The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The apostle Paul tells us that we, who have been baptized into Christ, are not to be foolish. We are to conduct ourselves not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the days that we are given under the sun. Such a life of wisdom can only be had by understanding the will of the Lord. Wisdom will not be found in the pleasures of this world. Wisdom will not be found in the various philosophies that are spouted by the learned among us. And wisdom will certainly not be found in the soap operas on TV or in the advice columns in the newspaper. Rather wisdom is found in the same place where salvation is found—that is, in the Word of God, in the Word of the Gospel of Christ crucified but raised from the dead.   more...

What is culture? Why should we care? If we are going to reach out to this community, and to other communities, it would serve us well to understand the issues presented before the Church as she reaches out into the culture.   more...

“Is it I, Lord?” I must ask myself that question every day. Is it I, who betrays Jesus? What evil thoughts lurk within my mind? What secret fantasies, lusts, desires, hatreds, enmity do I hide from others and, moreover, think I can hide from my God? Do I come to the Lord’s Supper with my heart set on hurting another with my words? Have I spoken ill of him or her, and diminished that one for whom Christ shed this same Blood?   more...

There are essentially five differing approaches people have taken as they have considered the relationship between Christianity and culture.   more...

The Christian always lives in conflict; the conflict is grounded in the deep conflict between the righteousness of God and the righteousness of self. It pits not Christian against pagan man, but God against man—even God against the Christian’s sinful self.   more...

The Church as a whole, and each Christian in particular, still lives in the world. We cannot escape from the world, into which Christ has sent his Church “to make disciples of every nation.” Some median position between rapprochement and accommodation, on the one hand, and a monkish rejection of life in the world, on the other hand, must be found.   more...

Nothing is quite as memorable as a catchy tune. Music has a way of insinuating itself deep within our psyches. Some tunes are forever tied with certain events. Others will always be assigned to certain words. A favorite contest of radio DJ’s is to play the opening notes of a song and have people call in with the artist and title. We might not think too much about it, but it is truly amazing how many people can name a tune by just hearing three to five notes. This can be a blessing. This can be a curse.   more...

For 66 years The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH) has brought us this rich and enduring heritage. Since the early 1980’s, many of our Missouri Synod brethren have made use of Lutheran Worship (LW). Both have served well—and in many ways TLH has proved itself better than LW. But a new millennium calls for a new hymnal. For nearly eight years, the Commission on Worship, of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, has given careful consideration to the development of a new hymnal.   more...

Closure: It is a word describing a condition that is now considered very positive in our culture. After we go through trauma, counselors and other mental health professionals stand by to help us bring the event to “closure.” If we don’t have closure, if we haven’t processed the event, it will, they say, come back again and exact a cost on our psyche. So we are to work through trauma. This is what is behind such things as Critical Incident Stress Management. Everything is seen in the light of the process we go through to come to some resolution—to come to closure.   more...