Big challenges? Bring them to Jesus!

Word from the Center
Written By Dr. Gregory Seltz

Welcome to “Word from The Center” MONDAY, a devotional word from the Center of our faith, Jesus Christ, with reflections on His Word. I’m Gregory Seltz. Today’s verses are Matthew 14:15-21, where the Bible says,

[15] As evening approached, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

[16] Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

[17] “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

[18] “Bring them here to me,” he said.

[19] And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.

[20] They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

[21] The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Every year, Americans spend about five hundred million dollars on Twinkies. Yes, TWINKIES! Those golden, cream-filled cylinder cakes are still around. To me, they really taste good with a hot cup of coffee when traveling. I fill up with gas on the way to the next speaking engagement, run into the “icehouse,” buy that coffee, AND chase it down with a Twinkie. Now, I realize that they have NO nutritional value. I also realize that a diet of Twinkies will “do me in” in the end. And yet, five hundred million dollars a year! Why do we do it? I can hear you telling me the truth, “Dr. Seltz, you’ve got to eat better than that!” And you’d be right! But they are hard to resist.

500 million dollars seems like a lot, but it’s nothing compared to the $16 billion dollars that we spend on chocolate annually. And that’s nothing compared to the $117,000,000,000 that we Americans spend on fast food every year. That’s a lot of zeros isn’t it? So, follow the money. Yet we’ve got to face facts. We are a people who tend to hunger for all the wrong things. If it tastes good, we eat it, even if it’s bad for us. It seems that we have an appetite that forfeits what is really needed for healthy minds and bodies. But today’s Bible passage goes much further than that. Today Jesus himself reminds us that we are sinful people who don’t just crave “junk food” physically; we’ve also got an insatiable appetite for “spiritual junk food!”

We crave the latest and the greatest things of this world, even though they will always let us down in the end. We hope that they might fill our lives, maybe even our hearts and souls too. We have access to information from around the world. Every year it’s the latest TV, I-Phone, or computer. This year some of you might be willing to trade in your car, your job, or even your spouse and family for one of those! But the “next thing” is not the solution, nor is it really the problem. The problem is who we are without God. The solution is who we are with Him in our lives.

We're spiritually hungry because we are meant to have a relationship with God. That’s what really matters. It’s not our “hunger” that’s the problem; it’s the SPIRITUAL JUNK FOOD WE CONSUME that will eventually consume us! When faced with the big challenges in life, don’t look for quick fixes or easy changes. No, look to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the one not only calling us to a relationship with Him as central to our lives, but the one who himself is the “Bread of Life” that sustains and empowers our lives now and forever. Bring your problems, your struggles, even your sins to the one who still meets you, forgives you, and sustains you with His Eucharistic meal where He comes in/with/under the bread and wine to you for your very life and salvation.

In Matthew chapter 14, Jesus challenges the disciples to see their great problem in feeding all of those people as a faith challenge. Yes, we have physical hunger pangs that need to be filled. But, more importantly, we have spiritual hunger pangs that are only filled by faith in the one who not only can feed thousands with fish and loaves, but one who creates and sustains our life-changing faith in Him through His gifts of Word and Sacraments. When faced with big challenges in this “physical” world, remember that the Lord of heaven and earth is your Creator and Redeemer. He is the one who cares for you.

See Also
Faith in Politics
Faith in Politics

I post a lot on Christianity, a lot on Lutheranism, but also politics, and what it means to us as Christians. But when it comes to liberal and conservative, these are not two sides to one coin. It cannot be dismissed as CNN vs. Fox. I love God first and recognize that the family matters. Politics matter because our neighbor matters and because we care about the things needful, including the sanctity of life and the free exercise of religion.

 

But on the other side, it's different. I have a lot of liberal friends who post about liberal issues all the time, much of it to do with what they perceive as justice. But Christ hardly comes into view. In some ways, there was a lot more talk about Christ loving the immigrant or the homeless person, and that was used as an argument for bigger government. But among younger people, Christ hardly comes into view. Liberal Christianity was a kind of step on the way, but hardly holds the minds or inspires the hearts. And so it goes that a liberal Christian often finds her enemy is the conservative Christian, the one who cares about the Virgin Birth and Christ as the one redeemer, the only begotten Son of God.

ULTIMATE CONCERNS MATTER MOST, SO WHAT’S YOURS?
ULTIMATE CONCERNS MATTER MOST, SO WHAT’S YOURS?

Today’s verses are John 11:47-50. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43-44), the Bible tells us this is what happened next:    

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” 49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all!  50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

LGBTQ+ = Subverting the Created Order
LGBTQ+ = Subverting the Created Order

“The LGBTQ community." What other sin is talked this way? Is there a murdering community? A gossiping community? Since when does an alliance in sin spoken of in such positive terms? But this community is one that speaks lies that lead to the destruction of the family and to loneliness and isolation.

 

Typically, when attempting to cloud the issue, we are told that questions concerning sex and gender are "complicated." Really, it isn't. God created us male and female. The confusion arises from the deceptive ideology that pushes it. We are told that detransitioners are extremely rare. Have they not met and talked with those in the growing detransition community? We have members who have been lied to and have escaped the clutches of the deceivers, though they are not unscathed medically or emotionally. We are told that trans people do not simply decide to be trans. But they mention nothing of the work of Abigail Shrier and many others who have clearly demonstrated that the transgender phenomenon is a social contagion, especially now among women, an ideology that is spread by the secular left and through destructive influencers on social media.

April 2026 Bulletin Insert
April 2026 Bulletin Insert

The Bulletin Insert is designed to be printed and cut in half to fit conveniently inside a Sunday worship bulletin. Each month an insert will offer insight, encouragement, and information from the LCRL on the topics of Religious Liberty, Life, Marriage, or Education.

April 2026 Bulletin Blurbs
April 2026 Bulletin Blurbs

The dates identifying the LCRL bulletin blurbs are only suggestions. Please feel free to use any and all of the bulletin blurbs as your ministry needs allow.

ALIVE AS CHILDREN OF HIS LIGHT!
ALIVE AS CHILDREN OF HIS LIGHT!

Today’s verses are Ephesians 5:8-9, where the Bible says,   

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth).

Marriage: Conforming Couples to Christ’s Image
Marriage: Conforming Couples to Christ’s Image

Love is not a red, red rose at all. It is work — hard, hard work. It endures sacrifice and pain for the sake of someone else. It subdues one’s own desires, opinions and needs, being patient and kind, not resentful or angry or insisting on one’s own rights or way. It does not live for pleasure and satisfaction or self-actualization. Christian love is defined by Christ and follows His example as confessed in 1 Corinthians 13. Christian love lives entirely for someone else.

TWO WATERS – BOTH MATTER!
TWO WATERS – BOTH MATTER!

Today’s verses are John 4:10-14, where the Bible recounts Jesus’ conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well.

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Get Up, Dress Up, Show Up: March for Life
Get Up, Dress Up, Show Up: March for Life

Luther grounded his understanding of civil government and its duties toward God in creation, teaching that rulers are a type of father. In the Large Catechism he wrote, “Thus we have two kinds of fathers presented in this commandment, fathers in blood and fathers in office, or those to whom belongs the care of the family, and those to whom belongs the care of the country. Besides these there are yet spiritual fathers.” Luther recognized the universal responsibility of all mankind to acknowledge and serve God in accordance with one’s particular station. All earthly rulers, whether of Israelite or Gentile nations, were expected to follow God’s Word. If they did not serve the Lord, like emperors Nero and Domitian, they would be held guilty by Him. Luther maintained a consistently positive estimation of Constantine and other Christian rulers throughout his writings — especially their aid in resisting the grasping tyranny of the papacy. He held up David and the other faithful kings of Israel as examples of the universal duty of rulers to acknowledge and serve God.

March 2026 Prayer Partner Thursday
March 2026 Prayer Partner Thursday

Prayer Partner Thursday provides a month-long prayer emphasis in one of the four Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty areas of emphasis: Religious Liberty, Sanctity of Life, Educational Freedom, and Marriage as an Institution (family).

GIVE TO ME STRAIGHT!
GIVE TO ME STRAIGHT!

Today’s verses are John 3:16-18, where Jesus says,

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Constantine the Great: Hero of Luther and Exemplary Christian Ruler
Constantine the Great: Hero of Luther and Exemplary Christian Ruler

Luther grounded his understanding of civil government and its duties toward God in creation, teaching that rulers are a type of father. In the Large Catechism he wrote, “Thus we have two kinds of fathers presented in this commandment, fathers in blood and fathers in office, or those to whom belongs the care of the family, and those to whom belongs the care of the country. Besides these there are yet spiritual fathers.” Luther recognized the universal responsibility of all mankind to acknowledge and serve God in accordance with one’s particular station. All earthly rulers, whether of Israelite or Gentile nations, were expected to follow God’s Word. If they did not serve the Lord, like emperors Nero and Domitian, they would be held guilty by Him. Luther maintained a consistently positive estimation of Constantine and other Christian rulers throughout his writings — especially their aid in resisting the grasping tyranny of the papacy. He held up David and the other faithful kings of Israel as examples of the universal duty of rulers to acknowledge and serve God.

NOW THAT’S A TEMPTATION!
NOW THAT’S A TEMPTATION!

Today’s passage is Matthew 4:8-11 where the Bible tells us one of the ways in which the devil tempted Jesus.   

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

The Cross on my Forehead
The Cross on my Forehead

The pancakes, pączki, and pierogis still linger on my tastebuds as I walk the aisle toward the altar for the imposition of ashes. The richness of those foods recalls times of plenty—times of excess—times when I chased the wants of life instead of resting in the sufficiency of the needs God provides.

Praying Colors, Morning and Evening
Praying Colors, Morning and Evening

I’ve also sometimes struggled, I’ll confess, to reconcile my own civic duty to honor our nation’s flag with my Christian call to “fear, love and trust in God above all things.” The melody blaring from a speaker mounted high upon a tower reminds me eerily of church bells “chiming and calling” Christians to Sunday worship (LSB 645), or of a muezzin summoning Muslims to daily prayer. Although colors isn’t meant to be a spiritual act of devotion, the striking resemblance it bears to such ancient religious practices is hard to ignore. 

March 2026 Bulletin Insert
March 2026 Bulletin Insert

The Bulletin Insert is designed to be printed and cut in half to fit conveniently inside a Sunday worship bulletin. Each month an insert will offer insight, encouragement, and information from the LCRL on the topics of Religious Liberty, Life, Marriage, or Education.

March 2026 Bulletin Blurbs
March 2026 Bulletin Blurbs

The dates identifying the LCRL bulletin blurbs are only suggestions. Please feel free to use any and all of the bulletin blurbs as your ministry needs allow.

THERE’S ONLY JESUS!
THERE’S ONLY JESUS!

Today’s passage is Matthew 17:1-8, where the Bible tells us of this momentous event:    

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5 He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

Beware the Lemmings
Beware the Lemmings

Social media today functions much like the volatile crowds Gustave Le Bon described over a century ago when he observed, “Crowds are only capable of thinking in images, and are only to be impressed by images. It is by images alone that great leaders can be followed.” In the digital world, people aren’t working through truth with patience and reason; they’re reacting to symbols, slogans, memes, and bite-sized videos that bypass the mind and stir the gut and emotions.

CHOOSE LIFE!
CHOOSE LIFE!

Today’s verses are Deuteronomy 30:15-18a, where Moses says,   

See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish.

Chilling to the Bone
Chilling to the Bone

"We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism." Thus far Mamdani, whose words are chilling to the bone. Now we might counter that rugged individualism is a whole lot better than collectivism, and we'd be right. Collectivism means you lose your identity, you become a number, a statistic, a victim, and a ward of the state that cares not a whit about you.

 Collectivism has the warmth of a Siberian gulag, a dark North Korean night. The fact that Mamdani can get away with such rhetoric, even after Communism has taken the lives of tens of millions of people, is frustrating.

February 2026 Prayer Partner Thursday
February 2026 Prayer Partner Thursday

Prayer Partner Thursday provides a month-long prayer emphasis in one of the four Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty areas of emphasis: Religious Liberty, Sanctity of Life, Educational Freedom, and Marriage as an Institution (family).

"Called by God, to boast in Him"
"Called by God, to boast in Him"

Today’s passage is from 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, where the Bible says….
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong; God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things of the world to nullify the things that are, so that no one can boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Jesus Christ, who has become for us wisdom from God that is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption, therefore as it is written; "let him who boasts, boast in the Lord!"

We live in an age obsessed with image management. Entire industries exist to shape perception—public relations firms, branding consultants, and social media strategists whose job is to make people appear impressive.

The Blessings of Success and Power
The Blessings of Success and Power

What's a blessing, and what's a curse? When it comes to earthly matters, it's often not clear. Success can be a killer, especially when it comes with fame. Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley, for sure, and a whole host of late 60s heroes who died at the age of 27. The Beatles benefited from being four, so were less susceptible to lackeys.

THE GIFT HE BRINGS!
THE GIFT HE BRINGS!

Today’s verse is Matthew 4:17, where the Bible says,   

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Demanding Your Highest Allegiance
Demanding Your Highest Allegiance

There is no trouble too large for the government to solve, no concern too small for it to care about. Such words might be spoken of God, for whom nothing is impossible. Have you trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. What a friend we have in Mamdani?

February 2026 Bulletin Insert
February 2026 Bulletin Insert

The Bulletin Insert is designed to be printed and cut in half to fit conveniently inside a Sunday worship bulletin. Each month an insert will offer insight, encouragement, and information from the LCRL on the topics of Religious Liberty, Life, Marriage, or Education.

February 2026 Bulletin Blurbs
February 2026 Bulletin Blurbs

The dates identifying the LCRL bulletin blurbs are only suggestions. Please feel free to use any and all of the bulletin blurbs as your ministry needs allow.

SIMPLE. POWERFUL. STRAIGHT TALK FOR YOUR HEART AND SOUL.
SIMPLE. POWERFUL. STRAIGHT TALK FOR YOUR HEART AND SOUL.

Today’s verse is John 1:29 which tells us of this encounter between John the Baptist and Jesus:

“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”

Luther’s “Wise Turk” Quote That He Didn’t Say
Luther’s “Wise Turk” Quote That He Didn’t Say

We are hearing more and more that famous quotation from Martin Luther: “I’d rather be ruled by a wise Turk than by a foolish Christian.”  The problem is, no one has been able to find that famous quotation in any of the voluminous works of Luther.  It appears that the quotation is apocryphal.  I suspect it may have originated as an attempt to explain the implications of Luther’s doctrine of the Two Kingdoms, as in, “Luther would have rather been ruled by a wise Turk. . .” which then was recalled as “Luther said he would rather have been. . . .” Read more from Dr. Gene Edward Veith here.

Dr. Gregory Seltz
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