Pious Lutheran

What kinds of things keep you awake at night? Lately it’s been Gideon, my 7 month old son who keeps me awake. But at other times, various concerns and worries keep me from sleeping. Some people have a hard time sleeping due to pain, insomnia, or breathing. I’m sure you’ve all had things keep you awake at night. So typically, if you’re awake at night, it means that there’s something wrong.  But if you’re sleeping well at night, usually that means things are at least mostly fine. If you can sleep, it means you’re not worried too much, you’re not in much danger, and you’re at least a little comfortable. That is when the Lord will come! “ For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. ” When we talk about the end of the world and the final coming of the Lord, more o...

“What are you thankful for?” I’m sure that’s going to be the question going around the Thanksgiving dinner table. I know of some congregations who pass around slips and ask everyone to write what they’re thankful for and then have them read aloud before the congregation. Many commercial advertisements and promotionals even ask people what they’re thankful for. That’s the question of the season!  What are some of the common responses? Health, home, family, friends, food, and jobs. Don’t get me wrong, those are wonderful things to be thankful for, afterall, they’re first article gifts. As we confess in the explanation to the first article of the creed: “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me wi...

Where is the Messiah? Where is the Savior? That’s the question posed to us in these latter days, these end times. And we are in the end times you know. When Jesus’ disciples asked Him “ When will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age? ” He didn’t say it’s a long time away, He simply told them “ See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray. ” The end of the age is already here. The history of the world is already conveniently divided up into two periods: before the birth of Christ, and after the birth of Christ, the beginning and the end. We of course live in the period after the birth of Christ, we are living in the end times now. So Jesus’ words about the end times and His warnings about not being led astray applies to us. We will not escape tribulation and persecution and temptations, since we are currently living in the great tribulation. So what words of enc...

Why are you so afraid of death and dying? “ Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass? ” Why do “ you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? ” Why are you sore afraid that you’ve “ forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth ?” Why are you so afraid of death and dying, when Christ awakens us from the slumber of death to rise to new life? Well, to be fair, there are a lot of reasons to fear death I suppose. Afterall, St. Paul describes death as a fierce enemy. From Genesis we learn that death is the result of sin. Death is unnatural to creation as God’s created order is without death. Death is the unnatural divorce, separation, of the body from the soul. Death is generally quite permanent in this life; you don’t typically come back from it. When a loved one dies, you only get to see them in pictures and talk with them in...

The feast of All Saints’ Day is one of the oldest of Christian festivals. It began in the 2nd century when the church was faced with fierce persecution and many Christians were martyred for the faith. While it was customary at the time to commemorate different martyrs on the day they died and entered into heaven, with the extreme persecution they were facing, there were simply too many martyrs to be able to give each one a day. As such, they chose one day to commemorate all the faithful departed and eventually the church settled on November 1st.  So today we are observing All Saints’ Day. Today is an opportunity for us all to remember those faithful who have gone before us and entered into that peaceful rest. When we remember those faithful departed, we remember their example and their faithfulness, we learn from them wisdom and an example of holy living.  What’s more, we remember not only their faith, but we remember the faithfulness of God our Father who sent His Son Jesu...