What would you call the entrance to the place where people go to be baptized? If you believe that baptism is a symbolic ordinance performed in obedience to Christ’s command you might call it an entrance or passageway. If you believe that Holy Baptism is a divine mystery through which we are born again into…
In the March, 2018 issue of The Lutheran Witness, Dr. Gene Edward Veith shares some information that you have probably already heard – that there has been a decline in religious affiliation in this country – but also some information that you may not have heard – what specific areas of religious affiliation that…
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, Prairie City, Missouri, the first church that I served after graduating from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. I was invited to preach at their kickoff celebration on April 22. The theme of the year-long celebration is “God’s Grace From Generation to Generation.” It…
More and more, it seems, the large companies that control major portions of the internet, are limiting ways for Christians to get the word out about their products. Concordia Publishing House is the official publishing arm of my Lutheran denomination, The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. If this is happening to our publishing house, surely…
I came across some passages in a dogmatics textbook recently that pretty well summarize the kind of thoughts that really get the juices flowing in my brain. They are taken from pages 18-20 of volume one of Christian Dogmatics, Carl E Braaten and Robert W. Jenson, editors, published in 1984 by Fortress Press, Philadelphia. This…
In honor of this week’s celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, I have compiled a list of my five favorite resurrection appearances. As one scholar points out, if Jesus’ resurrection was something that his disciples made up, they would have scripted the stories better, making themselves appear in a much better light.…
Harder than steel, translucent, a greenish-white hue. These are the characteristics that made jade so valuable to the ancient Chinese. It was placed in their tombs to indicate their belief in eternity. “Dreams of the Kings: A Jade Suit for Eternity”, an exhibit of jade objects excavated from a group of tombs of the Kings…
Located on the main level of Faribault’s Paradise Center for the Arts is the Corey Ann Creger Memorial Gallery. This gallery was established in April, 2011 in memory of Corey Lyn Creger, a Faribault High School class of 2007 graduate and freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. Corey was killed when the small plane she…
There are three elements to the “Through The Eyes of Picasso” exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. The exhibit consists of priceless works of art by Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, several pieces of art from Picasso’s own extensive art collection, and several items from the Musee National Picasso-Paris. But all three…
I’m a fan of the game show Jeopardy! but never imagined I would be smart enough not to embarrass myself as an actual contestant. But two events happened recently on the show that may make me reconsider. The first was an episode which featured a category called “Talkin’ Football”. I knew all the answers to…
Mirror Neurons 