Blog Posts

Did you know that October is Pastor Appreciation Month? Pastors do so much beyond what we see on Sunday mornings— they visit the sick and dying, provide counseling, and are leaders for...

What is Confession? Confession has two parts. First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness from the pastor as from God Himself, not...

I have no idea what or who my seventeen-month-old daughter will dress up as for our upcoming Halloween events. These days, it’s a big responsibility to make sure that your family costumes...

Our world is a sinful, broken mess. Yet God uses people and things around us to deliver His grace. Is it weird that God uses lowly parts of His creation for His perfect purposes? Christian...

As adults in the faith, most of us have a solid understanding of how worship looks throughout the year. We grow accustomed—maybe even desensitized—to the changes around us. Sometimes the...

A few months back, I wrote a post about how you can support your pastor’s wife. In it, I mentioned that because the role of the pastor’s wife comes with so many challenging aspects, there...

During nearly thirty years of professional church work, I have often wondered which sin is most damaging to the local congregation. In my experience, it is not disregard for worship and...

The famous marshmallow tests were first conducted in the 1970s at Stanford University. Researchers presented preschool-aged children with a marshmallow and a choice: eat one marshmallow...

Youth are not just the church’s future—they’re also the church’s now. As a leader, volunteer, or church worker, your job is to remind youth that they’re loved by Jesus and their...

“Don’t you see how hard I’m working?” “I feel like my work goes unappreciated.” “It seems like no matter what I do, it’s never enough. There’s always one more thing.”

The following has been adapted from the Lutheran Bible Companion.  To understand the Books of History, it is imperative to understand what came before them. The Books of the Law and the...

Continue learning how to teach Holy Baptism with the Third and Fourth Parts on Baptism in Luther’s Small Catechism

David von Kampen has set this anthem for End Times or Advent for SATB choir and piano. It begins with unison choir on the first refrain and moves to SATB in the first verse. The piece...

Telling nice people things they don’t want to hear is an unavoidable part of being a faithful pastor. On one occasion, a pleasant couple from the neighborhood came to my office. The...

Historical context is everything. To gain a richer understanding of these biblical events, we need to be familiar with the time the people lived. Today we read about ancient Egyptian...

Our children face numerous challenges today, such as topics of conversation happening before they are ready to hear them, pressures regarding their identity, and more. When it comes to...