Here We Stand Student Site

The end of a school year means saying goodbye. This is a good thing for some people that are ready for a break. Others are sad to bid farewell to the teachers, friends, and school building where they have spent so much...

"What does that bread taste like?" My five-year-old son was curious about what the communion wafer tasted like. He was so curious, in fact, that he felt the need to whisper-shout his question at me as we walked back to...

Water is everywhere. Most of the earth and most of our bodies are water. Water gives life to plants and animals. Water also brings death to victims of floods. It is the most important element on the planet. When I was...

I remember his leathery skin and thick glasses. The suit he wore was dated; perhaps the only one he owned. He had the appearance of farmer who was more at home beneath the udder of a cow than in a church pulpit. Yet here was...

My grandfather was a rugged German farmer. He lived in the house his parents built when they moved to the United States. Two things were certain to him: the land and God. Like many farmers, my grandfather had to adapt to...

"Our similarities bring us together, our differences keep us together." This was the opening statement offered on the first day of my first college class. The professor wanted us to say whether we agreed or disagreed...

Have you ever been a part of something so amazing and life-changing that, once it was over, you were bummed out for a while? Perhaps it was a trip you took with your friends, family, school, or church. Maybe it was a...

Do you ever find it difficult to come up with the "right" words to pray? Of course we know that their isn't necessarily a right or wrong way to talk to God, but sometimes I can't find the words to say what's on my heart...

This past Saturday was our church's annual seventh-grade retreat. It's a pretty simple routine—drive to a nearby camp, enjoy the outdoors, do a few class sessions, go canoeing, pray a bunch, and head home in time for...

The world is changing before my eyes. Browns and grays give way to a rainbow of color unfolding outside my window. The sky is crystal blue; the grass is a deep green. Yellow daffodils, pink apple blossoms, and purple...

Isaac had a lot of questions. "Why do we have to go to church so much this week?" Whether he liked it or not, the little four-year old was attending five worship services in eight days. It was Holy Week, and there were a...

One of my most significant childhood memories involves carrying a cross through the downtown of a city on Good Friday. No, I'm not Jesus. The Way of the Cross was a time for people to experience sharing the burden of...

Have you ever watched the ball drop in Times Square on New Year's Eve? As a kid, I wondered what having a huge time ball drop in the middle of a huge city had to do with celebrating a new year. Apparently, over 100 years...

It snowed at my house on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. To be honest, I wasn't quite ready for it. Two days earlier, I was outside mowing the lawn, raking leaves, and shooting hoops in the driveway. It was a perfect autumn...

Eighteen months is a long time. A child can go from sitting up to walking and talking in that amount of time. Eighteen months spans two school years. The average person will grow nearly two FEET of hair on their head over...

My family lives in a city, so when we spent a day out in the country picking apples and making apple juice, we found ourselves in a new situation. The five of us were in charge of harvesting apples from three trees. We...

As a child I heard my parents listening to a song called "You've Got a Friend" by folk singer/songwriter James Taylor. The lyrics discuss a person who promises to always be supportive of their friend, no matter what the...

I spent some time at a church camp on a lake a few weeks ago. The weather was perfect—warm enough to swim in the afternoon, and cool enough for a campfire at night. One afternoon I took my children out on a paddleboat....

I was 16 when Katelyn moved away. Her dad had some fancy job offer in California somewhere, but all I knew is that my best friend was leaving. Katelyn was my neighbor… we grew up together. We took baths together when we were...

"I win, I win! You lost AGAIN! I'm so good at this game.… I don't know why you even bother playing against me!" I've said those things countless times to my brother after we've finished a video game. We've been playing video...

Have you ever heard a hungry baby cry? They're not old enough yet to say, "Hey! I'm hungry for some milk!" so they just scream as loud as they can. "Waaaaaaaaaaaa!!" Babies don't know any better; it's wired into their...

Sometimes when I read the Bible, I come across certain phrases that just don't seem to make much sense. I mean, what on earth does Jesus mean when he says, "I will make you fishers of men" or "I am the bread of life"? Is he...

Have you ever been sitting in confirmation and thought that sometimes it's really hard to be a Christian? Some of the things that Jesus says are a little hard to swallow. For example, during Jesus' famous sermon on the...

It's Holy Week, which means lots and lots of worship services at your church. Many congregations have worship on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil, and (of course) Easter Sunday. The week begins with...

Living in Iowa, I'm ready for a change of seasons. It's been a tough winter and the ground has been covered in snow for too long. Last week it was 65 degrees at noon … and there was 4 inches of new snow on the ground by...

Have you ever watched a football game and seen someone holding up a "John 3:16" sign? The person usually has pretty good seats, right behind the goalposts, about 10 rows up. Holding up the "John 3:16" sign reminds everyone...

Everyone loves birthdays. You get presents, cake, and a day dedicated all to you. Unfortunately for me, I was born just a few days before Christmas. As it turns out, Jesus’ birthday tends to overshadow my own. It took a lot...

What kind of image do you get when you think about a king? If you were like the people of Jesus' time, you probably thought about King David. (You can read all about him in 1 & 2 Samuel.) For many people, David...

The Old Testament can sometimes seem like violent group of stories. But if you look closely, you can find lots of peaceful images as well. Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3, for example, tells of people taking metal from swords...

You can hardly go five minutes without someone trying to sell romantic love one way or another. Most of the songs on the radio are about first love, broken love, or even just plain lust. Lots of movies make love as at least...

Maybe you've heard the story of Jesus walking on water from Matthew 14:25-33. It's a pretty amazing example of Jesus' power, as he comes walking across water to his disciples. Peter, who often made bold statements that he...

Have you ever read a Bible story and wondered, "Why doesn't God do that now?" In Acts 20:7-12 there's a story of a pretty terrible accident. While the apostle Paul was preaching well into the night, one young man fell...

Have you ever been really, really mad at God? I know I have. There are some things that happen in this world, whether huge tragedies or selfish desires, that don't happen the way I want them to. In fact, there are some...

We have opportunities every day to share our faith with others. Online social sites like MySpace and Facebook allow you the chance to define and express your religious faith. Maybe you choose to leave it blank …...

In Westminster Abbey, a nearly thousand-year-old church in London, Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I are buried in the same tomb. They were half-sisters, daughters of Henry VIII by different mothers. Mary, who became...

Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:34 scare me more than just a little bit: "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." I grew up with images of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, gentle and kind. I pictured Jesus surrounded by...

Ask most people to tell you what they know about Mary Magdalene, and most people will quickly mention she was a prostitute. It's pretty interesting, considering there's not a single Bible passage that tells us that.&...

One of the more memorable times in my life was the year I lived through three floods. The sheer destructive force of water amazed me. It lifted homes off their foundations, ours included. It washed away...

Torre Argentina, Roman Cat Sanctuary Only in Rome would stray cats find a home in the midst of an ancient ruin. Since the ancient temple is totally enclosed, the cats are given free reign in a safe, secure space. It's...

I have been blessed by the gift of music. I grew up in a musical family and was surrounded by musical friends. Musical pursuits were the highlights of my life. For years, I took my gift for granted. ...

The closing chapter of the book of Exodus (chaprter 40) reads like a manual for the altar guild for your church! Concerned with the treatment and arrangement of the tabernacle with all of the oils and lamps inside,...

In Luke 13:31-35, Jesus talks about his feelings about the city of Jerusalem and his desire to care for its people. Now I haven’t spent much time on a farm, but I can still picture this image of the mother hen...

When you go out to dinner with friends or family and the food is put out on the table, how often is a meal blessing part of your time together? Especially when we’re out in public, many find themselves in a bind about...

When I was growing up, I had a friend named Scott whose mom was sick with cancer. She struggled through chemotherapy and all of the medications to help her get better. Yet just two years after beating cancer the...

In television, movies, and cartoons we often see the dilemma of a person's conscience. The little angel sit on one side of the character's shoulder and offers a positive way out of a situation. On the other...

Jesus' Sermon on the Mount begins with a section called the beatitudes. The first one states, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). "Poor in spirit" doesn't mean "...

Nelson Mandela once said, "We are born to make manifest the glory with in us, It's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same." Jesus said something...

How many court-related shows are on television? I can name a few, Judge Judy, Judge Hatchett, Divorce Court, Law and Order, and Shark. It seems that our society likes to see justice come to people. In many...

Could God speak to us through a fortune cookie? I was having a rough week. My car was acting up, my house was a mess, I was swamped at work, but had to be at a conference all day, and on top of it I had a 20...

I heard the term "God-incidence" today. I was talking to my friend and she used it to describe a coincidence that she had experienced. One morning, she had been thinking about an old friend she hadn¹t talked to in years....

Recently, I attended a peer ministry class. One of the class assignments was to reach out to someone in need in the theme of the Bible story of the good Samaritan: when you appeared to be the least likely person to help....

"God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good." —Genesis 1:31 Yesterday, I was at my favorite breakfast place ready to place an order for a bagel and coffee when someone next to me got...

Have you ever worked with someone who got on your nerves? I am in a small group at school and there is one woman in my group who drives me crazy. She likes to control the group and never listens to other opinions. She puts...

I recently attended a lecture series where the speaker encouraged everyone to "find their brilliance." After we find this "brilliance," we are to name it, then claim it as our own by sharing what we think it is with another...

A few weekends ago, our youth group visited a place called "Pump it Up." It's full of bouncy houses, giant inflatable slides, jousting and boxing arenas, and this fantastic obstacle course. On the obstacle course we...

I traveled to New Orleans with a group of college students last August. It had been a year since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast area. I was shocked with what I saw. Over a year had passed, but it...

I was on a trip when our group got hopelessly lost in Kentucky. The bridge we had intended to cross was closed and we couldn't scout one out by driving in circles on our own. We decided to stop at a restaurant to...

"The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it" (Psalm 24:1). It was the first mission trip that Faith Lutheran Church youth had attended. These suburban, middle class...

Everyone has rough days. This wasn't the worst day I've ever had, but it seemed to be a mess of one bad thing after another. I woke up late because I hit my alarm too many times. I had to get gas while late to...

I just finished making some cinnamon rolls for a meeting I'm hosting tomorrow morning. After mixing together flour, sugar, butter eggs, milk, water, and baking powder, I added the final ingredient for the dough ......

Yesterday I visited a mother and father in the hospital. They had just found out two days before that their baby needed heart surgery. I visited them while the surgeons were operating on their little baby. ...

This morning a friend told me a story. She walked into a room the other day and saw that her young daughter had managed to climb up a few steps (for the first time). As soon as the daughter turned and saw Mommy...

At seminary, I had a professor whose catch phrase was "WIGIAT." This strange word stood for "Where Is God In All This?" He encouraged his students to constantly look for signs of God's presence in their daily...

Where I live, there have been quite a few snowstorms recently. In the past weeks, there have been thousands of traffic accidents, several deaths, and many hundreds of thousands of people stuck without power because of...

I was wondering the other day, what is the purpose of tour guides? I have come to the conclusion that tour guides help people see what they would otherwise miss. I was also thinking that I saw a tour guide last week on a...

Peter, a disciple of Jesus, had a number of experiences where he felt like a failure. Jesus called him to walk on water, but Peter sank. Jesus got arrested and Peter tried to protect Jesus by cutting off someone's ear, but...

After Jesus' resurrection, he hung out with his disciples on a beach for awhile (John 21). Jesus had a special conversation with Peter and gave him an incredible calling. Instead of being grateful for this, Peter asked, "But...

Imagine a steaming cup of water on your kitchen table with a tea bag lying next to it. Then imagine someone picks up the the tea bag and puts it into the water. The tea bag makes contact with the water and color starts...

I don't know about you, but when I'm asked, "What are you passionate about?" I usually don't answer, "I am so pumped about following rules!" Rules, laws, and regulations can feel so restraining, boring, and lifeless. And...

When I was a kid, we went on youth retreats and usually played this card game called "I Doubt It." You'd play however many cards you had of the number one higher than the card on the discard pile. Or you could bluff -...

What cartoon do you watch these days? Every generation seems to have new cartoon heroes and jokers. In my day, Scooby Doo and Spiderman were big - although I confess I was a big fan of Archie. Back in olden times, Popeye was...

Almost all of us have sung the song Kumbayah around a blazing campfire, or at least suffered through adult advisors warbling it at the end of a youth group meeting. It is a somewhat over-sung song that has become cliché for...

I love you. English is a funny language. In English, you can say, "I love Pizza," and "I love Jeff," but in each of these examples, love means something totally different. You're not going to kiss the pizza, you're going...

I spent three wonderful summers working as a camp counselor at a Lutheran resident camp in Ohio. In my summers at camp, I accumulated so many fond memories that I came up with a title for them: Camp Treasures. My fondest...

Children are God's blessings. While you may doubt my words (especially when little brothers, sisters, cousins, and neighbors get on your nerves), you simply can't deny that little children have a fascination with life that...

A few weeks ago, while I was teaching High School Sunday Forum at my local church, we began a conversation about virgin birth and the sort of validity it has for our world and for our faith in Jesus Christ. Needless to say,...

It is 7:45 p.m. as I am writing this devotional. It should be 5 p.m.—at least that was the time I had scheduled to write. The reason for my delay was an unanticipated and lengthy conversation with a friend and an unforeseen...

This week I was re-reading the annunciation passage in the Gospel of St. Luke (1:26-38). The annunciation is the message or announcement given to Mary from the angel Gabriel regarding the coming of God through the birth of a...

This week I was taking photographs of forests. On my trek through the woods, I found myself connected to God's greatness and felt awestruck by the works of God's hands. The trees climbed to the sky with birds singing and...

We've all seen or heard them: the tabloid television shows that dish the latest gossip about famous people; the magazines that give the latest "news" of the rich and famous; the radio DJs who tell you all the juiciest...

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6 Let's face it. I think I'm smarter than God. Sure,...

I was standing on the Oregon coast watching waves crash on the beach, and it finally occurred to me why we might use water for baptisms. Of course, baptisms were always performed with water, including when John the Baptist...

I love walking into big churches! When I travel to different cities, one of my favorite things is finding the largest churches and cathedrals. I wander around and find hidden treasures in the sculpture, stained...

I can still remember sitting in the waiting room at the hospital. I was 13 years old and I was just told that my grandfather was going to die. After a surgery intended to save his heart, he wasn't strong enough to recover....

What am I supposed to do with me life? Sometimes I just wish that God would send me a letter explaining it all! Or, write it in the sky with clouds. Or, write it on a brick and drop it in front of me … One...

"Stargazing" is one of my favorite activities. When I'm outside at night, my eyes are usually drawn upward and I can spend hours looking at the twinkling stars and waiting for the illusive "shooting star." As I...

Of all the things that get me down, money is at the top of the list. I've spent hours worrying whether I can stretch my income to meet all my obligations. An unexpected bill can drive me into the doldrums for days. It's a...

My sister and I looked at the cup of dirt with concern. "What's it supposed to be again?" I asked, scratching my head. "Jesus," she sighed. "It's supposed to be Jesus coming out of the tomb." My four-year-old niece got the...

This summer, we celebrated my grandfather's birthday at his cabin on the Wapsipinicon River. The timber surrounding our patch of river rises out of the Iowa cornfields like an ivy-strewn wall protecting a secret garden. For...

Matt was bummed. His family had just moved and he left all of his friends behind. School had started and he thought things would be alright there, but he was nervous about fitting in at his new church.His old church had...

Abby was so busy sorting clothes that had recently been donated to the church's thrift shop that she didn't even hear the woman ask. "Could I see that dress?" the woman asked a second time. Abby handed her the dress and she...

"Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me" (Psalm 66:16 NRSV). The Hebrew Bible (also known as the Old Testament) overflows with testimony about what God has done in the lives of God's...

Rachel was serving a meal with three of her friends at a small soup kitchen. She was the "unlucky" one who had to be a greeter while her friends served the food. Rachel didn't quite know what to say to these people.Rachel...

Graham was on top of the world! He was on retreat with his confirmation class and had been talking about Martin Luther's Small Catechism and what is meant for them. Though it was written several hundred years ago in another...

Jake was hanging out with a bunch of his friends from youth group, listening to the stories of how people in his church became who they are. There was his youth pastor, the council treasurer, the music minister, and one of...

The summer I worked at the nursing home visiting with residents was difficult. They were old, wheelchair bound or bedridden, with various ailments that cut back on their ability to move about and live life. It was tough to...

When I was a camp counselor one of my duties was to round up the kids who failed to report to "instructional swim." On cold mornings in late summer, there were always a few who hid out, trying to avoid an icy plunge into...

"Forgiveness is God's command." —Martin Luther Elena and Jenny were best friends throughout middle school. They were seen together almost daily at lunch, in the halls, and after school. They played the same sports on the...