Forgiven (Poem)

I walked a dark and lonesome road one night, / And sharp temptation whispered in my ear, / “You see the fire yonder, burning bright? / Its warmth is sweet—go nearer, have no fear.”
‘To Presume to Be Nothing but a Good Shepherd’: The Letters of Rev. Fritz Reddin, 1913-141

I have stayed here in my place for the sake of the people. I have really kind and good people in my congregation, but there are also those who make life hard for me (but more of that later), and I wanted to maintain the good reputation that I had received. I wanted to presume to be nothing but a good shepherd.
Charlie’s Race Is Finished; Yours Is Not

Our best days are ahead! Onward!
Are Rulers to Uphold Both Tables of the Law?

Luther consistently maintained that no one could force faith; however, outward suppression of blasphemy and the preaching of false doctrine were distinct from compelling faith. Luther believed that only the Word of God could cure heresy, and that private false belief was an inward matter not to be dealt with by the magistrate.
Immigration and Christian Conscience

Once we allow the teachings of men to subsume and replace God’s commandments, we may allow anything. Once our smartphones teach us more than the Bible, we may be taught to obey or to think or to feel or to denounce anything. If we are the world’s mouthpieces, we will not speak for God.
A Defense of Christian Culture in the Post-Pandemic Era

The outlandish argument that the Two Kingdoms somehow coexist as two self-contained silos was foreign to our fathers.
The Conservative Reformation: Lutheranism, the Guarantor of the Ancient Faith

Not only in the faith confessed by our forebears, but in their very methodology, do we find the guarantor of the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
The Classical Art of Keeping a Commonplace Book

Commonplacing became widespread among leading scholars during the Renaissance period, but its roots can be traced back to the Greeks and Romans of classical antiquity.
LCC Groundbreaking Sermon: Unexpected Ways and Places

At the end of the day, this school is not about us demonstrating what we can achieve against all odds, or showing that we are right when others had doubts, or proving that we are better than others. It’s about glorifying God and serving our neighbour.
Review: Giants in the Earth, by O. E. Rölvaag

Giants in the Earth (1924–1925) brings an old-world perspective to bear on the experience of the Norwegian pioneers who undertook the herculean task of carving an existence out of the terrifyingly new and unfamiliar world of the northern Great Plains.