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Peter is an Example for Us

May 02
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Mark 14:26–31

26 When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27 And Jesus said to them, “You will all become deserters; for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’  28 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” 29 Peter said to him, “Even though all become deserters, I will not.” 30 Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But he said vehemently, “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And all of them said the same.

This will be Confirmation Sunday at Trondhjem.  A dozen of our young people will confirm their faith in Jesus Christ and will make promises to be loyal to Jesus and to God’s ways.  Like Peter, and like all the rest of us, at some time in their life they will likely not be as faithful as they intended on their confirmation day.  At some time in their life they are likely to have doubts. (more…)

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It Is About Being Bold

Apr 13
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Acts 4:31

31 When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

It was back in 1988 when the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was born from three other Lutheran groups.  The first leader of this larger national group was Pastor Herb Chilstrom.  He was from Minnesota.  He suggested to us pastors to do three things as the new church was formed.  He asked us to read, and re-read regularly, Luther’s Small Catechism.  He told us to have a picture of the Earth as taken from space so that we would keep in mind our human calling to care for the Earth.  He invited us to read the book of the Acts of the Apostles and to appreciate the boldness of those early followers of Jesus.  This Acts 4:31 passage made me think again of Bishop Chilstrom’s advice.  You can see in my office a framed piece of artwork that reminds me of his advice on a daily basis. (more…)

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Blessing and Discipleship

May 17
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Hebrews 13:20–21

20 Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen

These two verses are almost the very end of the letter to the Hebrews.  They are described in my Bible as a benediction, which means blessing.  In this blessing there is a declaration about what God has done in the Lord Jesus.  Then it continues on with these words: “make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight.”  The blessing says nothing about how we will prosper and get rich.  It says nothing about how our lives will be free of challenges.  The blessing speaks about “everything good, doing God’s will, and what is pleasing to God.” (more…)

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Religious Experience and the Life of Discipleship

May 11
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

John 21:1–3

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

This reading sets the stage for another appearance of Jesus to his disciples.  They have returned from Jerusalem to their home area of Galilee.  They have not begun any missionary work.  Seven disciples gathered together, possibly wondering what they are to do.  Simon Peter says, “I am going fishing.”  He is going to do what is familiar to him.  I don’t think he is giving up on discipleship and sharing what he has experienced.  It is possible that in the boat at night he was going to have time to think about what Jesus’s death and resurrection meant and what the appearances of Jesus meant.  The others went fishing with Simon Peter, and they caught nothing.  Then Jesus appeared again to them. (more…)

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Lazarus Was A Threat Too

Apr 18
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

John 12:1–11

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2 There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. 3 Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, 5 Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor? 6 (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” 9 When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

This is the gospel reading for Monday of Holy Week.  It included a surprise for me.  While I know I have read vv. 9-11, I don’t remember them.  The idea that the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well.  Jesus had raised Lazarus from death to live again.  He was a living piece of evidence to the power of Jesus, and the chief priests wanted to get rid of him, too. (more…)

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Cathedral of the Heart

Dec 16
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

2 Samuel 7:1–7

Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” 3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you.” 4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: 5 Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”

There is a cathedral in Trondheim, Norway, the region of those Norwegian immigrants who founded Trondhjem Lutheran Church.  It is a large “Romanesque” and “gothic” building.  When the immigrants arrived in our area of Minnesota, they built a simple church, akin to the many other Norwegian and Swedish churches that were being built in America.  Church was very important to them, but the church they built was not grandiose. (more…)

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Worship God!

Nov 23
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Revelation 22:8–9

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me; 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”

These verses are from the last chapter of the last book in our Christian bibles.  What a two word sentence:  “Worship God!”  Martin Luther in his Small Catechism writes, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above anything else.”  Do we?  Do I? (more…)

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Jesus’ Authority

Nov 05
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Luke 20:1–2

1 One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders 2 and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?”

I know what we Christians believe is the answer to the question of the chief priests and the scribes.  Jesus’ authority comes from God.  It was his Father in heaven who gave him the authority for his teaching and his ministry.  He was not functioning on his own. (more…)

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Responding to Jesus

Oct 27
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Matthew 21:28–32

What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went.  The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go.  Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Jesus is here speaking to the chief priests and the elders at the temple.  He is really calling them to repentance.  So far, they have not believed in the message of John the Baptist, and they have not believed in the message of Jesus. (more…)

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Known and Unknown God

Oct 14
Posted by Pastor Howard White in Devotionals

Acts 17:22–25

22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.

The Greeks, it appears, were trying to “cover all their bases.”  There were the gods they knew, e.g. Zeus, Apollo, and Athena, etc.  But they were also willing to worship whatever unknown god there was impacting their lives.  St. Paul used that as a place to start in his witnessing about Jesus. (more…)

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