Lula and I have been on home service since early April. So far, 22 stops in almost a dozen states… Thank you SO much for all the love and support you are extending to us as we get to meet many of you in person. In my missionary presentations across the U.S., I emphasize two … Continue reading Dear Partners in the Gospel
“I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in” (Mt 25:35). Week 8 of home service. I was recently on my way to LCMS Mission Central in Mapleton, Iowa, where I had been scheduled to present. Since there are no hotels or motels within a … Continue reading Finding Wayne and Zola
“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much” (see Mt 25:14-31). Week 6 of home service. Praise God, I have now joined up with Lula again. We are staying near the home of our daughter Carlotta, her husband Jacob, and their new baby, Jane, … Continue reading Workers in the Lord’s Fields
“…Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear” (Mt 13:13). Week 5 of home service. Stuart, Iowa. Just attended the Iowa West District pastors’ conference. Yesterday late afternoon I was sitting in the hotel parking lot, catching up on emails. It was still sunny, but dark clouds were approaching from the west. … Continue reading A Jewish-Ukrainian Lady in Iowa
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn 14:6). Week 4 of home service; currently near Omaha, NE. I spent most of the day in my hotel room, catching up on desk work and preparing for tomorrow’s presentation at Holy Cross in Carlisle, … Continue reading The Door to Heaven
“If we are faithless, He remains faithful” (2 Tim 2:13). Currently on home service in Tulsa, OK. Last Saturday I accompanied our son to the weekly farmers’ market. Jeremiah runs a very successful knife-sharpening business (Same Day Sharpening) and is one of the many vendors. At one point I strolled around the various booths, stopping … Continue reading Farmers’ Market Faith Talk
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). On home service last week, I passed through Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I had been invited … Continue reading For We Do Not Wrestle Against Flesh and Blood
“But on taking leave of them [Paul] said, ‘I will return if God wills (Acts 18:21). Commencing our home service, Lula and I flew out of Hamburg last Friday and had a short layover in Frankfurt before boarding our plane to Chicago. About two hours into the transatlantic flight, the captain announced over the PA … Continue reading If God Wills
“As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me” (Ps 40:17). Every morning, Lula and I take a walk. Hamburg in winter is cold and rainy. For about the past month we have noticed a homeless woman sleeping on a gray wicker couch in the alcove of a restaurant. … Continue reading The Lord Takes Thought for Me
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). Yesterday I met “Ali,” an Iranian parishioner, in Hamburg’s Steindamm district near the central train station, to help him with some logistical issues. This is an area heavily populated with immigrants—mostly from Islamic countries. Walking past … Continue reading Every Good Thing in Life Comes from Him
The Tiews in Germany 