I've had an Epiphany!

Matthew 16:13-20 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" 14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. Christian writer Greg Elder grew up along the coas...

The eyes of the pastor open from sleep and his prayers begin before his feet hit the floor: “Lord, to these people, in this place you have given me the call to preach the gospel. Bless my work this day. Give me wisdom and patience, energy and opportunity, boldness and compassion to preach this gospel so that your people are comforted and all those who are lost in sin may be brought to faith in you.” The pastor seeks to be faithful to his call. He labors with all his strength and with all available excellence trusting the Holy Spirit will work while he pours himself out in service. The day passes and is filled with earthly triumph and tragedy, success and failure. The pastor struggles with his own sinful nature and fights against self-pity, jealousy, frustration, pride and fear. Sometimes he sees and hears the outward confession of inward faith. Other times he feels ignored and ridiculed. At the end of the day as he reviews his service and prepares to close his eyes again in p...

A vacant lot. A vacation home. A few acres of raw land. Some members of Epiphany have real estate like this. They have property and they don’t quite know what to do with it. One possibility is to donate all or a portion of the property to Epiphany, either as an outright gift or in exchange for a lifetime of income. Consider the following illustrations of how this works. Mr. and Mrs. Benson had five acres of raw land that appraised for $100,000. They purchased it years ago for $10,000, thinking they might build a house on it someday. That plan never materialized, but they continued to hold the land. They thought of selling it more than once, but the idea of paying capital gains tax on the sale slowed them down. Also, they were overwhelmed just thinking about all the time and trouble it would take to market and sell the property. So they just let it sit there. Then they learned that they could donate the land to WELS Foundation, which would sell it and use the proceeds ...

Title: The Gates of Hades Instead of a painting, this week I wanted to share with you an image that has stayed in my memory ever since my trip to Israel in 2007. Jesus is still with His disciples in the north of Israel in Canaanite country. This is the exact location where Peter would have made his bold confession about the Christ in the Gospel lesson for this Sunday. Imagine Jesus standing either on the hill of rock or at its base, pointing at it and saying, “On this rock I will build my church.” The heathen peoples in that land worshiped all kinds of false gods in this place – but since many of them were goat and sheep herders, they primarily worshiped the god Pan who had a human torso but goat legs. These heathen peoples believed the great chasm in the rock to be the gates to hell. Again, imagine Jesus pointing at it and saying, “And the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Now remember this imagery on Sunday during the sermon on the Gospel lesson. Worship ...

Matthew 15:21-28 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon . 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession." 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us." 24 He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel ." 25 The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said. 26 He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs." 27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." 28 Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. One day a farmer’s old dog fell into a dry well. He was trapped. N...

In my head I see the black and white images from the 1950’s civil defense film showing children practicing their “duck and cover” drills. In case of a nuclear attack they were told to hide under their wooden desks and cover their heads because that would provide them protection from the blast. In a state of extreme fear, even the most absurd can seem believable. This was true for the King of Jericho and the men he sent to apprehend Joshua’s spies. Forty-year-old stories of the bomb that obliterated the Egyptian superpower and most recently destroyed the kings east of the Jordan swept over them like a percussion wave of terror. Great fear fell on them, hearts melted, courage failed, just as Moses had promised (Exodus  15:15 ). So great was their dread that, when they thought there was something they could do to stave off the threat, they took the word of a prostitute and believed it. Imagine how that must have sounded. Rahab: “Ah, nope, nobody here. ...

How to respond to an honest, open-minded atheist. Of course, you have to find one first.