It’s been a while. And it’s not Wednesday! But I wanted to share a few things with you.
It was a blast, and very refreshing to take our trip to Okoboji for the Pastors Retreat, Minnesota to visit family and friends, and Wisconsin to preach at my vicarage congregation. And it’s so good to be back! Always feels good waking up in one’s own bed again, at home. Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow.
So anyway,
There are two great LCMS conferences coming up soon, and I wanted to make you aware of them. One is further away and more expensive. The other is very near and very inexpensive (and I do hope to make it to that one!):
#1: Christianity & Culture Conference 2024
This is a pretty new conference and pretty local! It’s in Spencer Iowa at Christ the King Lutheran Church, and this year they’re having Rev. Adam Koontz and Rev. Jonathan Fisk come out and talk on evangelism. The theme is “Overcoming Obstacles to Evangelism. Enriching Both Christian Laity and Clergy.” It’s June 28-29 [starts 8am June 28 and ends 1pm June 29], and I am hoping to make it. Let me know if you’re interested! These speakers are absolutely excellent and very passionate about helping the LCMS think the right way about evangelism and empowering us in it.
Here’s the link to register (it’s only $15 per person!)
#2: The 2024 Issues, Etc. “Making the Case Conference” is Friday July 12 and Saturday July 13 at Concordia University Chicago. I am likely not going to it this year, but that does not mean you can’t! I wanted to make you aware of it; looks like a fantastic line-up of speakers and topics:
Riley Gaines
Author of Swimming Against the Current: Fighting for Common Sense in a World That’s Lost its Mind. Making the Case against Men Competing in Women’s Sports.
Mark and Mollie Hemingway
Of RealClearInvestigations and Fox News. Speaking on the 2024 Elections
Aaron Renn
Of The American Conservative. Making the Case for Christianity in a Negative World.
Rev. Chris Rosebrough
Of Fighting for the Faith. Making the Case against the Fad-Driven Church
Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller
See Alsost nicholas buffalo nhyAuthor of Has American Christianity Failed? Making the Case for Trusting in the Promises of God.
Rev. Will Weedon of The Word of the Lord Endures Forever; Hymn Sing: Songs for the Battle
You can learn more about each of these folks and the conference AND register ($160 per person) at https://issuesetc.org/2024conference. Even if you can’t make it in person, if you have never tuned in I encourage you to check out issuesetc.org and listen live or to their on-demand archives on a plethora of topics, exploring without fear anything and everything from a Lutheran perspective.
#3: Greenfield
Not much of an update here, but in case you’ve been wondering how to help the people of Greenfield out, I reached out to the pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church up there, Rev. Keith Schweitzer, asking how we can best help out. Or how we can best help and equip their church to serve their community. And here’s what he said:
The best thing you can do for us is the easiest. Send your financial gifts to
Immanuel Lutheran Church
PO Box 359
Greenfield, IA 50849
Memo your check simply with "Tornado."
Thank you. We've made a lot of progress but we still have a mess.
Thanks to all who have helped out, and I encourage you to continue to keep the people of Immanuel and all of Greenfield in your prayers.
#4: A Dream
This is maybe kind of strange; I wasn’t exactly sure how to share it or if I was going to, but I just decided I would here. It’s a dream I had last night. It’s not a prophecy or anything like that. And you can 100% stop reading here because it’s usually boring to hear about other people trying to explain their dreams. [Also, a warning: it’s maybe a tiny bit intense, especially if stories about dangers on the water make you uncomfortable.]
But I had a dream last night that my family and I were in a giant wooden boat, like Noah’s ark, in the middle of the ocean with tons of other people onboard. We were in the deep “basem*nt” of the boat, with several stories above us. All of a sudden, there was a huge hole in the boat. The boat started filling with water, and we somehow instantly knew with complete certainty that there was no chance we would survive. But in all of this (probably a bit unrealistic here), I remained 100% calm. My wife and I knew exactly what to do: We gathered our kids into our arms and calmly prayed the Lord’s Prayer. We got cold and wet. And then we woke up in heaven.
And then I woke up in bed; it was morning, time to get up.
The most striking thing about it all was that no part of it ever felt like a nightmare. It wasn’t necessarily pleasant when the boat started flooding with water, but we also just knew everything was going to be okay.
My “dream self” is a pretty calm guy…I could probably learn a thing or two from him! But really, that dream-picture of peace in the midst of death, that’s exactly what we have in Jesus. He has overcome our sin. He has overcome the devil. He has overcome the grave. Nothing can separate us from His love. Salvation is ours because we are His. He has accomplished this all by His death and His resurrection. He has given it all to us through faith. So whenever our last our comes we will truly rest in peace. Rest in peace and wake up at home in Paradise with our Lord.
“The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” -2 Tim. 4:18
