Who Knew?
Three months ago our house was overflowing with joyful expectation. It was Christmas Eve and the house was full: me, my wife, our children, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, three grandchildren, and my mother-in-law. We were preparing to eat our family’s traditional dinner...
Sleeping in the Storm
It has been truly a strange sight to watch “the city that never sleeps” settle into a collective slumber over the past week. The lights on Broadway went dark. The largest public school system in the nation closed. A city that thrives on eating out and night life...
Lord of All
As I sat in my office on Thursday, March 12, the news was coming fast and furious. I could visit traditional news sites, but I didn’t have to. Scrolling through Facebook, nearly every post was related to the coronavirus. Link after link to various news sources, videos...
The Prophet in the Pit
Joseph woke early, and for a moment forgot he was in a dungeon. He pictured himself back at his father’s side, wearing his royal coat—the coat his father had given him as a gift. The false reality was comforting, and for a second Joseph felt peace, but the damp cool...
In Our Place
I will never become jaded like them.” I had just started working as a part-time tutor for an after-school program in the largest public housing project in New York City. I was filled with idealism and dreams of transforming the lives of the inner-city youth in the...
Bad Intention
“How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!” – Isaiah 14:12a I’ve won.” The whisper escaped from the mouth of The Accuser. The plans he had set in motion so long ago had finally been completed. With those deliciously painful words, “Father, why...
Crazy Promise
I would love to sit down and chat with King David. Particularly, I would ask him about Psalm 16. Because in verse 10 (ESV) he makes this earth-shattering statement: You will not let your holy one see corruption. If you don’t see what I’m getting at, try the New Living...
Spring is Coming
When I awoke this morning, the temperature was minus twenty-four degrees Fahrenheit, and snow many feet deep. Spring seems very far away. Yet I have hope, for the sun is shining brightly, and daylight hours are steadily increasing. Spring will come! This hope is based...
LBDI: Ready to Use
At last, the Lutheran Brethren Discipleship Institute (LBDI) is online. After three and a half years in development, LBDI now provides Bible and ministry resources. Many more courses will become available as they are developed. The first courses are now online for you...
Grace in Lincoln
We truly live in a time of transition in North America. The mission field clearly includes our neighbors and their families. Our God has always called us to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to our immediate context. But we may not have felt the urgency. We used to...
Shared Resources
I had the privilege of traveling to Chad, Africa with Dean Hansen in January 2019. Dean is a creative entrepreneur who loves the gospel and wants to share it with the world. He has many ventures that are serving the CLB mission work in Chad. God has placed a desire in...
News in Two Stages
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples…” So the women hurried away from...
The White Horse
Christian tradition holds that the book of Revelation was written by the Apostle John while he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos for preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. The book gives us a heavenly perspective on many earthly events, and some believe we see...
Evangelism in the OT
Evangelism… in the Old Testament? For many people today, this phrase sounds like a contradiction in terms. After all, we don’t see the Great Commission until the New Testament, right? (See Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:8.) So why (and how) would Old Testament believers...
Evangelism in the NT
A real challenge in reading the New Testament is to let it say what it actually says. I experienced this when I was tasked with writing on the topic of evangelistic engagement in the New Testament. I started out thinking I’d look for some nice principles that I could...