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
by Rev. Tim Pauls I’m all for hearty praise, good feelings and new insight in worship, but if these are lacking, it doesn’t mean the service is a bust. I offer the hypothetical of a parishioner who is fighting cancer. Given his illness and the withering effects of chemotherapy, he’s low on energy of all
My parents were married for 10 years and were sad that they were still childless. When they heard in 1930 that the orphanage in Fort Dodge, Iowa (“The Least of These,” November 2011), was opening, my grandmother and my mother went to visit that day and actually came home with a darling baby boy! There
Thank you, Pastor Harrison, for your letter in the November Lutheran Witness. The first thing that came to my mind was Psalm 127. David C. LoomisAyrshire, Iowa Read More Letters to the Editor Send letters to Letters, c/o The Lutheran Witness, 1333 S. Kirkwood Road, St. Louis, MO 63122-7295; or send them via e-mail to
2011 was a year filled with disasters, but the Gospel and LCMS mercy work have made an impact around the world.
Get a unique glimpse into how the earthquake in Japan highlighted the convention-mandated Synod-wide restructuring efforts.
Learn how your donations to Lutheran Malaria Initiative have saved lives and changed communities.
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.
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
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
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
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