by Adriane Dorr A young man named Jason with a short haircut and arms covered with tattoos sat next to me on a recent flight from St. Louis to San Antonio. Headed to Fort Sam Houston, I was en route to meet up with three other LCMS communicators. Together, we would spend three days learning
It’s not difficult for us to think well of ourselves and what we’ve accomplished in this life. We’ve gone to the best schools, we tell our friends, the most well-known colleges, the most prestigious universities. Never mind that our friends, who went to different schools and colleges and universities, say the exact same thing. But
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
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 Adriane Dorr Pharaoh’s daughter took baby Moses into her own home. Mordecai raised Queen Esther as his own daughter (Esther 2:7). Joseph cared for Jesus throughout His earthly life. So it should come as no surprise that the Church would continue to care for children today in this same way. We take these children
by Adriane Dorr C. F. W. Walther didn’t look like much of a leader. His hair wasn’t perfect. His suits weren’t pressed. His beard wasn’t trimmed. By today’s standards, he looked unkempt and unhealthy. But our mothers were right when they told us not to judge a book by its cover. For hidden behind sunken
by Adriane Dorr I miss Holy Week,” a friend of mine sighed as we left church a few weeks after Easter. I knew what she meant. For many of us, there are particular seasons in the Church Year that stand out in our minds, certain services or commemorations that open God’s Word up to us
by Adriane Dorr When people want to poke fun at Lutherans, their jokes usually involve a Minnesota accent, men named Sven and Ole and a line or two about a propensity for sitting stoically in the church’s back pew. But being Lutheran is more than that. It’s not about geography, background or ethnicity. It’s about
by David L. Strand With this issue, we say “God speed you,” Carla J. Dubbelde. For the past 22 years, Carla has held a key position: editorial manager of the stitched-in district editions of The Lutheran Witness. As the name implies, these editions are publications within a publication—the monthly news of LCMS districts bound within
by Adriane Dorr If Christ has not been raised, The Lutheran Witness has no value. It has nothing to offer, nothing to which your faith can cling, nothing that can tell of you of Christ’s humiliation and death on your behalf. But if Christ has been raised, if Satan has lost and his head has
by Adriane Dorr Sin is a sticky subject. Whispering sweet, deadly nothings in our ears, the devil, the world and our sinful natures tempt us to believe that sin isn’t wrong, that it can’t hurt us, that God doesn’t really care if we break His commandments. “Did God actually say . . . ?” they
by Adriane Dorr Babies born in 2011 will never know a time without dot-coms and dot-orgs. They won’t send faxes. They won’t use landlines. They probably won’t even know how to load film into a camera. So while Solomon likely didn’t have smart phones and mobile devices in mind when he wrote, “There is nothing