Sharper Iron from KFUO Radio

Rev. Tim Storck, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Chesterfield Township, MI, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Zephaniah 3:9-20. After so many words of dark judgment, Zephaniah closes his prophecy with words of joyous salvation. The LORD promises to transform His people’s speech to call upon Him in true faith. These worshipers will come from the farthest places as the LORD gathers H...

Rev. Jacob Dandy, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church and School in Terra Bella, CA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Zephaniah 3:1-8. On the heels of preaching against several foreign nations, Zephaniah sets his sights on the rebellious, defiled, and oppressing city. Surely to the people’s surprise, the prophet was not still speaking about Nineveh; he was speaking about Jerusalem. They had harde...

Rev. Andrew Jagow, pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church in Alexandria, VA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Zephaniah 2:4-15. Zephaniah looks toward each point of the compass in order to proclaim the Word of the LORD to the nations around Judah. To the west, the LORD tells the Philistines that the day of the LORD will bring desolation. To the east, the LORD condemns Moab and Ammon for their pri...

Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Luverne, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Zephaniah 1:14-2:3. To the complacent people of Judah, Zephaniah proclaims that the wrath of God is real and is coming on the day of the LORD. Though Judah looked for that day to be one of victory for them, their idolatry means that it will be one of destruction and defeat. The LORD will b...

Rev. Philip Hoppe, pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Finlayson, MN and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Bruno, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Zephaniah 1:1-13. Zephaniah served as a prophet during the reign of Josiah, the faithful king of Judah. Although he does not name Babylon, Zephaniah speaks very clearly concerning the judgment that the LORD will bring through this foreign nation. Z...

Rev. Dr. Ryan Tietz, associate professor of exegetical theology and dean of students at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Habakkuk 3:16-19. Habakkuk’s psalm concludes with his “Job moment.” The prophet recognizes that the LORD Himself has answered, and Habakkuk trembles. God is God, and the prophet is not; who is Habakkuk that the LORD should r...

Rev. Dr. Reed Lessing, professor of theology and ministry at Concordia University in St. Paul, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Habakkuk 3:1-15. Habakkuk closes his book with a psalm that puts the LORD’s Word concerning the life of faith into practice. Drawing imagery from the LORD’s previous deliverance for His people in the Exodus, He calls upon the LORD to act in such mercy yet again....

Rev. Bryan Wolfmueller, pastor at St. Paul and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Churches in Austin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Habakkuk 2:6-20. The LORD gives Habakkuk a song of taunts to sing in defiance against Babylon. Although Babylon will bring great destruction against Judah and Jerusalem, the LORD will not fail to keep His promises for his people. The greed, wickedness, violence, and ido...

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar, pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in La Grange, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Habakkuk 1:12-2:5. Habakkuk responds to the Word of God by confessing faith in the LORD as the everlasting God, the Holy One who keeps His promises to His people. Yet Habakkuk still questions why the LORD would use the idolatrous Babylonians to sweep away the righteous together with...

Rev. Dan Speckhard, pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church and School in North Judson, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Habakkuk 1:1-11. Habakkuk was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah, yet his book approaches the time period prior to the fall of Jerusaelm from a unique angle. Habakkuk digs into topics that are quite applicable to Christians of every age: the justice of the LORD, the ti...

Rev. Dr. Paul Raabe, retired professor of exegetical theology from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis and current professor of Biblical studies at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study the book of Obadiah. Although the book of Obadiah is the shortest in the Old Testament, it is packed with important Biblical themes. Obadiah’s prophecy covers two main topics: the...

“Majoring in Minors” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the books of Obadiah, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. These three prophets all spoke the Word of God in the days leading up to the fall of Jerusalem at the hand of the Babylonians. Through their unique emphases, these men proclaimed the same message of repentance of sins and faith in the LORD, pointing ultimately toward their prophec...

Rev. Matt Ulmer, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Bishop, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 5:1-22. The closing chapter of Lamentations ties the themes from the entire book together in a prayer directed to the LORD. The people call upon Him to remember them; this is not merely mental recollection, but a request that the LORD would act for their good once again. The peopl...

Rev. James Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 3:40-66. Jeremiah calls upon the people to return to the LORD in repentance. Together they lament that their transgressions have brought the LORD’s punishment upon them. This has happened because they have rejected the preaching of Jeremiah and persecuted him instead. Jeremiah re...

Rev. Dr. Nathan Jastram, professor of theology at Concordia University Wisconsin, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 4:1-11. In the fourth poem in Lamentations, Jeremiah describes in painful detail the horrific suffering the people experienced during the siege and fall of Jerusalem. Although they had the preaching of Jeremiah to warn them, they hardened their hearts against the Wo...

Rev. James Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 3:40-66. Jeremiah calls upon the people to return to the LORD in repentance. Together they lament that their transgressions have brought the LORD’s punishment upon them. This has happened because they have rejected the preaching of Jeremiah and persecuted him instead. Jeremiah re...

Rev. Carl Roth, pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Elgin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 3:19-39. This text is the center of the book of Lamentations, structurally and theologically. In the midst of the afflictions experienced in the fall of Jerusalem, Jeremiah calls to mind the never-ending mercy of the LORD. This is more than the joy of each sunrise; this is the joy of t...

Rev. Sean Daenzer, director of worship for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and chaplain for the International Center, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 3:1-18. The third poem in Lamentations begins in a way that invites the question: “Who is the man?” Certainly Jeremiah and any individual resident of Jerusalem could lament in the way this poem begins. Each one recognized the c...

Rev. Mike Newman, president of the Texas District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 2:11-22. Jeremiah continues to give voice to the lament of the people over the destruction of Jerusalem. Their spiritual and emotional suffering is accompanied by physical pain; even mothers are not able to provide for their own children. As Jeremiah leads th...

Rev. Dr. Tim Saleska, professor of exegetical theology and dean of ministerial formation at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 2:1-10. Jeremiah reflects theologically on the fall of Jerusalem. He does not let God off the hook. The prophet is very clear that the LORD is the One who has brought about the destruction of Jerusalem. The LORD has pou...

Rev. Zelwyn Heide, pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Hannover, ND and Zion Lutheran Church in New Salem, ND, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 1:12-22. Jeremiah continues to lament the destruction of Jerusalem. The city personified calls out to those who pass by that they would see the great sorrow, a cry that points forward to Jesus’ own sorrow on the cross. The LORD is ack...

Rev. Shawn Linnell, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blair, NE, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lamentations 1:1-11. The book of Lamentations finds its context in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem. Traditionally, the prophet Jeremiah has been considered the author of the book, which clearly comes from eyewitness experiences. The book contains five poems, arranged not chronol...

“Mercy for Mourners” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Lamentations. As Jeremiah and the people of Judah mourn over the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, they acknowledge God’s just wrath against them, confess their iniquity, and plead for His deliverance. In this way, the book of Lamentations teaches us to pray in repentance and faith so that we would see Chris...

Rev. Ryan Ogrodowicz, associate pastor and headmaster at Grace Lutheran Church and School in Brenham, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 52:1-34. The book of Jeremiah ends with another account of the fall of Jerusalem as a reminder that the LORD does watch over His Word to perform it. Zedekiah was the final faithless king of Judah who refused to humble Himself before the LORD, lea...

Rev. Mark Barz, pastor at Crown of Life Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 51:34-64. The people of God lament what Nebuchadnezzar has done in devouring them and pray for the LORD’s vengeance. The LORD promises that destruction will come upon Babylon, a foreshadowing of how the LORD defeats death and the devil by taking all the judgment against us up...