Steven Wilson

Lutheran Youth Director @StJohnRochester Mi, I love to share Jesus with students I meet. Love my 3 kids and wife, Jesus is my savior.

[Chad Bird @birdchadlouis]

Today is the 12th and final day of the Christmas season.

But thank God that Christ is a man of flesh and blood now and forever. The Incarnation was not a 33-year experiment in being human.

It was permanent, unending, everlasting.

The Son of God did not shed his humanity when he ascended to the Father. He is now, and ever will be, fully and perfectly human.

A man who is God is seated on heaven's throne.

[Michigan LCMS @miLCMS]

"If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity." #CSLewis

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

@serenitynow We have both types of services. I would say that the style isn't what separates people but the time. We worship almost a 1000 people on a weekend. We do have to do things to try and connect the congregation together. Our focus as a church has to be one on Jesus.

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

I hope you all know you are more important than a check list of tasks. Just words from a guy who can't sleep.

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

Tonight as I am up way to late, I am reminded what the first pastor I served with taught me after 32 years in ministry. People don't remember sermons or Bible studies or programs. Don't take it too seriously.
Pt 1

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

What changes peoples lives is pointing to Jesus when they need it most. Take the time to point someone to Jesus today. Ask a friend or coworker how they are doing, stop and actually listen. You will never regret it.
Pt 2

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

People follow what you say for one to two reasons. Either they have to because you have authority as the boss, or they follow you because you have shown them you are serving them first. The second is a leader. The Church needs more leaders and less bosses.

[Matt Popovits @PopovitsMatt]

Look what showed up this weekend!

The team at @1517 did an incredible job with the book and I can’t wait for you to see it.

You can preorder now at Amazon: https://t.co/9RfQRdRQoZ

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

@Daniel_Ross622 Yes but only online after this year. Then either they would have to move to Wisconsin, or go to the Catholic college in northern Ohio. This is also only for LTD. Pre-sem and Family life students will not have this option.

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

@JRTownsend1517 @hallowedvet @cuaa Having a son there as well we decided to look at other Concordia schools just a heads up we found out many credits will not transfer even in religion classes. I would not assume he can just go somewhere else next year unless he wants to go to CUW.

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

@sauerkrautjr @hallowedvet One of the students I know has already applied to another school. Some after today will be going to secular schools. I know at least two Lutheran teachers students who are now done with the Church. They will be teaching in public school.

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

@jnomueller @chris_paavola So some of those students who go on to be pastors, teachers, and other workers don't come as Lutherans. They convert. Some will become LCMS through different vocations. Ultimately our goal shouldn't be just to have Lutherans attend but to share Jesus from a Lutheran perspective.

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

@jnomueller @chris_paavola Having been on CUAAs campus and having two of my kids there it is having an impact on the students. In fact both of my kids are studying to be church workers and meeting people of different faiths and being able to talk about their Lutheran faith has been invaluable.

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

@thewinterstein The best part of this year has been reading and teaching on the Bible in a year plan to 50 some adults. Way too many Lutherans don't know scripture beyond the lectionary.

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

@jnomueller @chris_paavola So if the school doesn't have only Lutherans then it should be closed. So for all of our Lutheran schools K-8, High Schools should also close? Our K-8 school is about half non Lutherans when they start. We have done 40 baptisms in the last 3 years and added many to the flock.

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

@PatrickDFlesher @chris_paavola This model doesn't work. Especially if our Church body doesn't support financially. These colleges have the finances with students.

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

@chris_paavola The challenge for me is this was self inflicted. Some seem to think of Ann Arbor as an asset to be sold. For me this one is all about the money.

[Melissa Dougherty @Meldougherty77]

How to not be deceived by unbiblical teachings:

Step 1: Read your Bible.

Those who don't read and study their Bibles consistently are the easiest to deceive by those who misuse it.

[Steven Wilson @YouthguySteve]

@BurkParsons I wouldn't worry about the good and the bad comments. I would worry about how faithful we are when we take pride in being boring.

[Chad Bird @birdchadlouis]

The Hebrew Background of Fishers of Men

“Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.” —Jeremiah 16:16

We have wrongly romanticized what it means to be a “fisher of men” (Matt. 4:19). In its Hebrew context, fishing for men is a savage affair.

In Jeremiah, fishermen are God’s instruments of judgment (16:16–18). In Ezekiel, God spreads his net to catch the runaway prince to ship him into exile (12:13). In Amos, he wields fishhooks to drag people away (4:2). In Habakkuk, Babylonians net Israel like fish (1:14–16).

Every OT instance of men fishing for a “human catch” involves violence. So in Hebrew, for someone to דיג (“fish”) for you, to hook or net you, means that your life, as you once knew it, is now over.

So when Jesus calls his disciples to be “fishers of men,” he is not sending them on a quaint mission. He’s sending them to make sure that those sinners they hook or net by God’s Word will know that their lives, as they once knew them, are now over. They must die, ironically, in water. We, human fish, die in the baptismal river and are raised in that same river to a new life in Jesus Christ.

Praise to you, heavenly Father, for killing us and making us a new creation in your Son.

(From my book, Unveiling Mercy: 365 Daily Devotions Based on Insights from Old Testament Hebrew, available at https://t.co/2cjKHOulnP ).