Hope Lutheran Church in Warren, Michigan

Today is Valentine's Day. It recalls the story of a man named Valentinius that was jailed and sentenced to die for his Christian faith. While in jail, he befriended a servant girl, and began sending her notes about his faith. Over time, those notes became the modern Valentine...well, sort of.

Today Valentines are our way of expressing our love and affection to one another. I remember being in grade school and filling out all the Valenti...

(from Feb 7th)

Mark 1 paints a picture of Jesus that is one we would hardly recognize today. It portrays Jesus as the One who inspired amazement from His hearers simply with His words, because He spoke those words with the authority of God Himself.

Don't get me wrong, Jesus still speaks today with that same authority. His word carries with it the very authority...

 I have had a large, yellow fish in my office aquarium for the past 11 years...till yesterday.  Yesterday the big guy (I do mean big - a foot long - nicknamed 'Butkus'  by one of my members) succumbed to old age and disease after a 3 week battle with sickness.  I tried my best to cure him.  Water changes, medicine, careful attention to ammonia and pH levels only prolonged his demise.  When he died, it was neither pretty or comfortable (for eit...

(from Jan 24th)

I read a great analogy last week in the Lutheran Hour Ministries daily E-Devotions. It was a perfect match to last Sunday's Gospel from Mark 1 where Jesus invited His Disciples to follow Him. It puts a great perspective on Jesus' invitation to all of us to "Follow Me."

Most of us have had that sinking feeling when we are traveling that we are lost. It is a rather...

How many of you would be willing invest money in the stock market without first asking for advice?  Would you feel comfortable putting the stock quote page of your local newspaper on the wall and then throwing a dart to see where you would place your life's savings?  Would you construct a house without first consulting an architect or an engineer?  Would you just go buy a bunch of lumber, pipes, and wire and start erecting your dream home...

(From Jan. 10th)

 I think we should rename January, "Winners and Losers Month."  We begin the month with all the college football bowl games, and we end the month preparing for the Super Bowl.  All along the way we hear a constant, non-stop drumbeat of commentators telling us who the winners are and who the losers are...and why they think it is so.

As we count down the next 5 days to Christmas 2012, I truly encourage you to try and keep an Authentic Christmas in mind.  So much of what we do is just ritual or tradition that has little real meaning to it.  We do so many things because it is traditional that we do them that way.  It is hard to celebrate an Authentic Christmas when we don't really know why we are doing what we are doing.  Unless we know the "Why?" of what we do we will be caught ...