There’s a scene in this movie that gets me every time, every year. George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart) makes such a sacrifice, giving up college in order to run the family business, the Bailey Building and Loan Association, enabling his brother Harry to go to college. It wasn't the first sacrifice he made for Harry. When they were boys, George rescued Harry from an icy pond, but he lost the hearing in his left ear, leaving George unable to enlist while Harry become a Navy fighter pilot who earned the Medal of Honor for his bravery.

George is to be commended for his sacrifice - it's a willing sacrifice but there's also an unwilling aspect to it - you can just see it in his eyes, how he carries himself, the slumped shoulders, the resignation...it hurts.

And it's fiction. Good fiction, but still just a story.

Here's another little story of sacrifice. A ship was sinking in the middle of a storm, and the captain called out to the crew and said, "Does anyone here know how to pray?" One man stepped forward and said, "Yes sir, I know how to pray." The captain said, "Wonderful, you pray while the rest of us put on life jackets--we're one short." That would be a completely unwilling sacrifice.

In real life, we make sacrifices - willing and unwilling, real and imagined. We work hard to support family, put in long hours to advance in careers, do whatever it takes to make sure loved ones are safe. There are also what I would call the silly sacrifices - time, effort, and money spent on hobbies or habits, non-essential things but things we enjoy.

But there is no sacrifice like the sacrifice shared in the Bible. Seems like we usually pull out Isaiah 53 and go over it with a fine-toothed comb during the Lenten season, especially Good Friday, It's so vivid, so clear, so real. The Savior sacrifices because of you and me and our sadly impressive accumulation of sin and guilt. He does it willingly, completely offering himself as our ransom payment.

These words are so familiar, so profound, we can read most of them without much comment. But can we read them now, during Advent? Absolutely. Remember that we look beyond the child in the manger to the Christ on Calvary. Remember that the wood of the makeshift crib will one day give way to the wood of the cross and his indescribable, incomprehensible sacrifice.

“We all have gone astray like sheep. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has charged all our guilt to him. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb he was led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent in front of its shearers, he did not open his mouth. He was taken away without a fair trial and without justice, and of his generation, who even cared? So, he was cut off from the land of the living. He was struck because of the rebellion of my people. They would have assigned him a grave with the wicked, but he was given a grave with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, and no deceit was in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and to allow him to suffer.” (Isaiah 53:6-10a)

At this point in the chapter, there is a definite change in tone. “Because you made his life a guilt offering, he will see offspring. He will prolong his days, and the Lord’s gracious plan will succeed in his hand. After his soul experiences anguish, he will see the light of life. He will provide satisfaction.” (Isaiah 53:10b,11) Out of death, life. From the death of the Savior springs life for all who believe this good news. And he, the Savior will see his offspring, his spiritual descendants. The cross wasn’t the end of him. It’s not just that his memory lives on – HE lives on, not just spiritually, but physically – in the flesh.

God declares: “Therefore I will give him an allotment among the great, and with the strong he will share plunder.”(Isaiah 53:12a) Why? “Because he poured out his life to death, and he let himself be counted with rebellious sinners. He himself carried the sin of many, and he intercedes for the rebels.” (v. 12) It’s all about the sacrifice. George Bailey’s fictional sacrifice resulted in a happy ending in a make-believe story. Our Savior’s real sacrifice results in a glorious ending grounded in reality. It’s a wonderful life – more than the title of a beloved movie, it describes our life in Christ – now and always.
​
In Christ Jesus,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

Advent is the beginning of the Christian church year. “Advent” is a Latin word that means “coming” or “arrival.” During the Advent season, Christians prepare to celebrate Jesus’ first coming at Christmas. God’s people are also directed to look beyond Christ’s first coming to his second coming on Judgment Day. 
 
Yawn… Snooze… Zzzz…
 
Oh, hey, is that mail carrier/UPS truck/FedEx truck/Amazon Prime Van (not this far North in northern WI) headed toward my house?!
 
Here are some “alternate facts” for you: Advent can be a really fun time to engage in secularizing and commercializing yet another Christian feast/festival/holiday.
 
Shall we?
 
Advent calendars contain small numbered doors or flaps, one of which is opened on each day of Advent. Behind each flap/door, you can find a Bible passage or prophecy (lame, old school) or a small chocolate treat (better, but still not real creative).
 
Today’s Advent calendars? Well, get ready to get out those charge cards! There are Advent calendars for dogs and cats and, of course, people. Today’s Advent calendars include everything from tiny jars of jam to tubes of lipstick to pairs of socks to cans/bottles of wine and beer.
 
May I share a few finds with you?

• Sam's Club 12-Day Fine Jewelry Advent Calendar  For the person on your “nice” list or for the person you need to “make nice” with. Only 12 days, but at a cost of $1,933 for Sam’s Club (Sam’s Club?!?) jewelry and pearls, you can save extra Advent/Christmas cash for other things.
• Swarovski Disney100 Advent Calendar 2023  To celebrate 100 years of Disney, Swarovski (you have some Swarovski products in your stash, don’t you?) created an ultra-luxe Advent calendar stacked with 22 Swarovski Disney-themed crystal baubles, ornaments and necklaces. $1,300.
• Bean Box 12 Mornings of Coffee Advent Calendar  Put some pep in your holiday step with 12 seasonal coffees hand-selected by Bean Box’s coffee curator. Twelve 1.8-ounce bags for $85; makes a trip to Minocqua’s new Starbucks feel like a trip to Dollar General.

 
We could go on, but since we ran out of money just glancing at the options above, let’s get back to the question of Advent as religious or secular, meaningful or meaningless. Advent is about one thing: Jesus.
 
Jesus. Only Jesus.
 
As is Christmas. And Easter. Etc. Please, do enjoy all the things you love about this and other seasons of the year. There are memories involved, families, precious moments of time to spend. But please, for your own sake and for the sake of your loved ones, do not lose sight of the One Thing, the Main Thing: Jesus.
 
Trinity offers many ways to focus on Jesus during the Advent season. There’s considerable fun and fellowship involved as well. Worship, of course, every Sunday & Monday. Also:

• December 3 (Sunday, 2 p.m.) – Advent By Candlelight
• December 12 (Tuesday, 1-3 p.m.) – Kickoff of “Monthly Senior Gatherings” (devotion, Christmas carol singing, planning for future gatherings)
• December 13 (Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.) – Mike Westendorf Christmas Concert @ Trinity
• December 16 (Saturday, 9 – 11:30 a.m.) – Christmas for Kids
• December 17 (Sunday, 9 a.m.) – Trinity Children’s Christmas Service

 
King David expresses the faith of every believer on either side of Christ’s first coming: “I wait for the LORD.  My soul waits, and in his word I have put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5 EHV) May your Advent celebration be filled with repentance, hope, joy, and peace. Even if you can’t (or would rather not) afford the outlandish price tags of some secular Advent calendars, your Advent observance will be rich in faith and mercy and love. It will be about Jesus.
 
Waiting with you,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

And for this I give thanks.  Why?  Because I finally bagged the once-in-a-lifetime 30-point buck, with a rack so massive that the Boone and Crockett scoring system needs to be recalibrated to accommodate my buck?  A white-tail monster of a “stag” whose legendary girth, length, height and weight will be shared in deer camps for decades?  And as the stories of the kill are shared around deer-campfires, the youngest in camp will ask, “And who shot this monster, Grandpa?”  In a hushed, almost reverential whisper, Grandpa will respond, “Why, that was the right-reverend Glenn L Schwanke!”
 
Nope.  I didn’t even see a deer.  Not a single one.  And for this I give thanks. My freezer is already filled by my carefully researched hunting raids of woo-hoo sales at Pick ’n Save.  I even have a few sticks of Venison sausage in the freezer from hunts in years past.  I don’t really need the meat.   But the experience of deer camp?  That I won’t soon forget.
 
And for this I give thanks.  For walking out to the blind in the pre-dawn darkness, and for the hushed quiet that engulfs me.  For my handy headlamp, so I can load my gun and get set up in the blind well before dawn. For watching the darkness slowly roll back, as if inch-by-inch.  For the first timid rays of the sun peaking through the maples, oaks, and pines, and the glistening of the forest-bed-frost like a sea of diamonds.  Here and there, a rare blue one.  For the sun’s rays then breaking through stronger, so the frost begins to melt.  And I hear the dew drops from the blind-roof splattering to the ground.
 
And for this I give thanks.  For the sun’s fiery blaze that lights up the forest on every side.  For the refreshing, peaceful, comforting quiet.  Did I just nod off for a few minutes?  What’s that?  A rifle-shot!  Then another off in the distance.  Then more quiet.  My only company is the chatterbox red squirrel that mocks me as he munches his acorn on a tree stump some 50 feet away.  And there’s the huge, black squirrel that romps down the path, pops up a tree, and peaks around at me.  Or was that a daring glare?  The cawing of crows finally wakes me from my reverie, and the words of the Psalmist come to mind. “How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.”   (Psalm 104:24)    
 
And for this I give thanks.  For gracious hosts, Lyle and Jean, who welcomed me into their castle-in-the-woods deer camp, filled the fridge with beverages, the table with food, and the rooms of their home with mattresses and bedding.  Their hospitality makes our Father smile, for he urges us all, “And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”  (Hebrews 13:16)   
 
And for this I give thanks.  For the decades-long members of this camp—Mike, Tom, Paul, Steve, and Martin who welcomed me with a raised glass and a coveted invitation to the table for Sheepshead.  As the evening went on, the camaraderie grew as did the depth of the stories from our school days at Northwestern and Seminary. I couldn’t help but think, “Iron sharpens iron, and a man sharpens the insight of his friend.”  (Proverbs 27:17)      
 
And for this I give thanks.  Our Lord willing, I will have the opportunity to join my brothers and sisters for Trinity’s Thanksgiving worship later today, November 22, 4 PM.  Together we will praise the Lord for the gift of his Son (1 John 4:14), and the bounty of His creation (Psalm 65:9-13).  And in a quiet moment of personal prayer, I will add, “Father, I went to deer camp. And for this I give thanks.”         
 
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.” (Psalm 118:1)
 
“In everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
 
“Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, who does not change or shift like a shadow.” (James 1:17)
 
Will those Scriptures get you started? The rest of this devotion is self-generated, meaning you have the opportunity to think through some of the many blessings the Lord gives. Complete this “Top 10 List” of reasons why you are thankful to the Lord.
 
1. I give thanks to the Lord because he created me with:
 
2. I give thanks to the Lord because he saved me to:
 
3. I give thanks to the Lord because he preserves my life by:
 
4. I give thanks to the Lord because this year he taught me:
 
5. I give thanks to the Lord because this year he encouraged me:
 
6. I give thanks to the Lord because this year he blessed me through:
 
7. I give thanks to the Lord because this year he brought me:
 
8. I give thanks to the Lord because, as he promised:
 
9. I give thanks to the Lord because my family:
 
10. I give thanks to the Lord because my church:
 
11. (Bonus #1!) I give thanks to the Lord because even though this difficulty is present in my life __________________ (description of the difficulty), through it he blesses me with:
 
12. (Bonus #2!) I give thanks to the Lord because:
 
I am thankful for you! I am grateful with you for the Lord’s countless blessings,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

October 7, 2023.  The terrorist group Hamas unleashed a deadly attack on the nation of Israel. Some 1400 Israelis, civilians and soldiers, were killed.
 
On another front, it is day 624 in the Russia-Ukraine War.  According to a report in the New York Times last week, close to 500,000 Ukrainian and Russian troops have been injured or killed since this war started in February, 2022.  Add to that carnage thousands of civilian casualties.
 
Back here in America, gang and drug-related warfare continue to rip apart our cities.   In this year alone--Chicago:  507 homicides.  Milwaukee:  159.    
 
All this stands as proof our Savior saw the future with 20-20 divine insight.  He warned us, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because all these things must happen; but that is not yet the end. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”  (Matthew 24:6-7)
 
If you are like me, you grow weary of the noise.  The hate.  The seething anger.  Satan stirring the pot, seeking whom he may devour.  Where, oh where, can we find relief?  In our Father’s Word.  In His promises.  In His plan of grace carried out perfectly by his Son, our Savior and Lord. 
 
And... in His names.  The inspired writer tells us, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower. A righteous person runs inside and is protected.”  (Proverbs 18:10)   Here are a few towers for you to run into today. 
 
El Shaddai: “I am God Almighty.” (Genesis 17:1) This is how the Lord introduced himself when he promised that Abraham, age 100, and Sarah, age 90, were going to have a child.  The name proved true!  Isaac was born, and through his line came the Savior!  Is there anything our God Almighty cannot do?  (If you are skeptical and need further proof consider Creation.  The 10 plagues on Egypt.  The Virgin Birth.  Easter, and more.)
 
Yahweh: “I am who I am.”  Often translated as “LORD.”  (Exodus 3:14) This is the name the LORD announced to Moses at the burning bush.  It is the name Moses was to share with the Israelites as proof their God was with them and intended to deliver them from bondage in Egypt.  The LORD uses this name throughout Scripture to guarantee to us that he cannot change.  His grace is free, faithful, and certain. 
 
Abba: “Papa!” “Daddy!”  (Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6.  This name is Aramaic.)  Through God’s Spirit, you and I have been called to faith.  As God’s children, we have been given the incredible privilege to cry out to him like little children!  With our arms outstretched and a smile on our face and in our hearts, because we know our “Papa,” our “Daddy” will never turn us away!
 
Immanuel: “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23) This is the precious name given to our Savior.  Drink in the comfort this name gives!  Our God is not “against us,” or “divided apart from us.”  Instead Jesus took on flesh to be one with us!  Our brother!  Our perfect Substitute in life and in death!  It is Immanuel who guaranteed, “And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Remember that the next time you feel alone, afraid, and wearied by a sin-crazed, noisy world.    

Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke

Today is All Saints’ Day. This day commemorates no one individual saint, but all the saints of God, known and unknown throughout the world and the history of the Church.
 
This feast was first mentioned in the fourth century. Since around 800 AD, this festival has been set on November 1st, and is retained by the Lutheran church as the day which follows Reformation.
 
While all believers in Christ in heaven and on earth (including you and me by grace!) are God’s saints, on this day the Church remembers all of God’s saints who have died and now participate in the unending, unspeakable joys of heaven.
 
One day, you and I will be among them: the saints eternal, the Church triumphant, in the presence of our Warrior and Champion and Savior Jesus Christ! Until then, we are the Church militant, struggling and marching ever forward to the finish line of heaven.
 
I recently attended a three-day “Grow in Grace Conference” for pastors at Fox Valley Lutheran High School. It was an opportunity to take a seminary level course. The course I chose is a timely one for our times and for our setting at Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Minocqua, WI. Its title: “Teach Them to Your Children: Helping Parents Fulfill Their Responsibility to Their Children.”
 
I’ll share more on the excellent material and insights gained from this class on other occasions. Now, I’d like to dwell on the image attached to this article.

“Forever Faithful” is FVL’s theme for the current school year. It’s based on Psalm 145:13b. You likely know Psalm 145:15-16 for these words: “The eyes of all look eagerly to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. He opens his hand, and he satisfies the desire of every living thing.”

Two verses prior to that is Psalm 145:13b: “The Lord is faithful to all his words and merciful toward all he has made.” Truly, the Lord is always faithful, indeed, forever faithful! Consider his track record in your life on just this day thus far. Then consider the week thus far, then the year, the decade. In your life, all life long, “The Lord is faithful to all his words and merciful toward all he has made.”
 
An appropriate thought as we remember the saints who’ve already gone home to heaven. Comfort for the saints who are making their way to heaven now by grace, i.e., you and me and other loved ones and acquaintances.

Where shall we find the strength to go on? Where can we find encouragement to go the distance or just to make it through the day or even the next hour? Don’t look inside yourself, to your own strength, wisdom and creativity. Don’t look to the world, which continues to deteriorate before our very eyes. Look to the Lord God! “The Lord is faithful to all his words and merciful toward all he has made.” (Psalm 145:13b)
​
God keep you in his gracious care,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

​“You put a fence behind me and in front of me, and you have placed your hand on me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is too high―I cannot grasp it. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your Presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell ―there you are! I rise on the wings of dawn. I settle on the far side of the sea. Even there your hand guides me, and your right hand holds on to me.  And if I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light will become night around me,” then even the darkness will not be too dark for you. The night will be as light as the day. Darkness and light are the same to you.”   (Psalm 139:5-12)
Separated from her parents by pressing crowds at the County Fair, a 4-year-old girl screams out. “Mommy, Daddy, where are you?” 
 
And the parents?  “A minute ago she was right here!  Just for a few seconds we took our eyes off of her to check out this craft, and now she’s gone?  Where did she go?”
 
Is there anything more terrifying for that little girl?  Only strangers wherever she looks.  No Mommy, no Daddy to hold her.  Comfort her and assure her, “Here I am! Oh, my precious child!  There’s nothing to be afraid of.  I’ll take care of you.”
 
And as for the parents?  What a flood of emotions are surging through their minds during those anxious moments?  “Where did my baby go?  Did someone take her?”  What a relief when Mom and Dad, just yards away but shielded by the crowd, hear their child’s cry and come running.
 
My wife and I were so concerned about this when our daughter, Tori, was little, that we bought a kid-leash for her.  More than a few times we were glad we had it.  It kept her tied to us—literally.
 
Do you ever fear that the Lord has lost you?  Because of an illness?  Accident?  The loss of a job or income?  Failing health?  The loss of a loved one?   Or the tinderbox our world has become in Ukraine?  The Middle East?  Do you ever stop and wonder, “Where are you, God?  Don’t you care about me?  Don’t you know that I am here?”
 
In Psalm 139, David assures us that the Lord knows our fears.  Our God is never separated from us, though we may feel he is.  In fact, the Lord fences us in, behind us and ahead of us.  He encircles us with his love and forgiveness.  We can’t escape his watchful eye whether we are surrounded by thousands at a football game or concert, at work, at school, on the lake, or deep in the dense woods.   Nor does he pull back his loving hand even in the middle of a burning house, collapsing tower, stormy sea, or smashed car.  In our lowest moment or in our best--he is always there.  If we forget him, he will still surround us with his love and care and compassion.  His hand holds our very steps.  For he knows how helpless we can be at handling our day-to-day needs. . .and our eternal futures.  In fact, even if we try to get away – we can’t. He keeps his steady hand on us, and he keeps us fenced in – just so we will be forever safe. 
 
Yet why does our Father watch us so closely?  Guard us so zealously?  Because he has invested the blood of his Son in us!  And because his Spirit has opened our eyes to see his light, a light that beams brightly even in this world so lost in the darkness of sin.  That, my dear friends, is grace. 
 
Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke

(Author’s note: this is a repost of a previous article.)
 
Some may find this vulgar. Some may refuse to read past the title, assuming vulgarity will follow. What is vulgar isn’t the particular “f” word I have in mind, which is “Forgiveness.” What is vulgar is how sparing we can sometimes be with this most generous of gifts. What is vulgar is that the other, vulgar, “f” word (the word you were hoping would not be here and that I would never put here) passes through lips more often than variations of “forgiveness/I forgive you,” etc.
 
Want to smooth out relationships? Forgive. Engage. Communicate. And forgive. Don’t just grunt forgiveness in a grudging way or murmur tripe like, “It’s all good.” Say it – “I forgive you.” Show it.
 
Is this easy? No. Forgiveness isn’t easy. Look at what Christ went through to earn it for us. But forgiveness is free, it is life-giving, it is releasing. It is worth the work and effort necessary for us to be at peace with other human beings.
 
Forgiveness may even save you money. Visit ten therapists and you may receive ten suggestions for how to deal with a current relationship challenge. All that may be needed to break the dam of bitterness and vengeance and repercussion is…forgiveness.
 
Simplistic? Seemingly. Powerful? Not unless you try it. Jesus said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. (John 15:12)  Forgive as I have forgiven you. (paraphrase of Ephesians 4:32) Forgive your brother from the heart.” (Matthew 18:35b)
 
You know the difference Christ’s forgiveness has made in your life. Imagine the difference forgiveness would make in any strained relationship. Imagine the difference forgiveness would make in our nation if people knew how to do it and actually put this “f” word into relentless, generous practice.
 
Again, not easy. Do I have to forget what’s been done to me? Can I? What if someone doesn’t want forgiveness or is not sorry for what he’s done? How do I handle these frustrations? I don’t have the answers. Jesus does. Go to him often. Daily. And, at his urging and with his help, use this “f” word often. Forgive as you have been forgiven.
 
God be with you,
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

Yesterday when I ran errands in Eagle River, I stopped at the Tractor Supply and bought three bags of salt for my mother-in-law’s water softener.  When I got home I grabbed a bag, threw it over my shoulder and started to carry it into her home.  In years past, I would take another bag and toss it over the other shoulder.  After all, the load needs to be balanced, lest I become imbalanced.  (I know what you’re thinking.) 

However, this time, with just the one bag, I only made it four steps before I turned back to my SUV and dumped the bag back down in the back.  Then I walked to Grandma’s house, retrieved the heavy-duty cart we purchased for her to use for groceries, put all three bags in the cart, and wheeled them up to her house.  All the while I thought, “I used to could.” 

“I used to could.”  I use the phrase almost daily.  Especially when it comes to tasks that are more physically demanding. . .like cutting, splitting, and stacking firewood, laying the 16 x 16 Lakestone patio blocks I’m using for sidewalks and a patio at my house, getting up on the roof to roof-tar the flashing, taking out the pier, or. . .tying my shoelaces.  Arthritis, crushed nerves and neuropathy can sometimes make even the smallest chores—like trying to grab a wiggly, squiggly crappie minnow off my pontoon’s deck--an Olympic-games challenge that lasts several minutes.

“I used to could.” You won’t find that phrase in any proper English grammar.  Nor will you find this phrase in the Bible.  But the thought is captured in verses we often share at funerals.  Consider Moses’ observation recorded in Psalm 90:10. “The days of our lives add up to seventy years, or eighty years if we are strong. Yet the best of them are trouble and sorrow, for they disappear quickly, and we fly away.”  (Psalm 90:10)  Yet Moses lived to be 120 and even then his “eyes had not grown dim, and his vigor had not declined.”  (Deuteronomy 34:7)

So perhaps we want a second opinion?  Then what about these inspired words from St. Paul?  “We are not discouraged. But even if our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day. Yes, our momentary, light trouble produces for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond any comparison. We are not focusing on what is seen, but on what is not seen. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal.”  (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)  Most historians feel that Paul only lived to be 60 or so when he was martyred for the faith.  And Paul’s martyrdom came after a life filled with “momentary, light trouble” that included being imprisoned, whipped, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and in constant danger—not to mention many a sleepless night, going without food, drink, and freezing with little shelter or clothing.  (2 Corinthian 11:23-27)

Compared to Paul, my “used to could” complaints sound more than a little whiney. Especially when I view the aging process through Paul’s perspective.  Life here is momentary, like the grass and flowers that are dying down now in the fall.  (Psalm 103:15)   Aches, pains, and diminished strength are just signs that we are living in a sin-broken world.  Our bodies break down, wear out. This life in this world won’t go on forever. 

But, praise God, by faith we look ahead to what will last forever!  Heaven!  Our LORD!  All our Christian loved ones gathered together through eternity in a perfect place that is forever safe!  Free from terror, crime, sickness, sorrow, and pain!  Instead we will be wrapped in the peace of God, bought and paid for by Jesus, “an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison” to any “used to could.”   

Privileged to serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke

​A few years ago, I took an online course from our Seminary on the topic of “Mission-Mindedness.” One discussion required participants to share a ministry passion. Mine? Wordsmithing. Per www.definitions.net, “Wordsmithing is the act of carefully crafting or manipulating words to achieve a specific effect or purpose. It involves skillful and creative use of language to express ideas, convey meaning, and evoke emotions in a compelling and engaging manner.”
 
In the context of pastoral ministry, my definition is much simpler: “Wordsmithing - Using words to communicate the Word.”
 
I love to teach and to write (sermons, Bible studies, blog). Conversations with people involve words that seek to enlighten with the Word in a variety of settings and contexts. I've always loved books; even now I read (audio, digital, print) a couple books each week to feed my mind and soul...and to fuel output.
 
I faced a dilemma in last weekend’s sermon. Here’s the full text of one paragraph early in the message:
 
     The chief priests and the elders were getting more vicious in their attacks against him and on
     this day, once again tried to trap him in his words. They’d seen him ride into Jerusalem to the
     shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David!” They’d witnessed Jesus raising hell in the temple
     area, turning over the tables of the moneychangers and kicking out all who treated the Father’s
     house like a marketplace. So they asked Jesus, “By what authority are you doing these things?
     (Matthew 21:23) Who do you think you are?”
 
Do you see it? Anything strike you as, well, maybe not the best way to express a thought? It’s “they’d witnessed Jesus raising hell in the temple area.” As the time approached to deliver that line, I thought better of that choice of words and said, “They’d witnessed Jesus raising a ruckus in the temple area.” My brain initially threw out “Jesus was raising Cain in the temple area,” which would have required additional explanation as people might have wondered, “Wait, what, Cain’s been raised from the dead by Jesus?”
 
I thought I’d smoothed that over pretty well. But then, in Bible class, my choice of written words became the center of a brief discussion, because after all, they were written down…on paper…for all to see…until the end of time. We had a good talk about it and all agreed that exchanging “ruckus” for “hell” was best.
 
The lesson? It’s an ongoing one: choose your words carefully! Whether writing or speaking, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you know how you are to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:6)
 
God bless your use of words to share the Word!
 
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand