Yes, it is true, I have resigned my call here at Salem, and on September 1, I will begin a new call as Bishop’s Associate of the Central States Synod.

This past Sunday, you all were so kind with your words of support, and for that I am truly thankful, but in our conversations, I also sensed a genuine concern for Salem. I heard words like, “What are we going to do?” and “It just…

This Parable of the Good Samaritan might be the most familiar of Jesus’ parables in all of scripture. No matter where you go, if you talk about being a “Good Samaritan,” everyone knows what you are talking about. Everyone knows it is a story about caring for others and always being willing to help others. It’s a story about always being willing to do the right thing. It’s a story about…

“You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.” Isn’t that the truth? What makes this quote even more fascinating is who said it: millionaire Malcolm Forbes! I imagine most people he encountered could “do nothing for him,” and yet he makes a valid point: we are to treat each other with respect, no matter what we get in return.

Jesus tells…

This past Monday a small group of us gathered in the Salem Café to discuss our Bible readings for the past couple of weeks from the Bible Challenge. As we started, one person said something to the affect, “How can we be assured when we share the Gospel that we are convincing others to follow Jesus?”. That is a great question, and I think our Gospel lesson today gives us the answer.

If…

Matthew 25:35-40 Common English Bible (CEB)

“I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothes to wear. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’

“Then those who are righteous will reply to him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry…

Today’s Gospel text is filled with statements that probably make many of us cringe. Luke begins by telling us that Jesus had “set his face toward Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). In other words, Jesus was now steadfastly determined to fulfill the mission God had for him, and in fulfilling that mission, when he got to Jerusalem he would be arrested and killed. Jesus knew the difficulties he was about…

We have talked a lot this year about the “new commandment” Jesus gave his disciples the night before he died, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35). It isn’t easy to love this world as Christ loves it,…

This is my favorite week of the summer. Every morning, I get to spend 90 minutes with incredibly energetic, creative, thoughtful kids bringing a story from the Bible to life. This week we’re chasing spies, marching around the sanctuary, shouting “Hallelujah!”, and knocking down walls. But we’re also explaining the promises that God fulfills, wondering if He could really love us no matter what,…

Today is Trinity Sunday, which means it is the one day of the year that we celebrate a human-made doctrine. The term Trinity and its meaning do not appear in scripture. The doctrine of the Trinity is a human attempt to explain how God chose to reveal God’s self to the world. As we read the scriptures we discover that throughout the centuries God revealed God’s self in many ways: wind, fire,…

Synod assembly was last weekend and I got to work on the committee that helped pull it off. My job was to work with the youth that came to the assembly meeting. Clearly, I had the best job on the committee!

We met with the youth a few times, played games, sat together at meetings and worship, and I got to know some really cool and thoughtful youth in our synod.

One piece of feedback…