by Theresa M. Shaltanis I lost my wife three years ago the week after Thanksgiving. Since then, this time of year has felt empty to me. Friends have told me it’s time I get over this, but I just can’t. What can you suggest that might make this time less melancholy? The death of a
by Rev. William Weedon Have you ever noticed how the theme of joy trumpets through the Church’s hymns at Christmas? “Joy to the World,” “O Rejoice, Ye Christians, Loudly,” “Rejoice, Rejoice This Happy Morn,” “All My Heart Again Rejoices.” And those are just the opening lines of a few hymns! Whence this Christmas joy? Read
‘Jesus came to bring sunshine to a dark world. What a great picture! Shine on us, O Lord!’
Thank you for the most salubrious article on Luther’s hymn, “Ein feste Burg,” by Dr. Albert Collver. I view the church as a MASH unit, so I especially relish that particular hymn as care to those whose fortresses have fallen. When your job is gone, when your home is gone, when all things that you
Dr. Albert Collver’s October Lutheran Witness article, “A Mighty Fortress,” clearly pinpoints why we should be deeply thankful to call ourselves “Lutheran.” This is not because we follow Martin Luther as someone more than a man, but because we share in Luther’s firm stand on the holy Word of God and the comfort it brings
We were blessed by President Kieschnick’s clear explanation of a biblical stance on homosexuality in his “Our Synod and Recent ELCA Actions” article in the October Lutheran Witness. We have shared this article with church friends confused by headlines about “Lutherans and homosexuals” in the media. It is both a source of “truth telling” and
As our authors this month remind us, we have much to be thankful for, not only in the temporal sense—from the perspective of the rest of the world, we are blessed beyond measure even in these difficult times— but also in the spiritual sense, for we have been redeemed by Christ, sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and counted as our heavenly Father’s own dear children.
The articles in the September Lutheran Witness regarding planting new churches raise deep concerns. Nowhere in any of those articles is there any mention of closed Communion or faithfulness either to Scripture or the Lutheran Confessions. Instead of honoring our fathers and mothers in the faith by holding to true historic Lutheran worship, “blended” and
Sandy Wood’s “In the Public Eye” articles in the September issue of The Lutheran Witness have given me new hope. Too much news today tells us of problems in our government. I have stopped reading much of it, as it leaves me feeling “down.” The LCMS people you profiled are in places of employment as
I just received and read the September issue of The Lutheran Witness. While there are many excellent articles, I as a Democrat and a Lutheran pastor am offended that The Lutheran Witness chose to only feature Republicans in the “[Lutherans] in the Public Eye” story. My question: Since when did our LCMS church body decide
Sometimes in the pursuit of the things of this world, we risk sacrificing the good gifts our heavenly Father has already given.
After reading the lead articles in the September issue (“Planting New Churches” and “In the Public Eye”), I reflected once again on how easy it is to have too narrow a focus even as “we” are highlighting our broadness. Here’s a case in point from each article: First, while demonstrating the diversity of new mission