7:30 AM.  Day 2 of Deer Camp.  I’ve been sitting in the Taj Mahal deer blind on Luchterhand the Elder’s property since 6:10 AM.  But there’s nothing.  No movement.  No sounds.  No gun-shots. Just a stifling blanket of nothing.  Nichts.  Nada.  Rien.  Niente.  This choking canopy of nothingness follows Day 1 of Deer Camp which was also marked by. . .nothing.  No movement.  Not so much as the cawing of a crow, the jeering of a blue jay, or the chattering of a squirrel.  No one in our hunting group has spotted a single deer, but a few wolves have been sighted. 
 
So my mind begins to wander, and I begin to fashion a mental map for this Wednesday Encouragement.  Since this Wednesday Encouragement falls on the eve of Thanksgiving, I search the deep recesses of my misty memory for a Bible verse to use.  Perhaps a Psalm?  Maybe Psalm 36?
In short order, I’ve deep-dived into the expanded outline for this article.  It will be the best I have ever written.  The Psalm expounded with dazzling clarity.  The applications personal, touching head and heart.
 
But just as this article (surely destined to be nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature) is about to be born, something begins tugging at the corners of my mind.  The tugging grows more urgent, until this Wednesday Encouragement evaporates into the murky recesses of my mind.  Instead my sense of sight is demanding my brain’s attention, shouting, “Glenn, that brush is moving! MOVING!  There’s MOVEMENT!”
 
A- l - l    t - o - o    s- l- o- w- l -y I struggle to rouse myself from my daze, and sure enough, there’s a grayish brown shape moving—just over the tops of some brush! Coming from my right to the left.  With another sure, silent step, the grayish brown shape raises its head.   Then a bit more.  Antlers!  A buck!  A DANDY!  Slowly, majestically, he leaves the brush behind, and steps onto an open path.  He’s precisely where I had been asking the Lord to bring a deer! 
 
So I reach for my gun.   Raise it.  Click off the safety.  Site through the scope to take the shot, as this ginormous stag of a lifetime takes one more step just off the left of the path, and….

​HE’S GONE!  WHAT!?  Where did he go?  All he did was take a single step in between a few young white pines.  Hardly a thicket, much less dense forest.  WHERE DID HE GO?  HOW COULD HE DISAPPEAR?  Was this a buck rapture?  Aliens?  Angels messing with me? 

For the next 45 minutes, I remain on high-alert. Scoping the area.  Making a mental note of every leaf.  Every branch.  Did the buck bed down?  Escape undetected up the hill away from me?   How could he just be gone?   Later on a meticulous search of the area reveals. . .nothing.
 
During all of this, an atmospheric river of thoughts flooded my heart and brain.  “Why wasn’t I more alert?”  “How could I be so slow to raise my rifle?”  “How will I ever live this down?”  For a moment or two, I even waxed Job-like.  “How could the Lord do this to me!”
 
But then, God’s Spirit grabbed me squarely by the ears and pulled me back, and I began to rejoice in the moment.  I savored the sight of that buck, his stature, his power.  I laughed over the hollow that had hidden him and the white pines that later masked him from view.
 
Then I looked around with fondness at the Taj Mahal in which I was sitting; my Savage 30-06 rifle, a trusted, familiar friend; the Trail Mix I munched on; the coffee in my thermos.  Next my thoughts were whisked back to my friends back at the Luchterhand Castle--even my “Nemesis” at Sheepshead.  I delighted to think of the stories that would be told.
 
And I gave thanks!  And I continue to give thanks!  For the intricacies of the LORD’s magnificent creation that wraps us like a warm blanket here in the Northwoods!  But I give thanks even more for the LORD’s mercy to someone so unworthy as me, all-too-often too quick to complain or to focus on a single dark cloud dwarfed against the background of a sky of dazzling blue!  I give thanks that the LORD sent his Son to rescue me, a short-sighted sinner who does not always stand in awe of his grace.  A broken sinner, at times too quick to forget what matters the most.  Sins washed away!  God’s gift of life!  A sinner-so richly blessed-yet not always thankful.
 
Does any of that confession ring true for you?  If so, I humbly suggest that we bow our heads, fold our hands, and join David the Psalmist, in this Thanksgiving prayer.   
 
“LORD, your mercy reaches to the heavens. Your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is as high as the mountains of God. Your justice is as deep as the ocean. You save both man and animal, O LORD. How precious is your mercy, O God! So all people find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They are satisfied by the rich food of your house. You let them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life. In your light we see light.”  (Psalm 36:5-9)
 
Privileged to Serve, 
Rev. Glenn Schwanke

Last Sunday morning. Up early, 4 AM, can’t sleep. What’s a pastor to do, especially one that isn’t preaching on that particular day? Write a sermon, of course. In this case, a Thanksgiving Eve sermon. It’s done, ten days prior to the event. This was done – the world would surmise – “despite” circumstances. But the world would be wrong…
 
About 30 hours earlier, in the room next to the one in which I sat, my father-in-law breathed his last. Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, took him home to heaven. No more tears. No more pain. No more sorrow. No more sadness. To steal from the great Christmas hymn: For this loved one, “No more let sins and sorrows grow Nor thorns infest the ground.” (Christian Worship, #353:3 “Joy to the World”) “No more!” our dear Savior declared. (See Revelation 21:1-6) Now, for this man, loved by many here on earth and loved above all by his Savior, everything is new and everything is forever blessed!
 
Have there been tears? Enough to resolve WI’s drought issues or to green over the Sonoran desert. Has there been emotional, even physical, pain? If you’ve been through this, you know. The gut punch, the feeling of trying to catch one’s breath, the occasional callous outbursts of “It is what it is.”
 
So why, in the midst of all this, in the early morning darkness of Appleton, WI, in a 3rd floor apartment of an assisted living facility, a mere day after the passing of a loved one, would I pull out my EHV study Bible and my laptop and write a Thanksgiving sermon?
 
Why not? This was done, Christians understand, “because of” circumstances. This was done because while this is a time of grief and sadness for us who remain, this is also a time of joy and thanksgiving. Job’s words come to mind: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be blessed.” (Job 1:21) The psalmist declares: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.” (Psalm 116:15 NIV)
 
There are many Psalms that speak of praising God and giving thanks to him. Psalm 100 (the sermon text for Thanksgiving Eve) is the only one with the superscription/heading, “A psalm for giving thanks.”  Here’s an excerpt of what came to mind as I wrote:
 

• Verse 3b says, “We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” Here’s something for which to praise God. We are his people! We didn’t start out that way. “At one time you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. At one time you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy.” (1 Peter 2:10) Consider this: there is only one reason we are able to “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courtyards with praise” (v. 4) today and every day – – and for all eternity. It’s because Christ Jesus entered the Most Holy Place at the cost of his own blood. “He entered once into the Most Holy Place and obtained eternal redemption, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood.” (Hebrews 9:12) Our sins paid for by that precious blood. Heaven opened wide by Christ and his precious blood, backed by the unshakable message and power of the empty tomb. He lives and so will we!

 
The funeral service is tomorrow (Thursday). Here’s the text my father-in-law chose for the service:
 

• “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart.” (Philippians 1:3-7a)

 
Another reason to give thanks – a chance to hear a faithful confession of God-given, Spirit-inspired faith. Blessed “early” Thanksgiving to you.
 
In Christ Jesus,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand

We’ve come to the middle of another week, another idyllic Wednesday morning in the Northwoods.  It’s a day marked by the chirping of song sparrows, the chatter of squirrels, and the snorting of a 30-point buck back in the woods. 
 
I gaze out at my lake, and the serenity of the moment is capped by two pair of white swans, gliding slowly out from my shore on the glass-like surface of the water.
 
It’s time to drink in the silence, along with another sip of coffee kept hot in the cherished YETI coffee mug I bought as a souvenir from the Open Bay Lodge during a June fishing trip to Canada.
Ah. . .life is so peaceful.  Doubly so, because my email inbox is no longer flooded with emails from both sides of the political aisle.  My smartphone’s spam filter doesn’t keep alerting me throughout the day (and night) to one political text after another, after another, after another.  My mail box no longer needs to be supersized to fit all the political fliers that kept arriving, daily, from both parties.  And no longer are there endless ads on podcasts or streaming TV that scream at me about the horrors one or the other candidate will inflict on our country. 
 
But, now what?  What comes next?   Some are ecstatic at the election results.  Others are ready to pack up and leave the USA.  Will the last election cycle result in less violence in the streets?  Increased security for our country?  A better economy?  I have no political crystal ball to make predictions.
 
But this I do know, and this will never change, no matter what has happened in our elections, and no matter what side of the political aisle you stand on.  Drink in this inspired encouragement shared by the Apostle Paul!
 
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope to which he has called you, just how rich his glorious inheritance among the saints is, and just how surpassingly great his power is for us who believe. It is as great as the working of his mighty strength, which God worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion, and above every name that is given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. God also placed all things under his feet and made him head over everything for the church. The church is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (Ephesians 1:18-23)
 
That’s what the Apostle Paul shows us.  Jesus, King of the Universe! 
 
Jesus ruling over everything “for the church.”  For believers.  For you.  For me.  Ruling over everything!  Solar flares, atmospheric rivers, El Nino and La Nina weather patterns, earthquakes, famines, floods, hurricanes, snow-droughts or snow banks so high you can’t see over them.  Our Savior is in control of the weather.
 
Ruling over everything!  And that includes governments like ours that come and go, as nations rise and fall.  Jesus, our King, controls the government.  Read Romans 13:1-7 for a quick review.
Jesus is our King!  He rules everything, always, “for the church.” For you.  For me.  So no matter what happened in this election, my dear friends in Christ, OUR KING IS IN HIS CASTLE AND HIS FLAG FLIES AT FULL-MAST! 
 
And this leads to a final encouragement our King himself has shared with us--whether our candidate won or not, whether the election went the way we want or not.  Through St. Paul our King gives us this directive. 

“First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all those who are in authority, in order that we might live a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  (1 Timothy 2:1-4)
 
Privileged to Serve, 
Rev. Glenn Schwanke

Some will see the title of this post and move on, assuming they know the subject matter by the mere title. After all, who wants to hear more pontificating, pronouncing, posturing, and ruminating about the events of yesterday (Election Day 2024), which will likely drag on today and into the days (weeks?!) to come? Who needs more whining or gloating, depending on your point of view…
 
That is not the subject of this brief devotion. And, frankly, not my style. Although I’m not above using teaser titles to grab your attention.
 
I had a great Election Day. This was the stunner for me. What helped was not spending much time watching or taking in the news about the election, although the weather limited outside activity. What did “help” was full plate of church (and school) duties to keep me occupied.
 
Here’s the bottom line: I trust that, regardless of who wins, God will continue to make everything work for the good of his people. It’s as simple – and profound – as that. Praise God! And, find some encouragement from a Christian who lived at a different time and place 400 years ago.
 
The composer Johann Sebastian Bach considered his life's calling was writing music to the glory of God. Bach believed, along with the Reformers, that the performance of any God-pleasing vocation was glorifying to God. Fueled by his Lutheran faith, Bach devoted his life to creating music for refreshment, proclamation, and praise—primarily for the church. Born 150 years after Luther, Bach was a true son of the Reformation, devoted to Christ, and a firm believer in giving glory to God.
 
Bach was a hard worker, not your stereotypical artsy lazy romanticized dreamer. He served as teacher and worship leader for several churches (at one time serving four churches at once), and he was the father of 20 children! He wrote over 10,000 pages of music in his career as a church musician. At the beginning of most are the initials “J.J.” for Jesu Juva (“Jesus, help me”), and at the bottom of every one of them (see the picture accompanying this article) appear the letters S.D.G.— Sola Deo Gloria—"To God Alone Be The Glory!"
 
May you, dear Christian, by the grace of God, write Jesu Juva and Soli Deo Gloria at the beginning and end of each day. May you, dear Christian, by the grace of God, write Jesu Juva and Soli Deo Gloria at the beginning and end of everything you do. Jesus, help me. To God alone be the glory.
 
This Bach reference sought to illustrate these words from the apostle Paul:
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments
and how untraceable his ways!
 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his adviser?”
“Or who has first given to God
that he will be repaid?”
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36)
 
No matter what we woke up to this morning politically and nationally and locally, these words are true. No matter what happens in the days and weeks and months to come, these words are true. Always. Without fail. Read them. Speak them. Read them again and again. Believe them. God reigns!
 
Jesu Juva. Soli Deo Gloria.
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand