Dear children of the Light, Jesus Christ,      Are you waiting for the light–for the sun to shine upon us again–without clouds and fog?  The recent more “dismal” weather makes me shift to the spiritual realm. How many live constantly in a spiritual fog zone!      We heard the Gospel reading this past […]

Dear people, redeemed by the blood of Christ,      What does a church do to make everyone happy?  Trying to do that is a slippery slope.  Please do not misunderstand me.  While we would all agree that we want people to be happy, yet the Church is not here to make people happy–that is, […]

Dear redeemed in Christ, Confessional Lutheran pastors often sound like a broken record (or a defective CD): they keep repeating themselves!  But in a good and necessary way!  Preaching and teaching the Word of God means that the “golden gems” of our Christian doctrine (our objective faith) will be spoken, written, confessed, prayed, sung, and […]

To you who have been called, chosen by grace, to be numbered among God’s elect…beloved in Christ, As we’ve been reading in the Book of Exodus, God’s chosen people Israel were a curious and strange bunch—so I think anyways, when I consider how “so righteous” I am.  I’m saying that facetiously, of course.  But I […]

Beloved in Christ, Pardon me for this lengthier communication to you.  This is my longest Shepherdline EVER!  But please read it through. Thanks. If you were in some sort of trouble—whatever it might be—physical,  emotional, or spiritual trouble, for your own personal good and wellbeing, would you want someone to love you by helping you […]