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Pastor's Blog Created on Wednesday, 01 August 2018Read more...
Since its first edition on Sept. 1, 1923, St. John’s Messenger has kept people connected to St. John month after month. The newsletter has delivered words about upcoming and previous events. It has shared the names of those who were welcomed into the congregation, anno...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Tuesday, 26 June 2018Read more...
This month, your pastors wanted you to hear a different voice on the front page. These words were written earlier this year by our Presiding Bishop, Elizabeth Eaton: In 2017, we observed the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In 500 years, Lutheranism has grown into...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Friday, 25 May 2018Read more...
Have you ever wondered about your “digital footprint”? Th at’s wh at you dis cover if you google your own name. In seconds, you find text, images, or video somehow connected to you. Googling the name of a pastor is interesting because our names are often in print in co...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Tuesday, 24 April 2018Read more...
You’re probably thinking, “duh” because at this point, it’s the worst kept secret in Dickinson, but I figured I’d make it official by finally putting it in writing. Last summer, on my birthday, I proposed to my longtime girlfriend, Becca Simonds. For those of you who d...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Tuesday, 27 March 2018Read more...
“Imagination: Open Eyes...Burning Hearts...” is the theme for the Western North Dakota Synod Assembly on June 1-2 (see page 8 for details). At this assembly, it will be an honor for me to serve as chaplain, which includes leading prayers and participating in worship. (...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Friday, 23 February 2018Read more...
Last month, I was honored when my friend, Lisa, invited me to preach at her ordination. It was a fantastic experience as nearly all ordinations are. There is nothing quite like how the church celebrates when it welcomes a new pastor into the fold! In my sermon, I remin...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Friday, 26 January 2018Read more...
Moving to Dickinson 11 years ago meant leaving my doctor. I thought the world of Dr. Johnson, my doctor throughout my first pregnancy and birth and for the first few months of my second pregnancy until we moved. Not only would I miss my doctor in Coon Rapids, Minnesota...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Monday, 15 January 2018Read more...
This may seem like a strange title for a pastor’s front-page newsletter article. Of course Christ matters! You are reading a church newsletter after all! But many are wondering these days, “does Christ matter?” Christmas has ended. The decorations have come down. Our a...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Tuesday, 28 November 2017Read more...
The question that might concern a church if we worry about the 100+ lit and moving candles on the night of Christmas Eve. It is a concern of fire inspectors whose job is to identify fire risk. Clearly, so many candles held by every age in such close quarters is a risk!...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Tuesday, 28 November 2017Read more...
That’s what Lutherans are asking themselves all around the globe. Now that October 31st has come and gone and all our 500th anniversary of the Reformation celebrations are over, now what? It seems to me that we have three options. The first is to forget about it and mo...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Wednesday, 27 September 2017Read more...
As soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to reel them back in. My family was wa lking on a trai l at Schnell Recreation Area, enjoying a beautiful Sunday in September. Well…that is not entirely true. Most of us were enjoying the day. There might have been one young...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Tuesday, 22 August 2017Read more...
By the time you read this article, August 21st will have already come and gone, gifting humanity with t he m ost beloved phenomena our sky has to offer: a total solar eclipse! The moon wedged its way between our life-giving star and us. For those who stayed in Dickinso...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Monday, 24 July 2017Read more...
“Wow! This is the best chocolate milk I have ever tasted. It is so delicious! Would you share your recipe?” I was perhaps nine years old and thought I was pretty clever to add chocolate milk as a second beverage selection at my lemonade stand. My “recipe” consisted of ...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Wednesday, 28 June 2017Read more...
“For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” -Galatians 5:1 On a Fourth of July a few years back, Becca and I went backpacking. We didn’t have any exciting plans for the 4th, so we decided we would hike to a...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Wednesday, 31 May 2017Read more...
Summer vacation has arrived! At our house, that means a three-month break from before-school franticness. These routine questions can be packed up for the summer: “Did you do your homework?” “How did you forget to do your homework?” “Where are your winter gloves and ha...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Wednesday, 31 May 2017Read more...
Going down the mountain…. that’s the phrase that we used often when I worked at Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. We used the phrase literally in the sense that, eventually, everyone had to trek down from our perch at 9200 feet above sea level...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Monday, 27 March 2017Read more...
“Pastor Lisa, someone called and asked me to bring bars to the funeral. What are ‘bars’?” A few years ago, someone from the congregation who did not grow up in the Midwest called and asked me that question. She was glad to bring something, but what, exactly, are bars? ...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Friday, 24 February 2017Read more...
The season usually starts with a reading from Matthew 6:1 on Ash Wednesday, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.” How striking that millions will cover their heads in ashes a...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Monday, 30 January 2017Read more...
This is the month we hear all about love. Love is shared with flowers, chocolate, jewelry, fancy dinners, and so on. Love is beautiful and delicious on Feb. 14th. There are so many images of love to draw from, in addition to these beautiful and delicious ones. Love is ...
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Pastor's Blog Created on Wednesday, 28 December 2016Read more...
Five hundred years ago in the small town of Wittenberg, Germany, a man writes feverishly. Filled with equal parts anger, frustration, and hope, he writes until his hand is utterly cramped. He is angry because, as a priest, he cannot bear to watch his impoverished paris...
