Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month
In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month which is celebrated in the United States September 15- October 15, we share this message from the Associate of Latino Ministries of the ELCA. Credit: This image is from the October 10, 2024 Living Lutheran Magazine online post entitled “Thoughts for Thursday during National Hispanic Heritage Month” which can be found here. For more information on the Association of Latino Ministries of the ELCA: AML de la ELCA For more on the Latino Community of the ELCA: Latino For more on Hispanic Heritage Month from Living Lutheran, check out these recent articles: 2025,…
Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month
In celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month which is celebrated in the United States September 15- October 15, we share this message from the Associate of Latino Ministries of the ELCA. Credit: This image is from the October 10, 2024 Living Lutheran Magazine online post entitled “Thoughts for Thursday during National Hispanic Heritage Month” which can be found here. For more information on the Association of Latino Ministries of the ELCA: AML de la ELCA For more on the Latino Community of the ELCA: Latino For more on Hispanic Heritage Month from Living Lutheran, check out these recent articles: 2025,…
Life is Worth Living Before God in Christ: Against Suicide and Self-Destruction
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. –Ecclesiastes 3:14 The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. –I Samuel 2:6 Judas Iscariot Three decades ago now (to the year) I started struggling heavily with anxiety, depression, and spiritual warfare that was beyond me. It was this that the Lord used in my life to draw me to Him in very serious and sober ways. This struggle, in a very intense way (on a…
October 26, 2025 – Approaching God: Who is Worthy
Prepare In Jesus’ day, the Jewish people lived under Roman rule. Even though Jews were allowed to worship Jehovah, the true God, life under an occupying empire often brought tension and resentment. Some Jews worked for the Roman administration, collecting taxes or overseeing trade. These tax collectors, often seen as collaborators who took more than what was due, were widely disliked and regarded by many as sinners or outsiders within their own community. At the other end of the spectrum were the Pharisees – Jewish leaders who devoted themselves on obeying not only the ten commandments, but also many ceremonial…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For an end to war and conflict, and for places of political unrest or contention, especially Gaza,…
On Mormonism as a Gnostic-Arianism and its Theosis
More engagement with a Mormon (a different one this time). On Mormonism as a Form of Gnostic Arianism No, it’s because the Mormon Jesus is equivocal with the Christian Jesus. In other words, the Mormon Jesus is not understood to be the second person of the Trinity (along with the Father and Holy Spirit), i.e., not ℎ𝑜𝑚𝑜𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑠 (of the same exact being) with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Mormon Jesus, at best, is a philosophical demiurge deployed by the Father (who alone is God) to point the LDS to their inherent need to be freed from the physical…
Hunger Advocacy Fellows Join Faith-based Advocacy Voices
By Zachary Olson, ELCA Hunger Advocacy Fellow ELCA Advocacy is excited to introduce the six new leaders in the 2025-2026 Hunger Advocacy Fellows cohort. These new Fellows bring a variety of skills, experiences and insights into their work for the upcoming year. This year-long fellowship combines professional development and faith formation as the Fellows tackle public policy issues on the state and national level. We look forward to the year ahead and our work to help create a more just world. Garber, Daniella (Pennsylvania) Daniella Garber is the new Hunger Advocacy Fellow with the Lutheran Advocacy Ministry of Pennsylvania…
October 19, 2025 – Songs for the Climb
Prepare This well-known psalm is a song about the pilgrimage to Jerusalem the Israelites would have taken multiple times per year. I would caution leaders (including myself) against assuming that our youth/young adults know this psalm. Depending on the rhythms and practices of your congregation, they might. But, in my experience with youth/young adults, Psalm 121 is more of a “that sounds familiar” kind of recognition, not something they are able to recite all the way through. Nevertheless, this psalm is intended to carry one through a long and difficult journey, making it very helpful for any of us to…
Matthew Henry’s Perspective on Thirdwayism: Contra Secularism’s In-Breaking into the Churches
The evangelical churches in North America, in particular, and in the West, in general, have largely been secularized. To say something has been secularized has broad affect. But primarily, I am wanting to emphasize how pagan Enlightenment categories have been uncritically swallowed by the churches. Whether that be to affirm climate change (as “creation care” or ecotheology), softness on Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Queer-Intersex (i.e., “gay Christians”) issues, critical theory and critical race theory, Liberation theology, and a whole host of other antisupranaturalistic Enlightenment categories and ideologies, the evangelical churches, by and large, have allowed themselves to be defined by. And if the culture,…
For what shall we pray?
“For what shall we pray?” is a weekly post inviting individuals, groups, and congregations to lift up our world in prayer. This resource is prepared by a variety of leaders in the ELCA and includes prayer prompts, upcoming events and observances, and prayer suggestions from existing denominational worship materials. You are encouraged to use these resources as a starting point, and to adapt and add other concerns from your local context. More information about this resource can be found here. Prayer prompts: For an end to war and conflict, and for places of political unrest or contention, especially Gaza,…