The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. So they guy who had the demons driven...

I don’t know how it worked out this way, but I always seemed to get “stuck” at the dinner table with my uncles and father. It was summer, and we were gathered together at a cottage in Cooperstown, NY. The cottage had been bought by my great grandfather in 1906 and our families...

Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not...

I’ve long thought that if we don’t reclaim a vibrant sense that all Christians are called to serve God by making a difference in the world wherever they are – theologians call this the doctrine of “vocation” – the Church doesn’t have much of a future. One of the great challenges...

Recently I was at a pastor’s conference that fell shortly after annual parochial reports were due. If you don’t know what “parochial reports” are, take a moment to give thanks. In short, they’re the tally sheets by which my denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,...