Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ the Lord is Risen! He is risen indeed! How wonderful it was again to hear this Good News during the Easter season.
In the January issue of IDE TODAY, I recommended a new book entitled CHRIST HAVE MERCY. The book is now available from CPH.[1]
My Pastor, Rev. Daniel Krueger, has given me permission to lead a Bible class discussion of the book at Zion Lutheran Church in Hiawatha. Actually I am team teaching it with retired Rev. Daniel Q. Johnson. I travel so much on District business that I am not able to attend services at Zion every Sunday. Sometimes I miss so many Sunday services my Pastor calls me a delinquent! I should point out that when we travel we do attend services elsewhere.
Anyway, back to the subject of the book, I highly recommend it. The author, Rev. Harrison, tells some great stories from his ministry in order to direct the reader to God’s mercy and what it means for our lives. In chapter two, for example, Rev. Harrison reminds us of Jesus’ words, Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:36), and points out, Mercy is about who God is and who we are in Christ. The book is very easy and enjoyable reading as well as educational. It will lift your spirits and energize you for Christ’s mission! It would be an excellent addition to your church library.
As I write this, I am preparing to leave for the LCMS Council of Presidents’ meeting.[2] This is by far the BEST meeting we have each year. Well, I should say there is one part of this meeting that is really great! In April each year the Council of Presidents has the privilege of approving the Calls and placement of the pastoral candidates, vicars, teachers, DCEs and deaconess. At both of our seminaries we District Presidents will participate in the Call services.[3] The seminary students will be receiving Calls and vicarage assignments to congregations all over Synod, and a few may receive Calls to foreign mission fields. The tradition has been to keep the location of the Calls secret until they are announced in the service. There are a few exceptions. Those who are entering some kind of specialized ministry do know ahead of time. (Probably not a good idea to surprise a student and his wife on call night with the news of a call to Africa!) It is wonderful to see the excitement of the students, wives and families. Here in IDE, we have applied for five vicars and two pastoral candidates, one sole pastor and one associate pastor.
In June, my wife and I will be traveling to Lithuania. I will be attending a five-day conference and we will be spending some time with Pastor Petkunas in Palanga to inspect the progress on the building project IDE has been supporting. We will also travel to Wittenberg, Germany to visit the site of the new mission start which is being supported by LCMS World Relief and Human Care, LCMS World Missions and Concordia Publishing House.
I hope that you have a safe and enjoyable summer.
__________________________________________
1 CPH can be reached at 1-800-325-3040 or cph.org.
2 The Council of Presidents is comprised of the President of the LCMS, Rev. Kieschnick, the 5 Vice Presidents, and the 35 District Presidents.
3 The LCMS has two seminaries for the training of Pastors: Concordia Seminary, in St, Louis, and Concordia Theological Seminary, in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
Christ the Lord is Risen! He is risen indeed! How wonderful it was again to hear this Good News during the Easter season.
In the January issue of IDE TODAY, I recommended a new book entitled CHRIST HAVE MERCY. The book is now available from CPH.[1]
My Pastor, Rev. Daniel Krueger, has given me permission to lead a Bible class discussion of the book at Zion Lutheran Church in Hiawatha. Actually I am team teaching it with retired Rev. Daniel Q. Johnson. I travel so much on District business that I am not able to attend services at Zion every Sunday. Sometimes I miss so many Sunday services my Pastor calls me a delinquent! I should point out that when we travel we do attend services elsewhere.
Anyway, back to the subject of the book, I highly recommend it. The author, Rev. Harrison, tells some great stories from his ministry in order to direct the reader to God’s mercy and what it means for our lives. In chapter two, for example, Rev. Harrison reminds us of Jesus’ words, Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful (Luke 6:36), and points out, Mercy is about who God is and who we are in Christ. The book is very easy and enjoyable reading as well as educational. It will lift your spirits and energize you for Christ’s mission! It would be an excellent addition to your church library.As I write this, I am preparing to leave for the LCMS Council of Presidents’ meeting.[2] This is by far the BEST meeting we have each year. Well, I should say there is one part of this meeting that is really great! In April each year the Council of Presidents has the privilege of approving the Calls and placement of the pastoral candidates, vicars, teachers, DCEs and deaconess. At both of our seminaries we District Presidents will participate in the Call services.[3] The seminary students will be receiving Calls and vicarage assignments to congregations all over Synod, and a few may receive Calls to foreign mission fields. The tradition has been to keep the location of the Calls secret until they are announced in the service. There are a few exceptions. Those who are entering some kind of specialized ministry do know ahead of time. (Probably not a good idea to surprise a student and his wife on call night with the news of a call to Africa!) It is wonderful to see the excitement of the students, wives and families. Here in IDE, we have applied for five vicars and two pastoral candidates, one sole pastor and one associate pastor.
In June, my wife and I will be traveling to Lithuania. I will be attending a five-day conference and we will be spending some time with Pastor Petkunas in Palanga to inspect the progress on the building project IDE has been supporting. We will also travel to Wittenberg, Germany to visit the site of the new mission start which is being supported by LCMS World Relief and Human Care, LCMS World Missions and Concordia Publishing House.
I hope that you have a safe and enjoyable summer.
__________________________________________
1 CPH can be reached at 1-800-325-3040 or cph.org.
2 The Council of Presidents is comprised of the President of the LCMS, Rev. Kieschnick, the 5 Vice Presidents, and the 35 District Presidents.
3 The LCMS has two seminaries for the training of Pastors: Concordia Seminary, in St, Louis, and Concordia Theological Seminary, in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
