A Famine Not of Bread

Click here to listen to this sermon. For a number of years, I’ve had a Bible verse on the signature line of my email account. I chose that verse as a sort of mission statement. I think it sums up my calling as a pastor and also to share the faith in my daily vocations as husband, father, neighbor, co-worker, friend, etc. So it is really no coincidence that that it happens to be our text for today   “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! Pastor Terry Jones drew worldwide attention when his small congregation (about thirty members) staged a “trial” of the Koran on March 20, 2011 in Gainesville, Florida. News of that event incited riots in Afghanistan and allegedly provoked an attack on a United Nations facility that killed seven peop...

This is the message I shared as part of the opening devotion at today's quarterly meeting of the South Dakota Lutherans For Life board of directors. “A Lutheran pastor, a Jewish rabbi, a Baptist minister, and a Roman Catholic priest walk into a hearing…”   It sounds like the setup for a bad joke, doesn’t it?   But it was anything but a joke.   LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison joined the Most Reverent William E. Lori of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Dr. C. Ben Mitchell of Union University, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik of Yeshiva University, and Dr. Craig Mitchell of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in speaking in defense of religion and conscience before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in Washington, D.C on Thursday, February 16, 2012. Expressing concern over the January 20 th U.S. Health and Human Services ruling regarding health-insurance plans and the recently required coverage of contraceptives, ...