Dear Friends in Christ, McKeesport, Pennsylvania was once famous for having the world's largest steel-tube rolling mills. They created a seamless tube there which was unparalleled. This is how the machine that produced the tube worked: a great serpent of molten metal comes slithering down into the machine, and it would be chopped off. Then the machine would grab it by its ends and begin to spin. By centrifugal force, that bar of molten metal would open from the inside out, forming a perfect tube of steel without seam and without blemish. A spectator to this process asked the men directing t ..read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, A friend e-mailed me this story. I thought you might like to read it also. The day is over, you are driving home. You tune in your radio. You hear a little blurb about a little village in India where some villagers have died suddenly, strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before. It's not influenza, but three or four fellows are dead, and it's kind of interesting, and they're sending some doctors over there to investigate it. You don't think much about it, but on Sunday, coming home from church, you hear another radio spot. Only they say it's not ..read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As I write this, we are at the beginning of a mini heat wave here in northeast Wisconsin. We don’t regularly or frequently get several days that are above 90 degrees, so when it happens, it gives us something to talk about. But if we add into the conversation the many days in a row that the southwestern states of our nation have experienced a heat wave lasting weeks, with high temperatures reaching over 120 degrees for days on end, then we might want to think not only in physical terms but also in spiritual terms of “What does this mean?” I say this in th ..read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The culture and the world can convince us and deceive us. I was listening to a podcast the other day that made me once again realize how things in the world do not change. We are constantly in a battle against the gods of this world just as the Israelites in the wilderness, or the Israelites who were living in Jerusalem. They would turn from the true Triune God and worship the gods of the world. They would forget what God called them to do and would neglect their worship life. The same happens to us today. Our world beckons us to worship and sacrifice to ..read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, We have now entered the month of June and many, many people are feeling a lot more comfortable with the idea that the pandemic is in the rearview mirror and are also a lot more comfortable with the idea of getting out of town for some vacation traveling. Jesus Himself would take the disciples in to remote places to find some time to rest and devote some time to commune with God in prayer. So as I strongly encourage everyone to take that time for rest and for prayer, don’t take the time for vacation travel and recreation while leaving your relationship wit ..read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I don’t know about you, but the growing violence and immorality in our nation, and around the world has me feeling burdened in my heart quite a lot recently. I had a conversation with my aunt over the phone on this past Monday night who was expressing the exact same feeling. And then when I arrived in the office on Tuesday morning, the exact same feeling was expressed by Chuck Nehring and Cathy Hartman. Seeing it and hearing it from others in the congregation also has me thinking about one Scripture passage in particular.  Paul writes in Romans 8:31 ..read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, General Anthony C. McAuliffe, hero of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, out numbered four to one, had been ordered to hold the Belgian road hub of Bastogne against the bitter Nazi counteroffensive in the bitterly cold winter of 1944, and he did. He and his 10,000 men faced the German panzers with food running short, medicine and ammunition almost exhausted. When a German officer arrived with a surrender ultimatum, McAuliffe quickly scrawled, “To the German Commander – Nuts!” The Americans hung on for five brutal days until the siege was finally bro ..read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, During the month of February, there are three things that our nation takes the time to recognize and remember. The whole month of February is designated as Black History Month, honoring notable people of color for the contributions made in American History. We also take the time to recognize the birthdays of two of our nation’s presidents: President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln, honoring these two men for their contributions to American History. And finally, we recognize Valentine’s Day, which many people view as a celebration of love. I ..read more

Dear Redeemer Family, The New Year of 2023 is upon us. Are you thinking about making any changes in your life, promises in the form of resolutions or in the form of pledges to improve? We may have a list of all kinds of things that we would like to do or do better. For many of us, these promises or resolutions will be mostly of a physical nature. But are you making any pledges, promises or resolutions of a more spiritual nature? Maybe something like attending in person worship services more often, start attending a weekly Bible Study, being more faithful in reading or listening to a daily d ..read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I’d like you to think about how you start your day: You get out of bed, put on a fresh set of clothes, and then you walk out the door to work, or to wherever you are going, to begin your day. Did I leave anything out? Yes! I didn’t include any washing or cleaning up before you put on that fresh set of clothes and I didn’t include a breakfast, or brushing your teeth, or fixing your hair before you stepped out of the door. You may have fresh clothes on for appearances sake, but the rest of you is kind of a mess! There are a lot of people who approach CHRIST ..read more