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                                                       February   2026

                                      “Teach me Your way, Lord, that

                           I may rely on Your faithfulness.” –Psalm 86:11 

As I sit in my nice, warm office (complete with fireplace thanks to the Burants!), the temperature outside is hovering around –11. That is not just cold—with the wind chill, it is deadly cold. There was a time when I appreciated blizzards and sub-zero temperatures, namely, when I was a student. Harsh weather conditions meant a day when I could relax or play at home, instead of sitting at a desk for 8 hours. Even on a day deemed by the adults as too dangerous to travel, I could always survive a walk to my buddy’s house several blocks away. 

I am no longer in school, but I am still a student. If you have spent any time at Lord of Life, you have heard me say repeatedly the word “disciple” is not some piece of specialized nomenclature. It simply means “student.” In the ancient world, both philosophers and rabbis had disciples, students who would learn at the feet of their master. In following that tradition, I try to make every worship service at Lord of Life a learning experience, along with the prayers and the praise. Sometimes, that entails reminding people of what they already know. Other times, it is imparting new information. 

Our theme for February is “School on the Hill” because that is where Jesus gave some of His greatest lectures on the Kingdom of God. We will be looking at two portions from the Sermon on the Mount. Then we will watch as our Heavenly Father gives us another lesson on the Mount of Transfiguration. Because these events are so well-known to us, it is easy to miss their deeper meaning. That means that we will need to be especially attentive to what God is saying with these familiar words. 

Even though I appreciated the “snow days” of my youth, I was also one of those weird kids who liked school. From elementary school to post-graduate work, I was thirsty for knowledge. Apparently, so was King David because he wrote “Teach me Your way, Lord.” The book David had to learn from was the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. This great king knew that God had revealed Himself on those scrolls and he wanted to delve deeper into the mind of the Lord. But that was not the only place David would discover truths. He also learned lessons, sometimes very harsh ones, in what many call the “school of hard knocks.” Life taught him some hard truths. David realized it was not just enough to learn something; we must also live out what we have learned. 

As we enter the Lenten season, we too can sit at the feet of our Master and learn new truths. Lent is a time of discipline for what are known as “spiritual exercises.” If you do not already do so, I want to encourage you to give up five minutes of every day in reflecting upon the word of God. An excellent resource in this regard is the “Portals of Prayer” magazine that we have for free in our church narthex (including the large-print ones that are now available through the generosity of one of our members). Each month’s devotions are written by a different author. The current edition has devotions from a pastor’s wife, a now retired pastor Tom Kaul (a friend of mine from seminary), and a professor of music emeritus from Concordia University in Mequon. It is good to hear the Gospel proclaimed through different perspectives and is an important part of growing in knowledge and truth. During grade school, most of us had the same teacher all day long. But when we reached the high school level, we had different teachers for various subjects. Sunday morning worship is a vital lifeline to leading the Christian life. But a short devotion every morning is a daily “infusion.” 

                                   Your servant in Christ, 

                                                     Pastor Mike 

                                                  January, 2026

I have a confession to make, and I trust I am not the only
one. As a child, I knew where my parents hid the Christmas gifts
before they were wrapped. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, my sister and I would stealthily creep into my parents’ bedroom, open their closet door and stare at all the treasures that had yet to be clothed in
“swaddling wrapping paper.” Of course, we could not play with any of the
gifts; we dare not even open the boxes. But we could anticipate all
the joy we would have on Christmas Eve when this trove would officially be
ours. The surprise of what we were getting would be gone, but
the anticipation remained.  

This was back in the “days of old” when department stores waited
until after Thanksgiving before they made their holiday push. By the time this is printed, you probably have seen half a dozen or more Christmas displays. Halloween is now the watershed dividing the holiday season from the rest of the year. And it doesn’t stop there. There is
a Milwaukee radio station that began interspersing Christmas songs with their regular playlist on August 29 this year! I guess some
people want to hear “Let it Snow” when the temperatures are in the high
80’s. 

Our theme for the months of November and December is
“Hope for the Holidays.” I believe all of us will admit that the holidays for an adult are different than for a child. “What am I going to get?” has been replaced with “What am I going to give?” Who is going to host the Thanksgiving Dinner? Where will the family gather for Christmas? Should I put up the outdoor lights this year? Time constraints, mandatory appearances, and obligatory gifts can place us in a state of anxiety rather than anticipation. Are there no surprises left?

What we need is a change of perspective. We cannot go back in
time, but nothing prevents us from seeing the holidays through the
eyes of a child. After all, it is that kind of faith that Jesus held up as an example for all. When the first snowfall hits our area, do not grumble about the shoveling or worry about road conditions; thank the Lord for the beauty of the seasons. Go out and catch some snowflakes on your tongue! 

Take your eyes off the turkey and stuffing this Thanksgiving and
look deep into the eyes of all the people God has given you to love—and who love you as well!  

As the children perform their Christmas program in December, sing
with them in your heart and praise God He is carrying on the faith to the
next generation.  

As Christmas nears and you see a nativity scene, take some time to meditate upon that first Christmas and the miracle of “God with us.” When the Spirit of God comes upon you, you may be shocked to find out that there are still a lot of surprises to the holidays. 

Hope for the holidays means that our seasonal meals are
but a “foretaste of the feast to come.” It means that the gifts we
give and receive are but a shadow of God’s greatest gift to a waiting world.
Most importantly, from manger to cross to empty tomb, it reminds us that the
best is yet to come. Like kids who find a cache of gifts prepared
for them, but cannot quite enjoy them yet, we wait in expectant hope. We know what awaits all of God’s children but, when it is finally ours, it will be more splendid and surprising than anything we could have ever imagined. 

                                       Your servant in Christ, 

                                                    Pastor Mike

                                                   October, 2025

                   “The righteous will live by faith.” — Romans 1:17

          Most people don’t realize it, but these six words changed the world. Two years after Martin Luther had posted his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenburg, he came across this verse in the tower of the monastery where he lived. His “95 Theses” were an attack upon the practice of selling salvation for a price, namely, indulgences. He knew this practice was wrong, but he had had still not discovered the  Gospel. It would take a couple of years before he truly understood thedoctrines of grace and salvation by faith, themes that run throughout theentire Bible. To this day, every church that teaches these truths are known as“evangelical,” whether Baptist, Methodist, or Lutheran.

         Once Luther read these words, he could not get them out
of his head. Having memorized large portions of the Bible, he realized that salvation by faith was taught from Genesis to Revelation. In his own words, ““I meditated night and day on those words until at last, by the mercy of God, I paid attention to their context: “The justice of God is revealed in it, as it is written: ‘The just person lives by faith.'” I began to understand that in this verse the justice of God is that by which the just person lives by a gift of God, that is by faith. I began to understand that this verse means that the justice of God is revealed through the Gospel, but it is a passive justice, i.e. that by which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written: “The just person lives by faith.” All at once I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates.  Immediately I saw the whole of Scripture in a different light. I ran through the Scriptures from memory and found that other terms had analogous meanings, e.g., the work of God, that is, what God works in us; the power of God, by which he makes us powerful; the wisdom of God, by which he makes us wise; the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God.”

              On October 26th, we will be celebrating Reformation Day
at Lord of Life. This is an important day not only for Lutheran churches, but for Protestants from all denominations (and even some Roman Catholic congregations, as well!). It goes beyond the nailing of 95 theses to a church door; it is the very foundation of the Gospel message preached by all evangelical churches up to this day. Paul summed it up best in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” What makes this doctrine so essential is that it takes the burden from sinful human beings, who are apt to try to earn their salvation, and places it on the shoulders of Christ who died for our sins and was resurrected for our justification (Romans 4:25). When this salvation is taught, preached and believed, it gives God all the glory and comforts the heart weighed down with guilt and anxiety. We may be assured that our Heavenly Father accepts us just as surely as He accepts His own dear Son.

         The six words at the top of this article changed the world.                 Have they changed you?

                     Your servant in Christ,

                                           Pastor Mike

                                            September, 2025

          “I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand.” –Philemon 1:19 

  In a world of emails and phone texts, letter writing has almost

become a thing of the past. According to a 2021 poll, just under a third had
written a personal letter over the past twelve months. About 1 in 3 people had not written a letter in the past five years. But the statistic that really
surprised me is that 15% of people have never written a personal letter in
their entire lives! The interesting thing is that older Americans are not
significantly more likely to write letters than younger people. In fact,
stationary and “letter clubs” are gaining some momentum among America’s youth in recent years, as an alternative to scrolling on their phones or computers. 

When I was in St. Louis at the seminary, my primary way of
communicating with people back home was by letters. Even though I was working full time, a telephone in my dorm room would have been too extravagant a luxury. I saved some of those letters for years. In more recent times, the only personal letters I received were from my aunt who passed away a year and a half ago. I would always take the time to write her back. But since her passing, my “letter writing” has be reduced to short thank-you notes and birthday cards. 

In the early church, letters were the only way for a traveling man
like Paul to stay in touch with the congregations he had visited. 13 of the 27
books of the New Testament are attributed to this great Apostle. But they
didn’t start out as books; they were originally letters or what we technically
call “epistles.” While many of these letters were addressed to congregations to resolve problems they were experiencing, a few of these epistles were more personal, addressed to individuals. 

During the month of September, we will be looking at two of these
letters. While the majority of Paul’s epistles read like sermons or theological
treatises, these are letters from the apostle’s heart. Philemon was obviously a good friend of Paul’s, and the letter addressed to him bears the fragrance of mutual respect and admiration. The second letter, written to a young pastor named Timothy, has the tone of a father writing to his beloved son. Theologians refer to these missives as “Pastoral Epistles” because they show the softer, more human side of this great Apostle. 

After our deep look at Ecclesiastes over the past three months,
these letters will be a refreshing change of pace. Ecclesiastes is for people
who like to think deep thoughts; these letters are for people who long to love
with a passion. Together they stand in stark contrast, showing us the depth and range of our Scriptures. There is a proverb (often attributed to St, Augustine) that says, “The Bible is shallow enough for a child not to drown, yet deep enough for an elephant to swim.” I say, “Jump on in! The water is fine!” 

                                  Your servant in Christ, 

                                         Pastor Mike