Northwoods Seelsorger

  The following was published recently in the ALPB Forum Letter , an edited and expanded version of what I originally wrote as a simple post on a discussion board.  I used it for my online preaching course this summer , and I'm putting it here to archive it for future use, and in the event anyone discovers it and finds it useful for their own purpose.  “Pastor, can we talk abou t your sermon?” by Don Engebretson Pastors differ on the proper and most effective way to evaluate their sermons. They begin by receiving grades on their homiletical efforts by seminar y professors, and they receive further feedback from supervisors in the field. These critiques judge the content and delivery according to academic standard s of biblical content, balance of Law and Gospel, organization by proper outlines, and the technical aspects of public speaking techniques. So pastors-to-be write for their teachers with an imagined congregation in their mind, but they are primarily writing for tho

 I posted this in a thread on the ALPB site.  In order to file it for my own use, here is what I wrote: In any election the tendency is to cast the future in apocalyptic terms. Life as we know it will end if ____________is elected. Our most cherished rights will be taken away if _____________ is elected. Such and such president is the absolute worse man ever elected. And so forth. I'm trying to ignore this. I've lived through the terms of 12 presidents, five who were Democrats, seven who were Republican. Four of them managed to get reelected and serve 8 years: two Republicans (Reagan, Bush 41), and two Democrats (Clinton, Obama).  The economy has risen and fallen during those six decades.  Wars were fought and peacetime enjoyed.  Voting and civil rights laws were passed into law for minorities.  We lived through the resignation of one president brought on by criminal acts of men close to his presidency (and some believe by the president himself), one was assassinate