Jesus promised, as recorded in the last chapter of Matthew, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.”
As we look out of the parsonage windows to the traffic on Broadway, we are struck at the look of Slayton as being close to a ghost town. Where, a month ago, there were few parking spots in front of the stores, and there was a lot of traffic going in and out of Pizza Ranch, today there is little activity.
This is a perfect opportunity, while we are at home trying to avoid any sort of social contact, to catch up on our reading and studies. Electronic books and the Kindle (trademark of Amazon) reader or application put almost an infinity of reading materials at your finger tips.
There are several new authors making themselves known in the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. May I call your attention to Pastor Jonathan Fisk, the senior pastor at Saint Paul Lutheran Church, Rockford, Illinois. Also, Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller, the pastor at Saint Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, Texas. Both are exceedingly good authors who approach confessional and historical Lutheranism in a clear and understandable style. We can’t forget to mention our Synodical President, Rev. Matt Harrison, who has translated and authored a large number of excellent books.
Now is the time to go to Concordia Publishing House (https://www.cph.org/) or Amazon to find various books by these authors. In addition, Pastor Wolfmueller has republished a number of older Lutheran books which are available from LuLu (https://www.lulu.com).
Personally, I have been reviewing the We Confess anthology by Hermann Sasse, a twentieth-century Lutheran theologian. I’d read the three books in this anthology a while ago, and was glad I was able to replace the books after our fire in 2018. The Board of Elders and I are still reading The Blessings of Weekly Communion by Rev. Kenneth Wieting. Again, these books are readily available from either CPH or Amazon as electronic books.
Rather than bemoaning the lack of traffic on Broadway, I’m enjoying the chance to read and study. It is good to get back to the basics, which these authors have done so well. Let me encourage you to take advantage of these quiet days to explore the works of these authors.