Living Word Lutheran Church - Graham, WA

08/30/2026

This INSPIRATIONAL WORD was first published in March of 2022, inspired by then current events. Unfortunately, the situation (and the need for prayer) still exists more than four years later.

"Praying for Putin"

Well, it’s happening again. A powerful tyrant has decided he has the right to take what he wants by force, and so he’s raining death and destruction down on his neighbors. We hear casualty reports. We see bombed-out buildings and long convoys of miserable refugees. The international community has condemned the Russian invasion. Humanitarian aid is being sent. But most of us can do little to help except to pray for the Ukrainian people and for a just resolution to the conflict. And that we must do! But are you also praying for Putin?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Jesus, Matthew 5:43-45)

This is not an isolated verse. There are plenty more places in the Bible that tell us to love, pray for, and forgive those who mistreat us, to turn the other cheek (e.g. Luke 6:29, 1 Peter 3:9, Romans 12:14-19, Proverbs 25:21-22). So, yes, I’ve been praying for Putin. At first, I prayed that he would see the light, repent, and not invade; that God would compel him to act according to His will. Then when people started dying, the tone of my prayers changed. I began praying that God would strike down that evil, arrogant man so he could do no more harm!

Hmm. Seems I had strayed from Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 5. I was praying, yes, but I certainly wasn’t loving my enemy. I didn’t want his good; I wanted his destruction.

Notice the reason Jesus gives for loving our enemies. “…in order that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” In other words, as God’s children, we are to be like Him. And our Heavenly Father loves all people, even Vladimir Putin. We are called to do the same. Not an easy assignment. But it did help me to think of how God was able to transform the man Saul – zealous persecutor of the early Church – into the powerfully effective apostle Paul (Acts 9:1-22). Perhaps the persecuted prayed for Saul’s destruction, but God had a much higher purpose in mind.

Is Putin another Paul? Probably not, but we don’t know God’s plan. Our job is just to keep praying – for the Ukrainian people and for Putin. I still pray that God will strike him down, by the way. May he not fall dead but, like Saul, be driven to his knees before the Lord Jesus Christ.

08/26/2026

08/24/2026

Think about it.

08/17/2026

Today's INSPIRATIONAL WORD for your consideration (an encore presentation of an article originally published in February of 2022)

“Be Still”

I watch a lot of football, and a few years ago I got to go to a live Seahawks game. I don’t even remember now who won. All I remember is the deafening noise – crowd noise but also the relentless blast of the earsplitting PA system. I could barely hear myself think, let alone the voice of the person next to me, and I spent the whole game plugging my ears. An extreme example, but we’re surrounded by noise, aren’t we? – literal and figurative noise, some unavoidable and some we invite by constantly connecting to our various media devices, loud messages bombarding our brains and making it difficult to think straight. Making it difficult to hear God.

“Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalms 46:10)

This Psalm speaks of great turmoil: mountains quaking, waters roaring, wars raging. Then, in the midst of it all, God tells us to “be still.” But what does that mean? It’s a call to stop struggling in our own strength, to cease our frantic activity and striving, to stand still and be quiet in God’s presence, to pay attention to Him over the noisy chaos around us, to rest in Him. I think of the old hymn…

This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears, all nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres. This is my Father’s world; I rest me in the thought, of rocks and trees, of skies and seas. His hands the wonders wrought. This is my Father’s world; the birds their carols raise. The morning light, the lily white declare their Maker’s praise. This is my Father’s world. He shines in all that’s fair. In the rustling grass I hear him pass. He speaks to me everywhere.

I love the imagery! Should we expect to hear from God or about Him through our blaring media sources? Unfortunately, no. And if we’re being too loud and busy ourselves, we’ll never perceive Him passing in the rustling grass; we won’t hear Him speaking to us everywhere. But if we have listening ears, we will hear God’s praises sung by His whole creation. If we take the time to look quietly into His Holy Word, the Bible, we will definitely hear His voice.

So don’t plug your ears; turn down the noise! Take time and space to be quiet before the Lord and listen carefully for His whispered words. Remember, God didn’t speak to Elijah in the powerful wind, the earthquake, or the fire; He spoke to him in a still, small voice (2 Kings 19:12). Be still, and know that the Lord is God.

08/02/2026

Here's today's INSPIRATIONAL WORD for your consideration. Does it speak to you?

"Church Shopping"

I asked some friends why they were leaving their church. “Oh, it’s just not meeting our needs anymore.” I’ve heard this reasoning before (or the corollary: “We’re looking for a church that meets our needs”), but it distresses me because it implies that it’s all about us, that we are simply consumers shopping for the best spiritual deal – what will give us the most bang for our offering buck.

Shopping list: great youth program, feel-good music in my preferred style, charismatic pastor who gives inspiring sermons, and friendly folks that are a lot like me, all at a convenient location and time. Sound about right? And if one church fails to measure up, then there’s another one down the road.

But guess what. It’s not all about us; it’s about God. It’s about worshipping and serving Him wherever He calls us to do so. Sometimes that means being okay with not getting our way – giving up our own preferences out of love, for the sake of others and in service to the gospel. Jesus, who is our example in all things, modeled serving sacrificially.

…Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mt. 20:26-28)

To paraphrase a famous quote, “Ask not what your church can do for you but what you can do for your church.” So how about looking for a place where you can really give of yourself, one that may desperately need the gifts you have to offer. Or better yet, find a meaningful way to serve where you are. After all, God probably placed you in that church for a reason. If there’s no youth program, start one! Or contribute your efforts to the music team, if that’s your passion. Or maybe God has in mind stretching you a little by having you serve in a way you hadn’t planned or expected. If your church has problems (and all churches do), try being part of the solution rather than making the problems worse by bailing.

A church isn’t a social club; it’s a family, and we don’t go looking for a new family when our current one disappoints us. We stay and work out the problems. We stay because we love and care for each other (1 Cor. 13:4-8). We stay out of obedience to God and loyalty to others. We stay to serve and bring glory to God. He will richly bless us for it. So stop shopping and start investing, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Mt. 6:21)

07/19/2026

Here's a brand new INSPIRATIONAL WORD for your consideration today!

"Entertaining"

Do you like to entertain? You decide to have some friends over. You issue the invitations. Then you make preparations – food, drink, activities – to be sure your guests will feel welcome and have a good time, right? You want them to be comfortable, stay a while, and come back again soon. All good. But the friendly word “entertain” drew me up short when I recently noticed it used in a very different context.

[Jesus] said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!” Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat, and go home.” And the man got up and went home. (Matthew 9:2-7, emphasis added)

Jesus didn’t accuse these “teachers of the law” of simply having evil thoughts; He said they were entertaining them (or “harboring” in another translation). That means the evil thoughts didn’t suddenly barge their way into their minds out of nowhere, unwelcomed. No, they were invited and made to feel at home. By their own self-importance and their jealousy of Jesus, the teachers of the law had made preparations for these obnoxious guests. They had predisposed themselves to receive those evil ideas as friends, to believe them, to keep and nourish them in their minds (as one definition of “harbor” puts it).

We often consider our thoughts beyond our control, but that’s not entirely true. We can, by how we choose to occupy our minds and our time, invite some thoughts to come and others to stay away. When a thought shows up on our doorstep, we have the choice to welcome it in or take it as an enemy captive (2 Corinthians 10:5). We can keep and nourish it in our minds or starve it to death. Time to choose which you will entertain: the enemy’s evil lies as reflected in worldly thinking, or God’s peace, truth, and light.

Rejoice in the Lord always… Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. (Philippians 4:4-8)

07/05/2026

An encore presentation of an INSPIRATIONAL WORD first published a few years ago. Still true!

"God is the Ruler Yet"

“I can’t wait for this year to be over!” Remember? That was the collective cry when we neared the end of 2020. People were stressed out. We’d been hit by a pandemic, an associated economic crisis, a very contentious election season, social unrest, and rioting in the streets. Our expectation at the time was that 2021 had to be better. But here we are, well into 2022, and we’re still dealing with a lot of the same old issues plus a few new ones. Recently, when I was stressing about something particularly worrisome in the news, the words of an old hymn came to mind:

"This is my Father’s world; O let me ne’er forget, that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet… This is my Father’s world; why should my heart be sad? The Lord is King, let the heavens ring. God reigns, let the earth be glad."

We shouldn’t be surprised that bad stuff happens. In John 16:33, Jesus warned his disciples (which now includes us), “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” This is a familiar verse, but what caught my attention this time, was that Jesus said this before He went to the cross, dying for our sins and rising again. He saw his all-important work here on earth as already accomplished – evil, sin, and death overcome, beaten.

Unfortunately, we don’t usually view things through that eternal perspective. We tend to see only the current problems and pain, and not how they will be resolved God’s way in God’s timing. To our human eyes, “the wrong” may even appear to be winning, but only because we cannot yet fully grasp what was determined long ago: the ultimate victory belongs to God!

Even now, God reigns over the world and everything in it. That means that, ultimately, no earthly power controls your fate. Your health and family are not simply left subject to random chance or “luck.” God is the one who can move mountains and hold back the tide. He is the only one strong enough to be your refuge and strength in every kind of trouble (Psalm 46:1).

None of the events of 2020 (or any other year) took our heavenly Father by surprise. He knew that the pandemic was coming and how the election would turn out. He knows your personal struggles too – past, present, and future. Through every minute of every one of those days, God is with you, and He is in control. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, your eternity is safe in God’s hands. The Lord is King, let the heavens ring. God reigns, let the earth be glad!