Everyday Lutherans

Today, we celebrate the Day of Pentecost.  The day in which God bestows His Holy Spirit upon all the people to be led and guided in all that they do and all that they are.  The Holy Spirit comes and influences all the people who have encountered it.  The Holy Spirit uses the people as instruments to show the glory of God among the world.  Others bear witness to this glory.   There are those who see and believe.  Those who will bear witness to the work of the Holy Spirit will often wonder how?  How is this possible, how can we understand, and know that this is part of God’s Will?  They will soon realize that it is only because of the work that God is doing within the world, that these things could have happened.  For the work of God allows people to be united, gathered together in God’s name.  They will see and believe that these things are taking place. They are in awe.   There are those who see and do not understand. Those who will...

Looking to the heavens, the clouds seem so far away.  The stars seem so far away.  And there are sometimes that God feels far away as well.  Within the Apostle’s Creed, we state that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father.  That he will come again.  Yet from the time that the disciples watched Jesus ascend to the time that he returns, can seem really far away. Yet that is the time in which we find ourselves.  We find ourselves, looking to heaven, wondering what is God calling us to do?  When will Jesus come again?  We feel that we are stuck in the world and may even feel a distance from God.  There are many things we do not understand and we wonder why God allows us to be apart of these things.     Why am I still suffering? Why did these bad things happen to me?  Weren’t my sins forgiven, and I am now restored to a good relationship with God?  Am I not viewed as a beloved child of God?  When we stop and ...

A recent article really got me thinking. ( NPR - Boot Camp for Mormon Missionaries )  How is the Lutheran church sharing their faith with others? I began to think about what would the classes that we could teach our missionaries before they went out. Law & Gospel Grace Scripture Baptism & Communion Care for our Neighbor Culture of the nation you are going to.... Language Classes How will this experience impact your faith? And Resources to help you during this time. What else would be important for a missionary to know? Just think of the experiences that our youth could be a part of.  How they could be shaped and even shape the future of the church.  We do some of this work with Young Adults in Global Missions.  Yet what if we were able to expand that and help all our members become disciples and missionaries within their own homes.  (Please understand, I am not advocating we also dress in white shirts, black pants with a black tie or other modest dress t...