Category: Life Issues

With so many books on “youth ministry” available today, it’s often difficult to decide which ones to pick up and which ones to leave on the shelf. If you are interested in youth and what is happening in the spiritual world of teens then do pick up Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.

Parents, pastors, and youth leaders alike will gain surprising insight when reading this book. It is the culmination of a sociological study conducted across the country through surveys and one-on-one interviews with American teenagers. Two things make this book a must-read: first, the candid, word-for-word, dialog that the author’s record with teens; and second, the conclusions that can be drawn from those discussions.

The authors canvassed over 250 teenagers between the ages of 13-18 from around the country. The teens provided a snapshot of America. The good news is that most American teens seem to be interested in spirituality. According to the findings in the book, they also tend to “go along” with the religious practice of their parents. The bad news is that they tend to be highly illiterate regarding the teachings of whatever faith that they do practice. The authors refer to the term “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism,” the view that being “Christian” is equivalent to “being good,” and that “being Christian” means you have access to some sort of “great therapist in the sky.” Very few teens had the sense that the faith they practiced was any different from any other religion. Most related in their interviews a willingness to see “all religion as the same”.

Perhaps the most disturbing discovery was the reality that very few teens could articulate the central truths of their own faith traditions. When the question was asked of them: “What is the central teaching of your faith?” the authors got the impression that the teens had never had this sort of conversation with an adult before. In fact, the authors describe the teens as being “incredibly inarticulate.” One of their examples includes a quote from a “17-year-old white mainline Lutheran boy from Colorado: ‘Uh, well, I don’t know, um, well, I don’t really know. Being a Lutheran, confirmation was a big thing but I didn’t really know what it was and I still don’t. I really don’t know what being a Lutheran means.” More often than not the youth being interviewed failed to even use the language of the faith teaching that they identified as “most important” to them. In individual interviews, teens used the phrase “to feel happy” more than 2,000 times as opposed to using “Christian phrases” like, “sin,” “righteousness,” “salvation,” and “Trinity,” only 154 times.

The “Conclusion” and “Concluding Unscientific Postscript” found at the end of the book is worth the price of the book alone. While sifting through the first several chapters may seem tedious with all the statistics and frustrating (but enlightening) quotes from teens, the Conclusion pulls together the hard work of the authors. The reader is left with much to ponder. Parents are reminded that the role they play in the faith formation of their child is real and intense, for better – and for worse. The authors also remind the church that the message she conveys is vital as well. They admonish the church to “better attend to their faith particularities,” as well as observing the trend “that many youths, and no doubt adults, are getting the wrong messages that historical faith traditions do not matter, that all religious beliefs are basically alike, that no faith tradition possesses anything that anybody particularly needs.”

Confessional Lutherans need to read this book. Although it is primarily a work of “sociology” and not of “theology”, it outlines the battlefield that exists in the church today. Through the muck and the mire that is “American religious and spiritual life”, Lutherans hold up the “Light of the World,” which is the clear articulation of the Gospel: Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for fallen man. Soul Searching is a perfect reminder that all disciples are made by baptizing AND teaching.

by Karen Gabriel

God changes your vocation. God gives you meaningful employment. God gives you employers and other authorities at work. God gives you governmental authorities. God gives you parents. God gives you a family, spouse, children.

How different are these statements then what is typically heard! “I moved over to this new company last June.” “I finished law school three years ago and joined this firm.” “I met my wife and married her three years ago last June.” “My husband and I have two sons and a daughter.” None of those statements are totally untrue – and most are not said maliciously. Yet is it not funny how the first words out of our mouth when we speak of all of our daily vocations usually starts with the first person singular or plural subject?

I even find myself speaking the same way – “I began studying for the Office of the Holy Ministry four years ago last June.” “We moved to Fort Wayne in 2003 to begin my seminary education.” “I was ordained this past June.”

God is supposed to be the subject of these sentences. He gives us all things. I am therefore slightly off base, although perhaps without intending great and mortal sin. The better way to speak of my recent history: God blessed me by allowing me to begin studying for the Office of the Holy Ministry in June of 2003. Before that, God blessed me with a beautiful and supportive wife in 1999, and God blessed us with the gift of a healthy son in October, 2002.

Since then, God allowed me to complete study at the Seminary, graduate, and has blessed me with a call to be the Associate Pastor of Faith Lutheran Church, Plano, Texas. Even better, God consecrated and ordained me into the Office of the Holy Ministry here at Faith on June 24, 2007, the Festival of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. What a gift! What a privilege! God uses a poor, miserable sinner like me to preach and teach His Word, bring His Absolution and peace to His people, feed them with His Body and Blood, wash them with His Baptismal flood.

But you know, even before God granted all these things, He had given me some wonderful vocations. He gave me the vocation of being a dutiful son to caring and loving parents. He gave me to be a loyal brother to two siblings. He gave me the vocation of husband and father. He gave me the vocation of hard-working student in elementary, high school, and college. He gave me the vocation of being a responsible, single adult who was continually gathered around His Word and Sacraments before I was blessed with marriage. After college, He provided for my daily bread by giving me the vocation of Chemist and later a junior-level manager at the same company. In that company, God gave me many opportunities to share the Gospel news of Jesus Christ with colleagues who needed to hear it – in particular a lapsed Mormon and some nominal Moslems come to mind. Because of God blessing me with meaningful employment, He allowed me to be able to support the work of spreading the Gospel to my neighbors through the work of my home congregation and through the Church at large.

Then, God used my dear Pastor in Christ to give me a “kick in the pants.” “You know,” he said quite innocently one day, “you enjoy talking theology and liturgy with me. You enjoy teaching Sunday school. I think you ought to consider the Holy Ministry. I think you have the heart for it.” That’s what it took. A small encouragement, and prayerfully, listening to God’s Word – God changed my vocation, especially in employment terms (!), yet still blesses me with many of those other vocations as well. Notably, God has blessed my wife, son, and I with the birth and Baptism of a second son this summer.

“Do not be anxious” for today or tomorrow, Jesus says. God has promised and given all things to us in our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord Jesus Christ. It is my prayer that all of us continue to recognize and give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the blessings He gives us on account of His Son, no matter what vocations He has ordained to give us. Know God does not give a vocation that you cannot truly handle, because He promises to carry your burdens. Know God can and does keep you safe and secure for this life and the eternal life to come through His pure and no-strings-attached love for us – including His Word and Sacraments, including the employment, authorities, parents, family, pastors, and fellow Christians that He blesses us all with.

Evening and morning, sunset and dawning,
Wealth, peace, and gladness, comfort in sadness:
These are Thy works; all the glory be Thine!
Times without number, awake or in slumber,
Thine eye observes us, from danger preserves us,
Causing Thy mercy upon us to shine.
–   Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676, Evening and Morning, LSB #726

by the Rev. Jacob Sutton

Friendship is a good place to begin, with its shared interests, common values, and mutual pursuits. In close friendships between young men and women, there will almost always be a certain tension, due to the natural attraction of the sexes for each other. Great care must be taken to avoid the breaking of that tension with sin. Alternatively, the tension may also be “broken” in a positive and wholesome way, by leading to something more than friendship. When there are not only those shared interests in other things but in each other. When there develops a back-and-forth between walking side-by-side and turning toward each other, face-to-face. “Twitterpation” cannot sustain a permanent relationship or life together, but it does have its place in this dance of love. There ought to be a joy and delight in each other, which is not driven by lust or perversion, but by the goodness of God’s creation.

It is not only at that point but especially then, that a young man or woman (of whatever age) ought to be seeking the counsel and advice of father and mother and other authorities, such as pastors and teachers, in particular. Holy Scripture does not tell you whom to date, nor whom to marry, but the Lord does command you to honor your father and mother. It is mainly through your parents that He guides and directs your life, especially from childhood into adulthood. Besides, there is no one who knows you better, and no one on earth who loves and cares about you more. Similarly, your pastors and teachers know you well and have your best interests at heart. Your pastor is called and ordained by God to shepherd you with His Law and Gospel, unto repentant faith in the forgiveness of sins. You shouldn’t proceed with any major decisions in life without relying upon that divine and heavenly wisdom!

Fathers and mothers already ought to be involved in approving their children’s circle of friends. All the more should they be consulted when one of those friends is becoming something more than a friend. Hormones, especially under the curse of sin, are powerful and persuasive, and lust has a crafty way of masquerading as love. Young men and women should not rely upon their feelings and emotions to determine whether a particular girlfriend or boyfriend is a meet, right and salutary one. Hard as it may be to accept, when Mom and Dad (or pastors or teachers) are skeptical and apprehensive about a relationship, then it’s probably not one to pursue. Caution needs to be exercised, at any rate, and regular counsel sought at every step along the way.

Where a good friendship between a boy and a girl does transition into a romantic relationship, that will be a terrifically exciting time. But the thrilling fun of dating should not be perpetuated for its own sake, nor allowed to go on and on without any guidance or direction. This stage in a relationship is really a testing of whether these two friends may become husband and wife. If it becomes clear that marriage would be unwise or out of the question, then romantic dating ought to stop, and perhaps a normal friendship in the company of other friends may be resumed. But if the relationship continues in a positive and healthy direction, with the blessing and approval of parents and other authorities, then the couple ought to be thinking and planning toward marriage. Long-term dating relationships are simply too subject to abuse. Engagements, too, should only be as long as necessary to make arrangements for marriage, including pre-marital pastoral care. There may be all sorts of exceptional circumstances, but I’m referring here to things in general. The bottom line is to honor the Word of God and obey the Fourth Commandment, that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.

It may sound crazy to 21st-century ears, but maybe the arranged marriages of the past weren’t such a bad idea. Americans are frankly too hung up on romance. Romance is fine and good, but it doesn’t make or sustain a marriage. It is the love of Christ for His Church, and the faith and love of the Church for Him, that teach and equip husbands and wives to love and serve each other. The true love that makes for a good marriage is chiefly the love of self-sacrifice and free forgiveness, for Jesus’ sake. It is a commitment to do the right thing, even when you don’t feel like it. Often as not, the romantic love of a husband and wife will wax and wane over the course of time, as the years go by. Fireworks come and go, like holidays, but there grows and develops the satisfying substance and stability of a shared life, home and family.

by The Rev. Rick Stuckwisch

As a campus pastor I’ve talked with many a parent terrified of sending their pride and joy off to college, where opportunity to exercise new-found freedom is around every corner. If your parents went to college, chances are they remember the atmosphere pretty well. Perhaps they managed to get through it with their faith intact, or were part of the majority who forsook church during their twenties, and then realized the need to return once they became new parents. I, too, remember the free-wheeling world of college life. So please understand if your parents exhibit fear. It is natural—and well founded.

My experience was not too different from today. We didn’t have ipods, computers, cell phones, texting, or Facebook. But there are still plenty of common denominators: freedom, sex, drugs, and alcohol. All those good and great things that were missing in my day make it even easier to get into all those dangers in common with today.

As a freshman at a large state university, I felt I was walking into a den of iniquity. I was one of three people on a floor of fifty who regularly attended church. My particular floor was known across campus as being wild. All I had to say to an acquaintance was “I live on the fifth floor of West Akers,” and their eyes would grow wide with wonder.

But I emerged with my faith intact, and you can too, despite modern conveniences that make getting into trouble so much easier. It’s not likely that you’re going to go through four years without any bumps and bruises, but there is tremendous help available on many college campuses, both secular and “religious.”Real help and comfort can be found in the place where God’s Word is preached and His Sacraments are faithfully administered through LCMS campus ministries.

Campus ministry settings vary across the country. Some are congregations that serve both the resident community and the college campus, called “town & gown” congregations. There you’ll see ages from pre-school to elderly. There is usually an associate pastor, vicar, deaconess, or DCE who works full or part-time with students.

Others are made up almost entirely of students. These are often stand-alone churches either on, or within walking distance to campus.  The pastor’s full-time responsibility is to serve students. Usually the only one with a little gray hair is the pastor! The congregational leadership is mostly students. Some campus ministries offer housing in some type of student center in exchange for being hosts or care-takers. There are sometimes other part-time or volunteer staff people who work with international student outreach.

Even when there is no congregation nearby that engages in full-time or part-time campus ministry, there is usually a “town” congregation that will bend over backwards to make sure you have the opportunity to receive the Word and Sacrament. Some congregations even “adopt” Lutheran students, and transport them to Divine Service, or take them to enjoy a nice dinner. These are called “campus contact” congregations.

I know you’ve heard this before, but success in many areas of life comes down to making choices. If you as an ambitious freshman seek to make your college years a positive and productive experience, there is no better choice to make than finding the nearest Lutheran campus ministry and becoming a part of it! It won’t count that your roommate is Lutheran (or Baptist, etc.), thinking that discussions about faith with him or her can substitute for the gifts given in the Body and Blood of Christ. These gifts are meant for you to receive regularly, not just to discuss or think about or remember!

Students give lots of reasons for staying away from the gifts of the Means of Grace in college. Here are some of the most common ones I hear as a Campus Pastor:

1) The feeling that Sunday morning is “my time”, and during “my time” I choose

to sleep.

2) This attitude: “Since I’ve been good all my life and gone to

church, Sunday School, youth group, and even parochial school, I can now

experience the world and leave my childhood behind”.

3) Doubts about whether God is real, given the state of the world and the

contempt that very smart professors heap upon Christianity.

4) Involvement in seemingly innocent “non-denominational” small-group Bible

studies or big outreach gatherings becomes a substitute “Church”.

5) The fear that one’s studies are so demanding that one or two hours of weekly

church involvement isn’t possible.

6) Fear of attending Divine Services on Sunday alone.

7) The campus ministry just isn’t the same as church at home.

So what does involvement in a Lutheran campus ministry bring to four years of college life? Namely, preaching and teaching that doesn’t blur God’s law and Gospel, and the receiving of life, salvation and the forgiveness of sins through Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. It brings sound Biblical teaching, usually from someone thoroughly trained and holding a degree that included Biblical studies and languages (as opposed to the “grab bag” of teaching in non-denominational campus groups that almost always contradicts what Lutherans have learned in their Small Catechisms). It brings confession and absolution for the sins that weigh heavily upon a student’s conscience.

It also brings many “intangibles”, such as Christian friends to support and encourage you in the ups and downs of campus life, an oasis of sanity and clarity in the midst of philosophical, social, or scientific confusion. Campus ministry provides a place to pursue your vocation grounded in God’s Word, using your gifts in arts and letters, science, or athletics to communicate your witness to the world. You can sing in the choir, play an instrument, or put what you’re learning in accounting class to use as the financial secretary.

Does going to college automatically mean losing your faith? Absolutely not! I receive much welcomed affirmation of this in e-mails from students spread across the world. They most often end with a thought similar to Melissa, who attended college here where I am a Campus Pastor: “Going to University Lutheran was the best thing I ever did in college. What I learned was better than any class I ever took, better than any book I read.”

by The Rev. Richard Woelmer

I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also. Romans 16:1-2 NKJV

Only two Bible verses describe her role, and only one mentions her name. While Saint Paul says very little about Phoebe, her service impacted the church in her time as well as the church today. The work that the Lord accomplished through Phoebe continues even in the Lutheran Church.

Described by Saint Paul as a “servant of the church,” Phoebe could also be entitled “deaconess.” The church has historically viewed her as one of the first women to serve in this vocation. While the daily routine of a deaconess can vary greatly, each shares Phoebe’s purpose as a helper. Just as Phoebe helped Pastor Paul, deaconesses today serve in a “helper” role.

The service of Phoebe and deaconesses centers on the Lord’s gifts. To find those, one need look no further than the church. It is through the pastor – one of God’s gifts to the church – that God’s forgiveness by the means of Word and Sacrament comes to us. A deaconess is defined by her relationship to the Office of the Public Ministry, which is held by the pastor. She, like Phoebe, is a helper.

The pastor proclaims the Word in his preaching, teaching, and through the public reading of Scripture. He distributes forgiveness in the body and blood of Jesus and proclaims salvation through the waters of Holy Baptism. He forgives sins in the name of Jesus. The pastor’s call is to distribute God’s good gifts – forgiveness and eternal life – which God has given to His bride, the church.

A deaconess helps the pastor by pointing the Good Shepherd’s sheep to those same gifts. She does not give them out like the pastor does, but rather points others back to the Office of the Public Ministry, held by the pastor. She does this through the teaching of the Faith, spiritual care, and acts of mercy. Deaconesses teach the Faith through Bible studies, Sunday school classes, and singing hymns. They provide spiritual care through shut-in visits, prison visits, and private counseling. Acts of mercy can include something as great as sheltering the homeless or as common as providing a shoulder to weep on, or a cup of water to drink.

Just as Christ is hidden in the water, bread, and wine in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, He is also hidden in your neighbor. Consequently, as a deaconess serves her neighbor, she recognizes that she is, in fact, serving the Lord. He does not need her service; her service gains her nothing. Rather, it is the neighbor who is benefited by her good works, done in faith. The deaconess is motivated to this service by the love that was first shown her by Jesus, just as all Christians are motivated to “love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

The work of a deaconess, like the work of Phoebe, does not strive for glory, but only to further God’s kingdom by pointing back to the great gifts which God has given to His church in His Son, our Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ. These gifts are received through the pastor’s hands and mouth, where the body and blood of Jesus are given and the words of Holy Absolution are spoken. Thus, when a deaconess points those she serves to the pastor, she is pointing them to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Deaconesses are not important or even necessary; Jesus is. Pastor Paul didn’t need Phoebe’s help, just as pastors today can preach and teach without a deaconess. And yet the church rejoices in receiving these women as another gift from the Lord.

Without God’s Word and Sacrament, the church is nothing. Because God promises to give His gifts through the Pastoral Office, the deaconess points God’s sheep to him. It is there, from the pastor who stands in the stead of Christ, that God’s people find forgiveness and salvation. It is there, in service to Christ, that a deaconess finds joy.

by Deaconess Sara Lemon

Chances are, if you’re a Christian youth, you’re also a student. From grade school, to high school, to college, youth spend the first big chunk of their lives undergoing formal education. That period of time can get even bigger when you factor in graduate school, law school, or seminary. In short, “school” is a constant presence in young people’s lives. We exist in an academic world of grades, test scores, and exams. For years, our whole lives revolve around getting a great ACT score, being accepted to the best colleges, and maintaining a stellar GPA. And yet, our performance in this academic life and “world” that we live in has virtually no bearing on our eternal home and the life of the world to come.

The trouble is, we so often don’t act in light of this. Our salvation has been won and we’ve been declared perfect by Jesus Christ. We already have the “one thing needful,” yet the world we live in tells us we still need to prove ourselves through our academic success. Don’t get me wrong—being a student is a God-given vocation, and thus we are called to fulfill this vocation faithfully as a means of honoring God’s gifts to us and serving our neighbor in the world. But like any of God’s gifts, we tend to pervert them and turn something good into bad. Going overboard in your vocation as student can easily become idolatry.

Christian youth today hear a lot about how their true identity is not in their clothes, their body image, their popularity, alcohol, or drugs. But for many youth, is it not a much more common temptation to find identity and fulfillment in academic performance? We tend to look at scholastic achievements and ambition as purely good, but as sinful human beings, we can twist even the positive accomplishments of the worthy vocation of student.

I was always a dedicated student, but when I began my freshman year of college, this focus took a turn for the worse. At college, my sinful nature, with its tendency to idolize academics, was more evident than ever. I became obsessed with getting perfect grades and was constantly comparing myself to other students. My own academic performance became everything to me. I started slaving away at my books until the early hours of the morning, and barely slept—abusing my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit and disregarding God’s gift of health and rest. I made God’s blessings of learning and education into merely a means to my own glory. I stopped doing things purely for the sake of truth and my fellow man and instead did activities and assignments as a means to give myself accomplishments and build up my resume. Everything—even God’s Word, worship, and serving my neighbor—played second fiddle to the all-consuming focus of myself and my academic accolades. I started ignoring the other vocations God had given me as daughter, granddaughter, sister, and friend by rarely talking to my friends, calling my family, or even serving or communicating with my campus neighbors and dorm-mates.

Of course, my tendencies haven’t miraculously stopped now that I am a sophomore. I will live with my sinful nature all my life, but I take comfort in the daily drowning of the Old Adam “by daily contrition and repentance…that a new man should daily emerge and arise” has helped me to continually repent of my idolatry and live in Christ’s forgiveness (SC IV).

Perhaps your obsession with academics hasn’t reached the extent of my idolatry. Perhaps it doesn’t seem that bad compared to other addictions. But don’t be fooled. Looking to anything other than God for fulfillment and identity is as damning as Baal worship. Repent of idolatry, even if it is only a slight tendency, and keep repenting. Say with St. Paul, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14 ESV). Sin doesn’t just disappear; while we are on earth, our old Adam continually battles our new man. Fortunately, however, our identity is no longer completely wrapped up in this old man. Neither is it found in our ACT score, our GPA, or any other sign of academic achievement.

Rather, our identity is found entirely outside ourselves, in Jesus Christ. We are no longer a mere number, such as a test score, but rather baptized children of God with our identity in Christ. As St. Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). We are defined not by our own glory and the things we do ourselves, but in Christ and what He did for us. When God looks at us, He doesn’t see us at all, but rather His precious Son. Your value is found not in grades or academic achievements, but in the price paid for you in pint after pint of Jesus’ holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death.

My freshman year in college was self-inflicted hell-on-earth: I relied on myself for success and thus had to drown again and again in failure and despair. I could never find peace and happiness and rest when I was trying to find fulfillment alone. True comfort and happiness can only come when Christ is our fulfillment.

Take comfort in the Gospel and look no longer for your identity in academics. Rather, look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross. Give thanks always for God’s gift of education, but also for the greater gift of His Son’s death on the cross.

by Ramona Tausz 

I keep reading and hearing internet posts and comments that the reason we have so many problems in schools is that we have taken God out of them. The idea is suggested that if we once again allow (or even mandate) prayer in schools or if we could teach creation in schools or if we could do other things to bring God back into the classroom, these problems would be solved. I’m a pastor. And I don’t want God put back in the schools. Here’s why.

First of all, we must ask, whose God gets put into school? Let’s face it, among the various Christian denominations and non-Christian religions, there are all sorts of different views of God. Do we mean some “God” in general? The Jesus of the Bible? Allah? The life force of eastern religions? When someone says we should get God back into schools, it’s generally their version of God not necessarily the biblical one. In most cases, it’s the god whose job is to enforce and control our behavior so kids will act better, show respect, and leave each other alone. Frankly, I wouldn’t want my children exposed to the religious whims of one teacher or another. Kids go to school to learn how to read, write, and do arithmetic, learn geography, and so on, not to learn their morals and opinions from someone’s conception of God.

Second, the Lord has given parents the calling of training up their children in the faith. Schools, especially public schools, have increasingly seen a rise in their expansion of their roles beyond simply teaching and educating children. Now, in many instances, they have taken on parental responsibilities for feeding, after-school care, and even extended discipline and behavioral monitoring. While it is surely a good thing when schools can assist parents, it should never be that they replace them. Far more important than bringing God back into schools is getting parents back into their children’s lives as the main source of their religious and moral formation, not to mention providing for their basic physical need.

Third, the purpose of schools is not the proclamation of the Gospel. I’ve addressed this before in the broader notion of religion being kept separate from the state, but it bears repeating: The center of the Christian faith is the forgiveness of sins which is given for the sake of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It has never been the school’s (or the government’s) job to deliver this gift. This is why the Lord instituted the Office of the Holy Ministry (pastors) and by that preaching His church (the people of God who hear the preaching). A school is, by nature, the institution of the Law. While teachers can certainly exercise mercy when appropriate, their job is to teach and enforce rules, and guide children according to the grades and standards in place to measure their performance. In other words, in school, a child is evaluated on the basis of their merit and performance. That’s not at all how things work in the church. But it’s a good way of doing things in the school.

When people want to see God back in the schools, it’s really a cry for a time when they think things were probably better. The fact is, children are afflicted with sinful natures from birth. They are sinners just as their parents are. As long as you gather kids together into groups and put them under authority, that sin will play out. Bullies, cliques, poor performance, jealousy, fights, timeouts, and all the other things that seem to go with school will always be with us. Instead of cries for more religion in a place that isn’t meant to be religious how about this: Let’s pray for our teachers, that they have the patience to love, discipline and teach the children entrusted to their care. Let’s pray for parents that they might know the forgiveness of Christ and teach it to their children, that the Holy Spirit would bear fruits of faith in our little ones as they interact with their peers. Let’s thank God for our schools but not inject Him artificially such that we forget why He gives us churches. Here’s a good prayer to use when thinking about such things:

Heavenly Father, you have blessed us with the care and nurture of children. Bless all parents to faithfully train up the children in the true faith of Christ, that they may rejoice in all the blessings He gives. Bless all teachers, and school administrators and staff, so that they may carry out their callings with joy, teaching and helping our little ones and youth that they may grow up to lead lives of help and service to others and to you glory. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Rev. Mark Buetow is pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in McHenry, IL. 

Justin Chester

Murray, Kentucky is not exactly what I would call a Lutheran-rich environment. There is one LCMS congregation in Murray, and the next closest Missouri Synod congregation is about an hour or more away in any direction. Murray is dominated primarily by Baptists, Methodists, and Church of Christ congregations. We have about six active members in our college campus ministry group here at Murray State University, while the other denominations boast numbers of 20 or more. These groups offer flashy programs and activities to involve the kids, and some kids would prefer to be in these rather than be in the minority. Or even still my friends will stop coming because they just want to make the weekend a relaxing time for them, rather than learn alongside fellow Lutherans, where God gives us strength, comfort, and a place to rest.

That said, there are two main areas I have struggled with while on campus: time management and my studies. Learning to balance work, classes, a social life, and church is a true test of our time management skills as young adults. Sometimes these things clash. It is easy to want to go out and have fun rather than study, or sleep in and have some “me time” rather than go to church. My sophomore year I had a professor who gave my humanities class a paper to write, proving how the Bible was wrong and that Jesus never rose from the dead because that’s impossible. I had the option to stand up for what the Bible says—that Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, died and rose again for you and me—or I could save my grade, give in and contradict my beliefs and convictions. I did write the paper, and I included a defense of the resurrection to my professor, and ultimately I got an A on my paper. Standing up for what we believe isn’t always easy, but it’s important that when we are in these situations that we do stand up for faith, and proudly dare to be Lutheran whether it is in the classroom or in our personal life. Sometimes standing up for your faith simply means to make time for church on Sunday mornings during your time in college.

The world is not our friend, and the devil is always looking for ways to slip us up. By threatening our social lives, our grades, and our wellbeing Satan will stop at nothing to snatch us out of God’s flock the church. He will point us to the flash and flair that perhaps bigger denominations or ministries have.

The fact is, even on the college campus, the devil has no power over you. God loves you and me and has He sent His Son to die for us. By the death of His Son, sin, death, and the devil were defeated and the cross became a source of life and comfort for all people. The cross is the place where water and blood flow from Christ’s side, and we are washed with this water in our baptisms, uniting us in Christ’s death. Just as we are united in Christ’s death we are also united in His resurrection (Romans 6:5) and we are clothed in Christ’s righteousness (Galatians 3:27) and God gives us the gift of eternal life. Therefore, we are invited and we should gladly gather around on Sunday mornings and receive the true Body and Blood of the lamb, because that is the only thing that will give us strength and comfort to get through this life. It is at the cross that we find safety from all the threats from this world, and it is at the cross that we receive the means that give us the strength to dare to be Lutheran on campus and in our lives, no matter where we are.

Justin Chester served as a College Conference Volunteer at the Higher Things 2016 Bread of Life conference at Vanderbilt University.

Rev. Duane Bamsch

There are far too many people who seem to think that their faithful pastors are shrinking violets or spineless buffoons who are unable (or even unwilling) to hear of your demons and sins. Perhaps you fear that we cannot handle the rawness and reality of your failings. It may help to remember that we pastors spend every single day in hand-to-hand combat with Satan himself and his demons. St. Paul even gives us a reminder: “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” (Ephesians 6:12 ESV).

There are no medals for the clergy. No “welcome home” parades after a difficult fight in enemy territory. Nor do we seek such things. Our deep wounds aren’t seen in slings or scars, crutches or prosthetics.

All too often we hear that a brother pastor has fallen to the lure of Satan, or that despair has taken another, or that persecution is about to overrun yet another faithful servant of Christ and his family. Even so, we readily and willingly gird ourselves with the full armor of God for another day of confronting the evil Satan that hurls your way.

We take up the most wondrous and most powerful weapon on earth—the very Body and Blood of Christ in our Communion Kit. This is the Bread of Life come down from heaven, which we eat so that we may not die, given for you for the forgiveness of sins, and armed thus we plunge into the gaping maw of death for another day of the care of souls.

In your moment of need, your pastor will not shun you. He will not shake his head at your sin and failure. He will not call your parents or friends and tattle on you. He will unflinchingly stand by your side even as the evil one drops his mightiest artillery on your position.

Your pastor will warn you of the dangers of unrepentance and unbelief, of turning to the gods of this world and betraying your baptism for fleeting pleasure. All the while he laments that eternity separates those who flee Christ their Savior in order to willfully shape gods of their own making. For this, he loses sleep and is stressed over the likelihood that those he loves and serves will attack him because they don’t want to hear the admonition of their Lord.

Yes, the pay is awful. There aren’t enough hours in the day. The phone never stops ringing. Pastors miss their children’s birthday parties or recitals. They receive absolutely devastating and gutting news far too often. They are cursed and despised, just as our Lord Christ was.

These are the consequences of your pastor taking up the cross, of having the Lord’s hands laid upon him so that he may deliver to you—the saints of God—what was once delivered to him: the very Bread of Life, which brings life, forgiveness, and salvation to all who believe.

He will have moments of rest and respite: a short vacation here, a getaway or retreat there. Three days with no cell coverage never seemed so wonderful! Yet, vacation is just that—a temporary sabbatical from the endless assaults of the evil one.

So, please pray for your pastor. When he seems to be a bit “off” or not quite on task, he may have gotten a terrible phone call, he may not have slept much after trying to finish a sermon that was delayed because of a hospital call that turned into the Commendation of the Dying, or he may even be worried sick over a parishioner who has left the faith.

At your youth group gatherings, remember your pastor in your prayers, too. When you see him during the week, or even on Sunday, ask him how you can pray for him and what kinds of prayers he needs. In between bringing you God’s good gifts of Word and Sacrament, he prays for you constantly; he will never say it, but he appreciates your prayers for him more than you will ever know.

Pastors, if you’re reading this, remember your baptism—in which death and Satan lost their grip on you. Hold high the Crucified Christ for those in your charge—He who is the Author of Life. Proclaim the life-giving Word of God—speak with the same voice that spoke from Mt. Sinai, the burning bush, and the Risen Christ. Give those who need and desire it the Medicine of Immortality—the very antidote to death. And take comfort in the knowledge that there are those who lift you up in their petitions and prayers.

As a brother pastor once prayed, so also you may pray for your own pastor: Holy Father, as Your Son and His blessed apostles cast out demons in Galilee and Judea and beyond by Your Holy Spirit, so remove from our pastor that demon called Despair by Your Word and Spirit, that he might not be tempted to unbelief but would be strengthened by the witness of Your Spirit through the mysteries You have provided, calling us little children and granting us the life and kingdom of Your eternal Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Rev. Duane Bamsch is the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church and School in Terra Bella, California. He also serves the vice president of the Board of Directors for Higher Things.

Rev. Harrison Goodman

Cutters see something most of us try very hard to ignore. Sin has to be paid for in blood. It’s always been that way. For all the platitudes we spout to people who self-harm, they still see through to that truth. Christ knew it, too. So He bled and died for the sins of the world. It doesn’t need to be your blood. Christ already spilled His for you. At least, that’s what I told Tom. He found comfort in it for about a day and a half. Then he cut again.

He told me later. His shame was so heavy his head was bowed. Maybe he figured if I couldn’t look into his eyes I wouldn’t see the real issue: fear. It didn’t work. “I believe this stuff, but I’m not better. Why?”

So I laid my hand on his head. I spoke the only words I had that could help. “In the stead and by the command of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I forgive you this and all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

It’s too easy to read this as a story about failure. We’re taught faith alone saves us. It’s just that sometimes we forget what faith looks like. For some reason we usually try to paint a picture of it with the Law. If you really believed, you’d behave. If you really believed, you’d be better. That changes how we expect to deal with God. If we can just be better, it stops being about us needing Him after we believe. After that, we should be doing stuff for Him.

Except, Jesus tells some people “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13). Those people aren’t unbelievers. Why would they sacrifice to what they don’t believe in? This is for us sinners. Mercy. Not sacrifice. We don’t measure faith by the sacrifices we make. We measure it by the mercy given to us. The Law can’t name us Christian. Only the Gospel can do that. Tom isn’t a Christian because he behaves. He’s a Christian because he has received mercy from Christ.

Don’t get me wrong. I wish Tom didn’t cut. I hate knowing he hurts that much. It would be better if he didn’t. But this goes deeper than the razorblade. Underneath the symptoms he wears on his arms, there is a condition we call sin. That’s what needs to be fixed. Only mercy can fix sin. Not sacrifice. The condition won’t go away by sacrificing in abstaining from something we want to do. The condition won’t go away by sacrificing in cutting our bodies. Help comes from mercy, not sacrifice.

That help isn’t measured in your success or failure any more than the blood paid for sins is measured in what you spill from your arms and stomach. It’s measured in Christ. All of it. “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” He bled and died. He gives mercy.

Are you done needing Jesus? The short answer is no. Our Catechism gives us the long answer. Christian life is being united with Jesus in His death and His resurrection every single day. Christian life is baptism. Baptism indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. “Better” isn’t measured in us conquering our sins on our own. It’s measured in Jesus’ innocent suffering and death that saves us. That never changes.

The only off switch for sin is death. So Christ died. In your baptism, you will too. Every single day. Jesus says, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Just mercy. It’s not your job to conquer sin on your own. It never will be. It’s Christ’s job. “Better” comes from where Christ promises to work. All of them are easy to overlook. Baptism is just water and God’s Word. It still raises us from death every single day.

The one we really struggle with, though, is the idea of vocation. That God actually works through sinners to accomplish things. God actually preaches through sinful pastors. God actually loves through sinful parents. God actually heals through sinful doctors. God works through sinners, even sinners who don’t always do their job perfectly. God is so committed to this that He works through them for good anyway. He’s promised to do so. It rarely looks all that impressive, but that’s okay. Jesus was pretty unassuming, too. He still conquered sin, death, and the power of the devil by His death upon the cross and then He rose from the dead. Unassuming isn’t so bad.

Tom felt so burdened that he cut into his own flesh. So Christ drowned that sinner in the water of his baptism, to raise him up in righteousness and purity. Tom received absolution. Tom talked to his parents. They didn’t deal with it perfectly, but God worked through them anyway, and even forgave them, too. Tom started to get help. Better wasn’t found in a pledge he made. Better wasn’t found in a single moment in time. Better was found in Christ. Better is delivered in all the ways Christ works, every day, until we finally see the fullness of what better looks like in the resurrection.

Rev. Harrison Goodman serves as pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Carroll, Nebraska.