Mike Wittmer

Category: Ethics

  • say it with flowers

    Last night I attended my fifth grader’s school Christmas concert, and I noticed something I had never seen before. It seemed that every fourth parent was carrying cut flowers to give to their child. One even had a dozen roses. When did this start? And what does it mean? I understand the need to support…

  • the rest of the story

    The editorial cartoon in today’s Grand Rapids Press pokes fun at Walmart for asking people to donate so its workers can have a happy Thanksgiving. This story made national news last week, proving that none of the newscasts do much original reporting anymore. When I mentioned the story to my parents, they told me the…

  • what did you think we were going to say?

    Yesterday I heard a couple of stories in the media about the Christian owned businesses and schools that are suing the government over our right not to fund abortions. The arguments against the lawsuit seemed to be that corporations aren’t people so they don’t have the freedom of religion and the slippery slope argument of…

  • how to be saved and know it

    The dying Israelites didn’t have to look at the snake in any special way. Some may have squinted from astigmatism or less than 20/20 vision. Some may have been selfish, pushing past others to get a better look. Some may have doubted, wondering if staring at a bronze snake would really make them well. It…

  • suing the government

    The many lawsuits against the HHS mandate may be overrun by current events. Now that hundreds of thousands of people are learning that, despite the President’s frequent assurances, they are not allowed to keep the affordable insurance policies they currently have, the Affordable Care Act may collapse of its own weight. Perhaps Nancy Pelosi should…

  • it’s here

    Last night, while Detroit was digging itself into a deep hole it could not climb out of—I mean the Tigers, not the city—my class of urban pastors turned a session on church government into a spirited conversation on homosexuality. I was surprised by their level of passion, because I had naively assumed that homosexual practice…

  • the risk of love

    If you haven’t heard of the Grant Study, you will find much material for preaching if you read this essay about it. I turned one of its points into a devotional for Our Daily Journey: read > 1 John 4:7-21 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear (v. 18). George Vaillant…

  • selfish servants

    This is an ODJ devotional I wrote after last week’s visit to Pictured Rocks Lakeshore in the beautiful desolation of Michigan’s Upper Peninusula, which doubles as a metaphor for Michigan’s upcoming football season. read > Acts 4:1-21 “What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. The tour guide at the Au Sable…

  • home again

    My family returned from a fun and meaningful week at the Upper Peninsula Bible Camp. Lots of good people who have become good friends ascend every year for family camp, which somehow always turns into a special time that is hard to put into words. The setting is beautiful, the food is spectacular, and the…