I will be back soon. Thank you for reading. Pastor Leon Stier

By Philip Yancey, posted October 22, 2020, at: http://www.philipyancey.com Again and again this year, scenes of racial injustice have played out before our eyes. African Americans insist that such incidents are nothing new; the difference is that now iPhones and body cameras record them for the world to see. Tragically, some of the resulting protests … Read more

“What to Do When Jesus is Too Late to Help” by Joshua Rogers, posted November 2, 2020, at http://www.joshuarogers.com There’s a line of an old Southern Gospel song I’ve been repeating in my head recently: “When He’s four days late, He’s still on tiiiiiiime!” I probably heard the song at church 25 years ago when … Read more

Harold Kushner (1935), When All You Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough, 1986, pages 22, 23…59:      America’s Declaration of Independence guarantees every one of us the right to the pursuit of happiness.  But because the Declaration is a political document and not a religious one, it does not warn us of the frustrations of trying to … Read more

By Johann Gerhard (1582-1637), a German Lutheran pastor and professor of theology.  He wrote dozens of books, including Sacred Meditations, a collection of 51 meditations published in 1606.  This piece was taken from the chapter 38 of that book.    Consider the misery and brevity of this present life, so that you may lift up your … Read more

 Martin Luther (1483-1546), at the age of 43 ——————–    (…continued)  But one piece of Luther’s work is still read by millions– his Small Catechism.  Luther would have approved of this wide and continued usage.  He considered this little pamphlet his favorite and most important work.      This is because along with being a courageous leader … Read more

Martin Luther  (1483-1546) ————       The husband and wife team of Will and Ariel Durant made it their life’s work to write the history of the whole world, from life in the caves to life in skyscrapers, from crude markings on the sides of cliffs to the age of the computer.  The result … Read more

“We should devote 364 days a year to being thankful and set aside only one day for grumbling and complaining.” ————————      Fulton Ousler (1893-1952) was a journalist, author of many novels (including The Greatest Story Ever Told), and editor of the Reader’s Digest.  In one of his books he wrote about Anna, born into slavery … Read more

Selections from The Clergy of America: Anecdotes, (1869)      I was once called upon, says the Rev. Trefit, some years ago, to visit an individual, a part of whose face had been eaten away by a most loathsome cancer.  Fixing my eyes on this man, in his agony, I said, “Supposing that Almighty God were to give … Read more

Different wording and numbering, but the same basic commands. ——— Prayers by Martin Luther (1483-1546), adapted from Luther’s Prayers, translated by Charles Kistler (1917) ——— (1st commandment)  Eternal God, you ask that I rely on you alone with all my heart in all things.  It is your earnest desire to be my God, and I must believe in you … Read more