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
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).
by Adriane Dorr Christmas is not about presents, trees, reindeer and eggnog. It is not about travel plans, fruitcake and ugly sweaters. It is about Christ. It is about God becoming man in the child Jesus. But Christmas does not leave Jesus in the manger. Indeed, Christmas would have no meaning if Jesus never grew
By Theodore Stolp Christ will be cradled. Agitation may ban the Christmas crche from some public place. Yet the cradled Christ is still before men. “Away in a manger,” sing children’s voices. An art print of a famous crche adorns a national magazine. Homes vie in creating the most attractive manger scene. Even live actors
The LCMS unique gift and task is to bear witness to Christ. How can you take part?
Meet St. Nicholas, the Christian bishop who gave rise to the modern-day Santa Claus.
by Dr. Gene Edward Veith What with gay marriage, single parenthood, just living together and soaring divorce rates, its little wonder that 40 percent of Americans think that marriage is obsolete. Most Americans no longer think marriage is necessary for having sex. (60 percent believe its morally acceptable to have sex before marriage.) Or necessary
by Sheryl Schmeckpeper Clayton Andrews lives by these words, “Don’t let your mind tell your body how old it is.” So far, the motto has served him well. While many senior citizens are hitting balls around the golf course, the 90-year-old Norfolk, Neb., resident is running two corporations that have worldwide impact. Andrews was just
by Rev. Gregory Alms Advent is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Church Year seasons. It gets no respect. In the mad rush to Christmas, the season of Advent can get pushed aside like hapless shoppers in the way of a bargain at Wal-Mart. When churches try to keep this time of preparation for the birth
Thank you for the superb October special issue of The Lutheran Witness. I wish that some of our LCMS churches would pay particular attention to Walther’s passion for music and particularly his chief consideration that our hymns be pure in doctrine. John Vieker’s article “Born for Nothing but Music” points out that the Lord used
by Stan Palmer Although written from a modern evangelical perspective (Fuller Youth Institute), “Silence is Not Golden” is a thought-provoking discussion about the ongoing parental challenge of effectively communicating and nurturing the Christian faith in our children. It is a problem that not only transcends denominational boundaries, but it is one that is worsening in
In “A New and Reckless Creed: Children and Culture” (October 2011), Dr. Beverly Yahnke brilliantly compares the Christian creed we confess with the growing godless creed of our culture today in America. Then she points out how Satan attacks our children via that culture. Finally, she offers ideas and encouragement for Christian parents to protect