I sit alone in my office after an emotional and heartbreaking conversation with a mother watching her daughter, in the midst of an identity crisis, make decisions that cannot be easily undone. And then, as if I am having deja vu, I am transported to a previous conversation with a father.

Grief is often described as “deep sorrow,” “sadness,” or “heaviness of heart.” For me, in this situation, I would define my grief as “deep sorrow over shattered or unmet expectations.”  It’s private and personal, yet at the same time, it needs to be known so it’s not in the dark. This grief needs light.

The vision of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren is to be a Disciple-making Church. One of our Church body’s four objectives, “Unleash New Leaders,” has been a focus for decades at our camp and retreat center in Minnesota, Inspiration Point.

My story of being involved in Lutheran Brethren Youth Ministries is only one note in the song that is the beautiful history—the awesome legacy—of the Lutheran Brethren’s investment and concern for the generations that would follow them.

March/April 2024 issue of Faith & Fellowship

Whether we already have a loving earthly family or we are waiting for one, we can all look forward to an eternal home with our God, who declares with absolute love and authority that we are his children, “not of natural descent… but born of God!”

Jerusalem is a reminder of God’s fearsome judgment and his unfailing grace to both the faithful Hebrews of the Old Testament and the Christians of the New Testament.

As the air ambulance landed on the tarmac in Paris, France, I was placed on a gurney and rushed to a major hospital in downtown Paris. The icy February air bit at my cheeks, so different from the balmy warm air of Bokoro, Chad, where I’d been just a few days earlier.

Gospel partnership is a vital part of the ministry at Triumph Lutheran Brethren Church (Moorhead, MN and West Fargo, ND). God has equipped Triumph to do many things in his kingdom, but we can’t do it all! Strategic partnerships are essential to extend our reach across the street and around the world.

We need the meat and potatoes that Scripture can offer. The deeper we dig into the Bible, the more we learn we don’t know it all. So, dig deep for great riches and even greater understanding.

What benefit is there to accreditation? And, why do we believe it is important for LBS to be accredited?

God is faithful and he hears and answers our prayers. We have prayed for a strong youth ministry here at Elim and God has greatly blessed us. God uses his people in so many ways to bring about his purposes.

In late 2023, LBIM was blessed to facilitate, for the first time ever, a global LBIM missionary retreat. Our missionary families from Chad, Japan, and Taiwan made their way to the Suan Bua resort outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand.

January/February 2024 issue of Faith & Fellowship

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of Christmas at my grandparents’ house. We lived about two hours north of them, so visiting them was always a treat, but Christmas was the highlight of the year. My grandparents’ home was like a magnet, pulling together our extended family to reconnect with one another and to celebrate the birth of the Christ child.

This past summer, I did something I had never done before: on two separate occasions, I set off on a 3-day, 2-night solo backpacking trip into the wilderness of a regional state park. More than once, friends asked me, “Are you sure you want to do this?

During the four hundred years of prophetic silence between the Old and New Testaments, generations of people like us were waiting and wondering and hoping for something. They believed there was more to life than what they saw around them. People were hurting, fighting, not loving, not trusting.

Do you trust God? Your initial response is probably, “Yes, of course I do.” But what about trusting God when you don’t understand what he’s doing? What about trusting God when he asks you to do something you fear? Do you trust God then?

I have been an Elder at Hope Community Church in Nanuet, New York since 1999. Currently, I serve as the Church Chairman. I reside in Stony Point, NY with my wife Linda, and we have three children: Collin (engaged to be married to Gianna in July 2024), Brendan (married  Katari in August 2023), and Olivia.

All five of my kids are coming home for Christmas this year; I can hardly contain my excitement! With one missionary family and two pastors in the mix, merging our Christmas schedules is challenging. It has been thirteen years since we were all together on Christmas. Admittedly, I inwardly sigh with contentment whenever I picture them all here!