Commentaries Archives

Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?

If Lutherans know how to feed people inside the church, should we not also become experts in feeding people outside of the church?

Bigger than ourselves: Packing food for thousands in need

It was a blessing to be able to help on a larger scale like this at the 2013 LCMS Youth Gathering.

Some things change, some things never change

How can you be part of that natural change in the spheres of life where God has placed you?

Adrenaline Isn’t Enough

“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” ~ Psalm 118:8 My name is Marcus Zill and I am a recovering adrenaline addict. I…

Mercy Medical Team Scholarships Now Available

All LCMS students at any university, private or public, who are studying a health-related field, are eligible to apply.

Our doctors and nurses couldn’t command the man to rise and walk. They certainly couldn’t forgive his sins. We were, however, able to provide physical relief, and the pastors from the Malagasy Lutheran Church were there to pray with him and minister to him long after our team left. The presence of our team provided the means by which these three men, and their families, could be introduced to God.

Uniform of the Day

It's interesting that when we want our pastors to make themselves publically recognizable we ask them to “put on their collars.” Isn’t that what we need every day in our communities? Doesn’t the declining spiritual condition of America today call for pastors to stand up by, among other ways, standing out?

September Team in Madagascar

We thank God for the work that was accomplished during our trip in Madagascar. I think I speak for the entire team when I say that it was our Malagasy brothers and sisters who served us, rather than the other way around.

A Night to Highlight

Al Arnold, a lay leader, put together a night to highlight St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. St. Andrew is one of the new starts that are…

Desperate Times don’t Demand Desperate Measures – Keep Calm and Reform On

There is no doubt this was a difficult Summer for Christians in America. It felt like one blow after another on our religious freedoms. There were landmark decisions regarding marriage,…

Caring for our workers, including international workers, is a core value

The care of our workers, including international workers who are so very far from our sight, is a Synod core value. Follow along as one group of workers gathers for some much-needed care.

MMT–Four Kinds of Care

No matter what kind of team we send, whether it is primary care, community health education, disaster response, or a combination of the three, there is another kind of care that we include on all of our trips—spiritual care.

Hearing and Doing the Word, St Lawrence Deacon & Martyr, Devotion

When ordered to produce the "treasures of the Church" to be given to the Roman Emperor, St Lawrence brought the poor before him. For this act, he would be jailed and later executed. Lawrence would be known for hischarity and mercy shown to the least. But how is it that we, who are by nature, sinful and unclean, can be doers of the Word and care for others?

Missional Before Missional Was Cool

Jesus never stopped at forming a “missional community.” His mission to “seek and to save the lost” required Him to speak God’s Word to the people with whom He connected. When He did, some remained in fellowship with Him. But many did not.

A Time to Reap or a Time to Sow?

Are the fields of America white with harvest or do we live and labor in a different season?