You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. (NIV)(Matthew 24:6-7)“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (NIV)(John 16:33)The words of Matthew 24:6-7…
16th Street NW in Washington, DC, north of the White House and to the Maryland State Line, is sometimes referred to as the street of churches. There are Catholic and Orthodox churches; synagogues and a Christian Science Reading Room; just about every variety of Protestant churches you can imagine, as well as gathering places for people of a variety of beliefs. 16th Street is also a meridian from which surveyors in the 1700’s and 1800’s measured the distance between north/south roads. It is…
Station One - Nurse in Wuhan Hope is the thing with feathers - Emily Dickinson God of our weary years,We give thanks for the healthcare workerswho have made immense sacrifices to carefor their patients. Grant comfort to thosecaring for the sick and vulnerable, strengthenthem as they endure long hours, separationfrom their families, and surging case loads.Help us to sustain and fortify those on thefrontlines by remaining vigilant, staying homewhen we can, washing our hands, andwearing masks. Amen.Where have you seen courage in the…
“… (Jesus) passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” Luke 4:30 In recent months I’ve had the occasion to interact with persons in our health care system—from the persons who greet me when I check in for an appointment to the those who care for me in the hospital and examination rooms. I’ve been struck numerous times with this thought: “This terrible pandemic has actually made these persons better people!” They interact with me in caring, committed, professional, and…
It's the eve of the New Year, 2022! The celebrations held toward the end of the year - Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, or Winter Solstice are giving way to a new year. New years are generally times of promise and new beginnings. Very often, people make new year's promises to themselves and others,known as "resolutions" - to start off the new year in a better way, or with great intentions to live life in a better and more productive or fruitful way.All around the…
Open this post to watch a Christmas video message by Keith Hammer and his grandchildren
1How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2How long shall I have perplexity in my mind, and grief in my heart, day after day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me? 3Look upon me and answer me, O Lord my God; give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death; 4lest my enemy say, “I have defeated you,” and my foes rejoice that I have fallen. 5But I trust in…
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.Philippians 4:8, NIVThis verse from Philippians is one of my watchwords. It’s a verse that raises my spirits.The problem is, it dropped out of my mind in the last year. Covid-19, which is far from over, drove it out of my consciousness.The verse quoted above is actually part of Paul’s closing exhortation in his letter to…
Imagine with me for a moment: You’re a guy who has spent the last three years traveling and working with your best friends. It’s been exciting and exhausting and oh, so much fun! That is, until it wasn’t. Your leader, the glue that held your fraternity together, was just arrested and killed. What now? You have no idea if the cops are looking for the rest of you. You couldn’t handle losing anyone else right now. You all go into hiding together. And you’re…
How does this Easter smell to you? I am writing this as the smells from Easter dinner still fill my home, with leftover potatoes and ham, tart apples, and cool hard-boiled eggs of many colors. Outside the air seems to tempt me with whisps of spring’s freshness mingling with winter’s dry air, as some of the bitterbrush in my yard look dry and dead and others are beginning to show some green. How do you smell Easter’s gifts of new life, forgiveness, promises…
Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.Psalm 30:5bToday we are in the midst of the Easter Three Days, the high point of the liturgical year beginning the evening of Maundy Thursday and continuing until the evening of Easter Sunday. These three days are a single celebration that mark the end of the season of Lent to the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection at the Easter Vigil and the later Easter Day worship celebrations. (Go here for a slightly longer…
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts…
Jesus Heals a Paralytic One day, while he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting nearby (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on…
It has been a week since an armed mob forced their way into the United States Capitol building. Watching the event unfold on the news that day, I had all the emotions you might expect. Anger, frustration, and fear were palpable as my family talked that day. I heard many people (both on TV, social media and in private conversation) call for peace. This week, I find myself feeling the weight of questions of faith and faithfulness. I have fewer answers than I…
During my college career I sang with a variety of choral groups. During my senior year I had the opportunity to sing with a small group of 16 men. I recall one short piece which included the words “…and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” These hopeful words came from the writings of the 14th century mystic, Julian of Norwich, who evidently was the first woman to write a book in English, a book she rewrote twenty…
Each year I come to this day, I begin to wonder what the next year will hold. What adventures lie in wait? What relationships will form? How will the coming year be similar or different to the year we have just passed through?But this year feels a little bit different. Certainly, a piece of that difference is the pandemic. If you spend any time on social media, the posts inviting 2020 to end started back in late spring and have only grown in…
Video - Hope prepares the way for the coming of the Christ child. Hope is the foundation from which our faith grows. Hope stirs our hearts toward shared purpose and the future Kingdom of God promised in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. When we hope, we share our faith with the world.
I have cherished memories of Christmas from my childhood. I remember the anticipation I felt when the Advent wreath was added to the church chancel, how I watched intently each week as another candle was lit. I especially looked forward to the lighting of the pink candle, the joy candle, which meant Christmas was almost upon us. My parents were of German heritage, so it was our custom to open presents on Christmas Eve, following a candlelight worship service at our country church…
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; Genesis 1:14 NAS To Him who made the great lights, for his lovingkindness is everlasting. The sun to rule by day, for his lovingkindness is everlasting. The moon and the stars to rule by night, for his lovingkindness is everlasting. Psalm 136:7-9 NAS This morning at 3:02 AM MST,…
We journey through this Advent season with COVID cases being on the rise across the country. With the country and our state setting new case and death numbers almost every day and at an alarming rate. We journey through Advent in the midst of a global pandemic that has hopefully made us realize how interconnected we all are as a people and a planet. We journey through Advent, the season of waiting and watching, waiting for approval of a vaccine, watching how people…
Can we start by listening to a song? Here is the link to Luther College choirs from 2013 singing the piece I have in mind. It is called “Climb to the Top of the Highest Mountain” written by Carolyn Jennings, based on scripture from Isaiah 40:9.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRU_JESEHJc&feature=emb_logoThis is my Advent song. I grew up attending St. John’s Lutheran Church downtown in Des Moines, IA, and I always sang in our church choirs from the time I was in early elementary school until I left…
“Wha-at a-are yo-ou WAITING for? Christmas?” It’s a question I used to harangue batters with as a baseball catcher in college--especially when a batter was excessively finicky at which pitch he wanted to swing. The question is probably asked a million times—thrown at the direction of the driver ahead of us who is more intent on the cell phone than on the green traffic light—in wonderment of how much greener the light needs to be before said motorist finally looks up from the…
Not too long ago, my wife and I sat down to a surprisingly relaxing evening after a tough week and we decided to try and watch one of those wonderful and ever popular Netflix original holiday movies. As is usual with those films, I found myself cringing at the script and acting ability. I found myself say at about the hour mark, “how long, O Lord?” Of course, we both laughed and then continued the slog for another 37 minutes. It’s fun to…
The first Sunday in Advent is associated with hope. The Bible readings focus on the prophesies of Jesus’ birth, on the coming of the Messiah, which were great sources of hope for the people of Israel for centuries as they waited and watched for God’s coming. But I’m not going to write about hope on this first Sunday of Advent. I’m going to write about its close relative, encouragement.Hope has gotten a lot of air time during the pandemic and for good reason.…
I can remember as a young pastor thumbing through my grandmother Emilie Bee’s old church hymnal while serving a small congregation in Grafton, Illinois. I remember the congregation well because we had to cross the Mississippi into Illinois by way of a barge/ferry. As I perused her hymnal, I came across a piece of music that has become one of my favorite Thanksgiving poems. I like it, first, because it is so simple, and second, because it is so specific. It doesn’t simply…
“Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as you have been doing" 1 Thessalonians 5:11Those were the words from the second reading from Sunday November 15. This letter by Paul is thought to be the earliest writing of the New Testament. Before the Gospels were written, before all the rest of the canon was put together we have these words written to a people who were the first generation of Gentile Christians. And it seems that they are struggling.The Second Coming,…
It was the first time in months that I saw a medical doctor smiling on TV while talking about the corona virus. The news had just broken that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine may be 90% effective. In a world desperate to bring the deadly outbreak under control, this was "hope in a bottle," as the doctor put it. And then today, just as I was about to write this devotion, another company, Moderna, reported that their vaccine, at 94%, had been tested as even…
"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,and in his word I hope;my soul waits for the LORDmore than those who watch for the morning,more than those who watch for the morning.O Israel, hope in the LORD!For with the LORD there is steadfast love,and with him is great power to redeem.It is he who will redeem Israelfrom all its iniquities" (Psalm 130:5-8).Nehemiah stepped from the last stair up onto the watchtower. Daniel was there, waiting to be relieved. Some evenings Daniel would loiter…
"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36)."But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness" (Romans 6:17-18)."Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another"…
Recently I listened to a virtual talk by the author Barbara Kingsolver. Afterwards, she took questions from the audience and someone asked how she maintained hope during this time. She paused, and then with just the tiniest bit of sternness in her gentle voice, she said, "Well, hope is a duty." She went on to say that if we love our children, if we love the generation that will come after us, we must have hope. To not have hope, she said, is like…
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