Reflections

Daily Lectionary: Job 6:14-30; John 3:22-4:6

"He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. John baptized. The disciples baptized. Jesus baptized. It says so. Everyone gets a Baptism. Then someone started a fight over all that purification. At least we know that people's arguing over what Baptism is isn't a new thing. 

How old do you have to be? What if there's just a splash and not a dunk? Why not just run around town with a squirt gun yelling, "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"? Now the Pharisees are getting uppity and so maybe Jesus wasn't even baptizing? Except maybe He was? Or maybe it doesn't matter whose hand it was because it was always God's work. Hear John. He must increase, but I must decrease. That does a lot to explain what Baptism is. 

Baptism is not a work you do for God. It isn't an "I pledge allegiance to the Jesus." It's God's work for you. The question isn't whether or not Jesus actually baptized anyone. Jesus baptizes everyone. Sometimes He used John's hand. Sometimes Peter's. Maybe even sometimes His own, made flesh. But Baptism that bestows God's good Gifts always comes from the good Giver. 

A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given from heaven. So Baptism, given by the God from heaven, is for you to receive. You receive the forgiveness of sins, a new identity as God's child, and all of the life everlasting that comes with it. You decrease. Jesus increases in you. Old Adam drowns. New man emerges and arises to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. 

It changes the whole equation of salvation. "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" (John 3:36). Now, salvation isn't tied to your obedience but only to the belief which clings to God in the water. Works of the Law can't save you. They can only damn you. It doesn't say "whoever believes and obeys." There's no room left for obedience in this equation since Jesus already saved you. The obedience that comes from this, and it will come, is just Jesus' increasing and your decreasing. Which also means there's no real need to measure it. He said, "It is finished." You're baptized. Believe this, and know you have eternal life. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

In Baptism we now put on Christ--Our shame is fully covered With all that He once sacrificed And freely for us suffered. For here the flood of His own blood Now makes us holy, right, and good Before our heav'nly Father. ("All Christians Who Have Been Baptized" LSB 596, st.4)

-Rev. Harrison Goodman is content executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Small Catechism: First Commandment

Daily Lectionary: Job 6:1-13; John 3:1-21

You shall have no other gods. (Small Catechism: First Commandment)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. This commandment shouldn't actually be that hard. There's only one God. He's literally the only God there is. There was a piece of fruit on a tree and we made a god out of that. The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was not God. But we imagined it was so that we didn't need Him anymore. It didn't work, but we've never stopped trying to get rid of the real God who loves us so we can chase after the fake ones that don't. 

This commandment is at the root of every other sin. We do not fear, love, and trust in God above all things. If we did, we'd stop taking the good gifts He gives us and turning them into replacements for Him. 

This commandment might be at the root of our sinful desires, but the root of this commandment is that God actually wants to be God to you. He insists on being the God of sinners. He insists on giving you good gifts. He insists on calling you back to Him over and over. He tells us not to treat the things that can't save us as if they can. Don't trust in imaginary gods. Don't trust in creation as if it were the Creator. Don't trust in yourself to save yourself. None of that works. None of it needs to, though; He already has saved you. He bore the Cross to forgive your idolatry. He insists that you have no source of salvation other than Him. Trust only that. Love only Him.

From there, even the "fear" part becomes understandable. Fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Fear doesn't just mean healthy respect. We downplay it because it seems like it doesn't go along with love and trust. Fear means that you realize you can't control God. That's the First Commandment all over again. The desire to control God is the desire to be God. To fear God is to recognize that we can't control Him, but to love and trust in Him is to recognize that we don't need to. He wants to be God to you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O LORD God, dear Father in Heaven, You have given us the Law for our good, calling us to fear, love, and trust in You above all things. As we rejoice that You would insist on being God to us, help us to cast aside all idols and follow you alone, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. 

-Rev. Harrison Goodman is content executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: 2 Peter 1:16-21

Daily Lectionary: Job 5:1-27; John 2:13-25

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. (2 Peter 1:19)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Peter saw the uncontainable majesty of the transfigured Christ while a voice boomed from heaven, but calls us to trust in the Bible found in nearly every motel dresser. The Church has an authenticity problem. We want the experience on the mountain, not the Book in the drawer. So we go looking for the former. Mostly we come up empty and wander into the sanctuary more or less because we know we're supposed to, but we still have that mountaintop moment in our minds. 

We even try to copy it. We transfigure ourselves. Realize that every single person sitting in the sanctuary is fighting a secret battle that you don't get to see. Because we hide it. We change our faces, our clothes, and we pretend. We show up each week to a church that exists to forgive sinners and we pretend we're just here to love God. We pretend we're just fine. Authenticity? Nah.

You transfigure yourself to look better, but what you really need help with is all the stuff you're trying to escape from. You hope to find that mountaintop where all of those things melt away, leaving you feeling close to God. . . but here's the thing. Peter was there, too. He said there's something more. You want to rely on the mountaintop, the experience, but then you miss the promise He speaks to you when your heart is broken no matter how much you fake a smile.  

He calls us to trust the Word, not our feelings. The Word is for when nothing feels like it should. Even in darkness it shines like a lamp for you. 

You can go looking for the mountaintop, but God won't limit Himself to such a place. He wants to be where you're completely overwhelmed and doing your very best to hide it. He wants to come down from the mountain to save. He climbs down and bears the Cross for sinners in order to save them. The Word promises that this Cross on a far less majestic hill was far more glorious. It promises life to you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Glimpsed and gone the revelation, They shall gain and keep its truth, Not by building on the mountain Any shrine or sacred booth, But by following the Savior Through the valley to the cross And by testing faith's resilience Through betrayal, pain, and loss. ("Swiftly Pass the Clouds of Glory" LSB 416, st.2)

-Rev. Harrison Goodman is content executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Exodus 34:29-35

Daily Lectionary: Job 4:1-21; John 2:1-12

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. (Exodus 34:29–31)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God sent Moses down the mountain to talk to His people, but they were afraid to come near and hear His ten words. Moses' face shone. He reflected the God who sent him. And the people were too unclean to stand before that kind of holiness. 

It's the thing sinners tend to do: We run from the Holy One. Like Adam and Eve hiding in the bushes after eating of the tree, the people of Israel hid from Moses. Like the people afraid to come near Moses, who spoke for God, we cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ or come near Him. 

There's one common theme: It's the Law. Adam and Eve ran from the condemnation of the Law. The people ran, too. We cannot by our own reason or strength, love and trust a God of the Law. We can only fear Him. So there's another common theme: the Gospel. God called Adam and Eve out of the bushes and promised salvation. Moses called the people back and veiled his face. The Holy Spirit calls you by the Gospel, enlightens, sanctifies, and keeps you. 

God sends preachers of the Gospel who promise that the Cross of Christ takes away Adam's sin. Israel's sin. All the sin. Your sin. The terror of the Law is veiled by the promise of the Gospel. Your sins are forgiven you. You have nothing left to hide. No reason left to run. Draw near to God and receive His Gifts. After all, He sent Moses down the mountain with ten words of gift to all of Israel, and to you. God insists on calling out sinners who are terrified of condemnation and speaking comfort to them. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

We all confess the Holy Ghost, Who, in highest heaven dwelling With God the Father and the Son, Comforts us beyond all telling; Who the Church, His own creation, Keeps in unity of spirit. Here forgiveness and salvation Daily come through Jesus' merit. All flesh shall rise, and we shall be In bliss with God eternally. Amen. ("We All Believe in One True God" LSB 954, st.3)

-Rev. Harrison Goodman is content executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Matthew 17:1-9

Daily Lectionary: Job 3:11-26; John 1:35-51

And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. (Matthew 17:8)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. For just a moment, Peter didn't have to look at Jesus, who looked like everyone else, and perceive that He was God incarnate. He saw the transfigured Christ. He didn't have to imagine what the victory over death would look like. He saw Moses and Elijah. He didn't have to wonder if he had made a huge mistake in promising to follow the guy who just said that He was going to be killed, only to be raised on the Third Day. The voice from the sky boomed down; this was actually a good idea after all. 

Everybody wants that stuff. It's to the point where it has a name: the "mountaintop experience." The church has responded, either by trying to grant it by changing worship, or by trying to convince you that wanting to see what Peter saw is a sin and shows lack of faith. Words like "comfort" are only thought about, never felt. 

Neither view is right. We can acknowledge why we want the mountaintop experience without either bowing to the desire or running from it. We want to feel safe. We want to confront the doubts we all struggle against. We want something concrete so we can hope without wavering. Maybe we are given the Transfiguration so we can see what happens when we get what we want. The disciples fell on their faces and were terrified. 

God doesn't grant comfort from on high. He does it by descending. Hope doesn't come from a one-time experience, but by constant promise. See what brought comfort to the disciples who were laying in the fetal position: Lifting up their eyes, they saw Jesus only. They didn't see a lesser God. They saw a God who would descend to be like them. To offer hope, not rooted in building a tent on a perfect mountain, but carved out of an empty tomb. In Jesus only, we have all the things they looked for. A God close by. The victory over death. Hope to confront doubt. Look to where Jesus has promised to be. Look to the Word. The Sacraments. Rise. And have no fear. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, in the glorious transfiguration of Your beloved Son You confirmed the mysteries of the faith by the testimony of Moses and Elijah. In the voice that came from the bright cloud You wonderfully foreshadowed our adoption by grace. Mercifully make us co-heirs with the King in His glory and bring us to the fullness of our inheritance in heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the Transfiguration of Our Lord)

-Rev. Harrison Goodman is content executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Introit for the Transfiguration of Our Lord (Psalm 84:1-2a, 4, 10-11; antiphon: Psalm 77:18b)

Daily Lectionary: Job 2:1-3:10; John 1:19-34

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise. (From the Introit for the Transfiguration of our Lord)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Imagine being where the people around always sang into your ears the promise that by Jesus' death for you upon the Cross your sins are all forgiven, your works have all been declared righteous in God's sight, and your life completely holy. Imagine being where the liturgy always pointed you to the Gospel like that, where the words of Holy Absolution were constantly spoken and preached, and Jesus' Body and Blood were ever present to eat and to drink as He promises, "for you, for the forgiveness of sins." Imagine that, and you'll understand what the psalmist is talking about in tomorrow's Introit. 

The world, on the other hand, convinced of its own righteousness, gathers together by its strength and choice only to talk about itself and its own works and to sing its own praises. It's enough to suck the air out of any room, and the faith out of any believer. 

It's why those who are in the house of the Lord are blessed.. Because no matter how broken and damaged we are by sin, how many times defeated by Satan, finding no refuge or help within, haunted by the past, frightened by the present, fearful of the future, in the house of the Lord we have in our ears again and again what calls us to faith, what gives and sustains and restores our faith: Jesus. 

Come what may in the world, we know what God has spoken, and what He has promised by the death of His Son for us. It's why being even just "a doorkeeper" at church is better than a thousand days anywhere else (Psalm 84:10). Seeing through all the lies, through all the smoke and mirrors of false promises and false hopes (1 Corinthians 15:19; Ezekiel 37:11-14), we get to hear again and again the truth, the real story, the final Word that God has spoken over us. And it's not us. It's Jesus. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds In a believer's ear! It soothes our sorrows, heals our wounds, And drives away our fear. 

It makes the wounded spirit whole And calms the heart's unrest; 'Tis manna to the hungry soul And to the weary, rest. 

Dear name! The rock on which I build, My shield and hiding place; My never failing treasury filled With boundless stores of grace. ("How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds" LSB 524, st.1-3) 

-Rev. Bradley Drew is pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Metairie, LA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Pastor-psychiatrist duo Rev. A. Trevor Sutton and Dr. Brian Smith have teamed up to help you evaluate your technology use through a Christian perspective. Learn how to form healthy, faithful technology habits with Jesus at the center. Now available from Concordia Publishing House. 

Daily Lectionary: Job 1:1-22; John 1:1-18

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." (Job 1:21)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Job certainly endured more than his share of pain and grief in his life. Yet through it all Job never blamed chance or fate, the devil or evil people, Mother Nature, or even himself and his own sin. No. Job received it all as from the hand of Jesus. That's what Job means when he says, "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." God says, "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong."

Job repeats his confidence in chapter 2: "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" Again, God says, "In all this Job did not sin with his lips" (Job 2:10). Rest assured, then, there is no sin in daring to trust in Jesus like that.

"Oh that my words were written!" Job cries out in chapter 19. "Oh that they were inscribed in a book!  Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!" (Job 19:23-27)

Job trusted everything about Jesus. He trusted that whatever his sins had earned from God would be forever answered for, paid for, by Jesus' death for him upon the Cross. He could live every day in the confidence that Jesus, his Redeemer, was in complete control. He could receive everything as coming from The Hand that was now forever holding on to him. So, he did.

You, too. For all that your sin deserves Jesus also paid for with His death for you upon the Cross. And with the promise of the Cross now in His Word, in His water, and at His Supper, Jesus is promising you that He means you no harm in anything He allows or sends. He's got this. He's got you. And, as with Job, Jesus promises to never let go. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

What God ordains is always good; His loving thought attends me; No poison can be in the cup That my physician sends me. My God is true; Each morning new I trust His grace unending, My life to Him commending. ("What God Ordains is Always Good" LSB 760, st.3)

-Rev. Bradley Drew is pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Metairie, LA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Pastor-psychiatrist duo Rev. A. Trevor Sutton and Dr. Brian Smith have teamed up to help you evaluate your technology use through a Christian perspective. Learn how to form healthy, faithful technology habits with Jesus at the center. Now available from Concordia Publishing House. 

Today's Reading: Small Catechism: Table of Duties, To Everyone

Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 14:1-21; Titus 2:7-3:15

The commandments. . . are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Romans 13:9)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. You have probably heard it said that you can't love others until you first love yourself. That might sound cute and clever, but it's not all helpful and it certainly contradicts the conclusion of Calvary. The problem is not that we don't love ourselves. That's not why Jesus died on the Cross for us. The problem is just the opposite. We do love ourselves. More than anything. In fact, that's the very definition of sin.

The Good News is that God has all the love for you that you will ever need. Jesus died on the Cross for you. He died for every last one of your sins, for all the self-love you have now and will ever be guilty of indulging. And yes, that's a lot to die for, but Jesus did it anyway. For you.

And it gets better. For Jesus is there for you every day with the promise of His Cross in Baptism, now, washing you righteous in God's sight. He is there with the promise of His Cross in every Absolution and sermon you hear from your pastor. And He is at His Supper making sure the very definition of sin remains as far from you as the east is from the west. "For you, for the forgiveness of sins."

Do you know what this means? It means there is never a time when God is not delighting in you, calling you His own, even declaring all your works holy in His sight. Even your hitting that snooze button for the hundredth time. Or brushing your teeth. Or doing homework. Or eating lunch. Or laughing. Or crying. Or whatever. Doesn't matter. God is amazed by it all now, by you now, because of Jesus.

But, what about your sins? They are gone, died for, paid for, spoken away, washed away, fed away by Jesus as soon as they appear, and even sooner. Like I said, with Jesus God has all the love for you that you will ever need. That, then, is where you will find the courage, the strength, and the grace to turn to your neighbor with love. In fact, so overflowing is God's love for you, it can't help but spill over to others. That's what it's designed to do. And, yes, because of Jesus God is already smiling over it all. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord, help us walk Your servant way Wherever love may lead And, bending low, forgetting self, Each serve the other's need. ("Lord, Help Us Walk Your Servant Way" LSB 857, st.1) 

-Rev. Bradley Drew is pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Metairie, LA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Pastor-psychiatrist duo Rev. A. Trevor Sutton and Dr. Brian Smith have teamed up to help you evaluate your technology use through a Christian perspective. Learn how to form healthy, faithful technology habits with Jesus at the center. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.

Today's Reading: Luke 2:22-32

Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 12:1-13:9; Titus 1:1-2:6

When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, [Mary and Joseph] brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord. (Luke 2:22)

 In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The next time we will hear about Jesus is 12 years down the road when Mary and Joseph return to the temple with Him. Calling it His "Father's house" then, Jesus amazes everyone with "His understanding and His answers" (Luke 2:49, 47). Today, it is Simeon who is amazed. 

"Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32).

In his own arms at that very moment was Simeon's God, placing Himself under His own Law (Exodus 13:1-2) to do for us what we could never do for ourselves: to keep His law perfectly, without sin. Simeon knows "a pair of doves or two young pigeons" (Luke 2:24; Leviticus 12) will be just fine for this One. For here, in this One, in Jesus, is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

Simeon also knew, in that moment, that he was holding the One you and I now hold in the "arms of faith." For this is the same Jesus given to us in Baptism, in the Absolution, in the preaching of the Gospel, and at the Holy Supper. It's the same Jesus who placed Himself under His own Law and kept that Law perfectly. Who suffered and died for all our sins on the Cross. Who now presents you and me holy and blameless to His Father in heaven, without sin, justified, heirs to eternal life.

And that means, like Simeon, that you and I get to marvel now, too. For you and I, also, will die in peace now. Free from all our sins. Free from death. Free from wrath. Free from judgment. Free from hell. Free from having to save ourselves. For that is the salvation God has prepared for us, too, in the sight of all people, in Jesus. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Almighty and ever-living God, as Your only begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in the substance of our flesh, grant that we may be presented to You with pure and clean hearts; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of our Lord)

-Rev. Bradley Drew is pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Metairie, LA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch

Pastor-psychiatrist duo Rev. A. Trevor Sutton and Dr. Brian Smith have teamed up to help you evaluate your technology use through a Christian perspective. Learn how to form healthy, faithful technology habits with Jesus at the center. Now available from Concordia Publishing House. 

Today's Reading: Romans 13:8-10

Daily Lectionary: Zechariah 11:4-17; 2 Timothy 4:1-18

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (Romans 13:10) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Paul certainly doesn't set the bar very high, does he? "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Who does Paul think we are? Sinners who are always offending God, justly deserving His now and forever punishment? I think we know the answer. We confess it every Sunday.

The world, however, ignores this judgment. Convinced of its own righteousness, it looks to the Law for confirmation of its own righteousness in its own works and thinks it has found it there. Of course, to avoid the charge of being self-serving with the Law, the world talks about the Law as being a complex and sophisticated system of morality. How insulting to hear Paul say that it's not rocket science at all. It's just, "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." 

The baptized know such love. For though we are lost and condemned in our own sin, Jesus comes to us every day with the promise of His Cross in Baptism, washing us, cleansing us, not at all harming but presenting us holy and blameless to His Father. He comes not to harm but to forgive in the Absolution and sermons we hear from our pastor. And Jesus comes not to harm but to save with His Body and Blood at His Supper, "for you, for the forgiveness of sins." Yes, Jesus knows exactly who we are. 

While such love may not fix or solve everything that is wrong in this life, including ourselves, it is the love God has promised and given you and me in this life. No, He has not promised us our best life here and now. But He has promised us His redeeming, forgiving, saving love in Jesus. And that makes love the one thing, the only thing, the baptized now owe all others (Romans 13:8).

Fixing and solving is a God-thing, really. Even a Last Day sort of thing. A for now thing, a baptized-thing, is just to love: to forgive, to help, to pray for, to serve and point everyone, friend and foe, to Jesus and His Cross. There's no harm in that. Just love. Just more Jesus. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of heav'n, to earth come down! Fix in us Thy humble dwelling, All Thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, Thou art all compassion, Pure, unbounded love Thou art; Visit us with Thy salvation, Enter ev'ry trembling heart. ("Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" LSB 700, st.1)  

-Rev. Bradley Drew is pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Metairie, LA.

Pastor-psychiatrist duo Rev. A. Trevor Sutton and Dr. Brian Smith have teamed up to help you evaluate your technology use through a Christian perspective. Learn how to form healthy, faithful technology habits with Jesus at the center. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.