Christian parents raise faithful children in a hostile culture?
America’s founding fathers believed that the “pursuit of happiness” was an inalienable right, and most people today certainly think that they deserve to be happy. But what happens when we face unhappiness? How does God’s word comfort us then?
In the August issue, we’re seeking faithful answers to some of life’s toughest theological questions.
The Lutheran Confessions give us a firm place to stand as we consider the world in all its complexity.
In the June/July issue, we’re talking death, dying and what Jesus has to do with both.
Several references tell of Luther’s great struggle – the struggle we all face in times of death.
Congregations can get over pastors. Pastors are, and should be, replaceable. But pastors don’t get over the places, the people, they serve. In a pastor’s mind, those two names, his and theirs, will always go together.
Doggedly chasing the world’s standard for inclusivity and hypersensitivity often falls flat and possibly lands with a lawsuit or two. But maybe there’s another way.
Are there extraterrestrials out there? Likely not. Whatever life may exist in outer space, this we can say for certain: It too somehow suffered from Adam’s fall. It too somehow shares in the redemption of Christ on earth.