Reclaiming Our Heritage

Elisha And The Murderous Bears

2012-01-25T13:04:00.001-06:00

In the early years of my pastoral ministry I was called to comfort a young family whose 3-yr. old had fallen into an open cistern and drowned. I was not well prepared for the task. I still remember the tears and anguish of that young couple as they berated themselves for their negligence. Many questions arise at the death of a child besides guilt. One that keeps coming up is this. Why did God do

Rebel Son And Grieving Father

2012-01-24T12:51:00.001-06:00

We're looking stories from Holy Scripture that tell us about the grieving of parents over the death of children. One such is the story of Absalom, son of King David, born in Hebron of Maacah the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur (2 Samuel 3-18 and 1 Chronicles 3:2). Maacah was one of David's six wives, women he married while at war with the house of Saul, Israel's first king. David married most

Children Are Not Supposed To Die

2012-01-23T12:35:00.001-06:00

One fall, back when I was a student at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, five of us rode together from Minnesota back to the apartment we shared. It was a hot, muggy afternoon when we arrived. Someone suggested that we go swimming in the Missouri River. I merely went along for the drive, because I had never learned how to swim. When we arrived at a park along the river everyone except me dove in and

Marriage Is The Bedrock Of Family and Community Life

2012-01-18T11:52:00.000-06:00

Earlier I wrote about the mystery of marriage, established on the final day of creation. At the end of each of the six days of creation God looked upon what He had made and saw that it was good. But strangely, after He created Adam during day six, He said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him" (Genesis 2:18). Why—really—is it not good for men or

Human Life Begins With Conception

2012-01-17T14:03:00.000-06:00

Our earlier discussion of the Plan B one-step contraceptive pill has surfaced yet again the ongoing debate about when human life begins. The moral question about whether one destroys such a life by taking this pill is before us, especially since Plan B not only prevents the union of egg and sperm (conception), but may also be able to prevent the zygote (fertilized ovum) from implantation. Does