The North Dakota District

I am not the only one who has been filling sandbags, building sandbag walls, and moving furniture lately…

Bismarck and Mandan (where I live) are not the only places in North Dakota affected by floods, high water, winds, and other anxieties…

Many in our congregations are being displaced, evacuated from their homes (like Pastor Rothchild in Minot), and our many farmers being able to seed only 30-50% of their fields this year…

Those in our churches, who happen to serve in the military, are being called up to help in disaster relief (like my son, Rev. Buchhop’s son, and Pastor Stout)…

The other night Bill Sharpe and his wife sat in their basement, as well as many others who did the same in their own homes, when the horrific winds drove through Fargo, taking roofs and trees…

The Missouri River in the next few days will almost double its flow, the Souris River is soon to crest, the Amtrak railroad tracks are not safe for the trains and oil rigs are being closed down because of too much water, and each of you face anxieties all of your own from health to family, from finances to faith…

On Saturday, May 25, the family of an infant girl was preparing for her baptism, which was to occur the next day at Messiah, Mandan. Extended family came in on Saturday morning, and the infant’s mother asked her nephews, brothers, father and inlaws to join her in helping save another Messiah’s family from losing their home in the coming flood. Without complaint, they went and filled and carried sandbags all day.

The next day, the day of the Baptism, the mother of the infant writes on Facebook, “Wohoo!!! Today is the day! Baby Carolyn Marie will be Baptized into Christ at Messiah Lutheran Church today!!!!” A response comes back saying, “That is the kind of water we like flowing over God’s people! So happy for you.”

How do we prepare for the “floods,” and disasters, and anxieties of our lives in this broken and fallen world? The same way the above family did – by preparing and celebrating our Baptism in Christ. In Baptism, Christ washes away our sins and our anxieties and gives us hope and forgiveness of sins. Even as we bear the cross of suffering in this world, Baptism is the reality that we belong to the one, true, and living God who died for us and who rose from the dead – that we would be His forever.

The flood waters of Holy Baptism are good waters, for these waters are the reality that Christ does indeed care for you. While the world, our own sinful flesh, and the evil one try to flood us with disaster and harm, the water of Christ in Holy Baptism floods us with forgiveness, and rescue, and protection, and salvation.

I Peter 5:6-11

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

This joyful Eastertide
Away with sin and sorrow!
My love, the Crucified,
Has sprung to life this morrow:
Had Christ, who once was slain,
Not burst His three-day prison,
Our faith had been in vain;
But now has Christ arisen, arisen, arisen;
But now has Christ arisen!

Dear Baptized in Christ,

My wife, Myrna, is a first grade teacher at Martin Luther School in Bismarck. When I was in her classroom the other day, I was looking at the Painted Lady caterpillars she ordered for her class. Her excited little first graders are anxiously waiting for these caterpillars to enter their chrysalis, and then finally come forth as beautiful butterflies.

How magnificent that the God, in His creation, gives us a picture of His redemption for the world in HIs created cycle of the Painted Lady.

Jesus is like the caterpillar. What a picture this is of His human nature as He comes to earth to take on our human flesh and blood. This reminds us of the hymn that says, “Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?” Or consider the words of Martin Luther as he describes God becoming man in Christ like that of a man becoming a slug on the sidewalk. Like the unattractive caterpillars in the jar in the first grade room, so is Jesus as He comes to earth with all of our unattractive sins and eternal death.

Holy Week comes… Our Savior willingly goes the cross in our place. With bitter grief and sorrow, with whips and nails and spears, Jesus dies the death of every sinner. He enters the tomb that cocoons Him in for 3 days. Walther, in His delightful Easter hymn pens,

“The foe was triumphant when on Calvary the Lord of creation was nailed to the tree. In Satan’s domain did the hosts shout and jeer, For Jesus was slain, whom the evil ones fear.”

Satan, and all that belongs to the darkness, were having a party – thinking Jesus was wrapped in the cocoon shroud forever.

“But short was their triumph; the Savior arose, And death, hell, and Satan He vanquished His foes. The conquering Lord lifts His banner on high; HE lives, yes, He lives, and will nevermore die.”

Christ broke forth from the cocoon of death, and comes out our beautiful Savior and Redeemer. He is the firstfruits of all those who will rise from the dead. Today, yes today, you have new life in Christ. All your sins are forgiven. You are a new creation! Daily you are washed in the Easter waters of Holy Baptism.

On the Last Day, the triumphant risen Lamb of God will return and call you forth from your grave. Not even death can kill you forever. This is what the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter morning is all about. You are a saved eternally!

Now YOU are the beautiful butterfly, coming forth from the baptismal font everyday, dying with Christ, and rising with Him every single day!
This IS a Joyful Eastertide! For Christ is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia! (And so have you)!

Baptized in Christ,

On Sunday, April 10. Messiah Lutheran Church, Mandan ND, has extended to me the call of Assistant Pastor. In the time Messiah needed in preparing the call papers, and with Holy Week and Easter, I am now at this time able to share this call with you.

Allow me to share with you some of the wording from the Call Document:

“Messiah Lutheran Church is extending this call to the District President of the North Dakota District in response to Article XIV of the Augsburg Confession, “Our churches teach that no one should publicly teach in the Church, or administer the Sacraments without a rightly ordered call.”

“Messiah Lutheran Church wishes to extend this call so that the District President is “attached” to an altar and pulpit of a congregation,”

“This call as Assistant Pastor carries with it no administrative or decision-making role.”

“Rev. Baneck would be asked to preach a minimum of four times per year at Messiah.”

“Rev. Baneck’s role may also include teaching of Bible Study, Catechesis, workshops, an occasional hospital visit, assisting with the liturgy, etc.”

“There is no remuneration with this call.”

“It is understood that as District President, the duties and responsibilities as District President take priority over any and all duties at Messiah.”

As I contemplate this call, I would certainly welcome your thoughts and questions, and especially I would ask for your prayers.

In the name of our Risen Christ who is Lord of the Church,

James A. Baneck
District President
North Dakota District LCMS

Special Flood Bulletin from President Baneck

Dear Baptized in Christ,

When I was the pastor at Messiah, Mandan, the favorite holiday of one of my members was April Fool’s Day. One year my chair and other office furniture was moved out of my office to another location of the church. Another year, this man had someone help him put the church dumpster in the back of my pickup box. It was all in fun and we had many laughs over it.

Consider these words of St. Paul in I Corinthians 1:

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God … For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men … God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”

I suppose to the world we look, act, and sound rather foolish, wouldn’t you say? We talk about a Jesus who died, and that this death saves the world from sin. We strive to abstain from the sinful things of the world in which so many revel. We seem odd, prudish, and even silly in the eyes of the world. We talk about mission trips and giving to the poor. We talk about giving 1/10 of our income to a God we cannot see. Church workers are making a fraction of the money the world is making with comparable education and responsibilities. It all seems so foolish, doesn’t it?

Can you imagine how foolish Jesus looked to the world, especially on Holy Thursday and Good Friday? For three years Jesus talked of being God and coming from God. For three years Jesus talked of overthrowing the enemy and being eternal. How silly He must have looked when the soldiers came and arrested him in the Garden of Gethsemane and He seemed so powerless. How silly Jesus must have looked before the Sanhedrin when people were spitting on him and making fun of Him. How silly Jesus must have looked and sounded when He was forgiving sin from a cross He was staining with His own blood.

But behind all the foolishness, behind all the mocking, behind the veil in which Jesus appeared to be powerless – all the while He was in control and He was God. On the cross Jesus displays the full power of God, that in death He redeems mankind. On the cross Jesus displays a wisdom deeper and fuller than any man could comprehend, for He was putting an end to the era of Satan’s reign through His own death on the cross. In spite of how foolish He appeared on the cross, Jesus knew His triumph was only three days coming. Jesus knew, hanging from the cross that He was ushering in the Day of Redemption when new and eternal life would be given to all who believe in His seemingly foolish suffering and death.

Dear Lenten Christian, while you appear foolish in the eyes of the world by going to Church, pleading God’s mercy for forgiveness, and loving your neighbor – you are robed with the wisdom and power of God. You are indeed His redeemed child, purchased and saved “not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.” There is no wisdom in the world greater than this. No man could have invented this.

Paul continues in I Corinthians 1:30-31:

“And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us WISDOM from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Wow! Now that’s a wisdom that just simply blows your mind! This is no April Fool’s joke; this is the wisdom and power of God to save you!

Continued Lenten Blessings to all!
President Baneck

The goal of Project 24 is to establish and support 24 orphanages in Kenya, six in each of the four synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya, a mission partner of the the LCMS. To read the entire article, Click Here

Dear Baptized in Christ,

In 1529, Martin Luther finished his Small Catechism. Contained in this book, which has been used for generations in teaching children and adults the faith, is one jewel that is often unmined. Luther titles Section V of his catechism “How the Unlearned Should be Taught to Confess.” It is true! The Lutheran Church practices private confession and absolution.

Luther asks the questions, “What sins should we confess?” He answers, “Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even of those that we do not know, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer. But before the confessor we should confess only those sins that we know and feel in our hearts.”

When you sin, when your conscience is plagued with guilt, when you lie awake at night over an offense you committed against your neighbor and God – where do you unload these sins, to whom do you tell, who will give you absolution and peace for your heart and soul and mind?

Luther answers these questions in his Catechism, “before the confessor…” The confessor is your pastor. Think of Luther’s brief form of confession and absolution as he begins, “You should speak to the confessor like this, ‘Reverend and dear sir, I ask you to hear my confession, and to pronounce forgiveness to me for God’s sake.’”

Later in Luther’s Brief Form of Confession he writes, “For those who have great burdens on their consciences, or are distressed and tempted, the confessor will know how to comfort and to encourage them to believe with more passages of Scripture.”

This is the purpose of private confession: to confess one’s sins, yes, but even more so, to hear the beautiful, sweet words of absolution, “Your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Every time we go to the pastor to confess our sins we walk away freed and forgiven, released and restored!

Private confession and absolution is for all Christians, but I would like to specifically ask this question of my pastors: WHO IS YOUR FATHER CONFESSOR? Pastors sin. Pastors live with guilt and torment. A pastor is to be above reproach and yet when he sins, he often tries to hide it. This eats at him more and more. What comfort and relief a Father Confessor can be!

Dear pastors, as you approach the season of Lent and you preach God’s Word of repentance, if you are not already doing so, I would encourage you to seek out a Father Confessor. Go, and unload your burden of sin and guilt, and hear for yourself, as it affects your life and ministry, the words of forgiveness and eternal life – FOR YOU!

The Psalmist writes, “For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

In the night time of Good Friday, Jesus bore our sins, as even He became sin for us who knew no sin. In the morning, Easter morning, our Savior raised Himself from the dead. in your baptism, you have died with Christ, and you have been raised with Him. As you confess your sins to your pastor or Father Confessor, you are taken back to Calvary and to the open tomb. And the announcement of Christ’s redemption is put upon you with healing crucifixion and resurrection salve. The salve is Christ Himself – as He gives healing to your life and soul. The salve of Christ is heard with the ears of faith, “Your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

In Christ,
President Baneck
Galatians 2:20

‘Tis the spring of souls today: Christ has burst His prison!
And from three day’s sleep in death as a sun has risen;
All the winter of our sins, long and dark, is flying
From His Light, to whom is giv’n laud and praise undying.
(LSB #487:2)

As I write this article, it is 5 degrees below 0. It has been winter for a long time.

I think of C.S. Lewis’ series The Chronicles of Narnia, especially “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” You might remember that in this book, the White Witch has reigned over Narnia for over a century with perpetual winter. While the snow is deceivingly pretty, to have winter all the time is more than one can barely handle.

It has been winter for a long time… If winter is likened to the sinful, fallen state of all creation since the time of the Fall in Genesis 3, then indeed, it has been winter for a long time – and we’re getting tired of it; it so much wants to wear us down!

If this winter is a picture of our fallen state, that we begin to realize all the more just how devastating the Fall truly is. It has been a winter of cold, snow, icy roads, backed-up ice on the roof, 100-car pile ups, shoveling, wind, more snow, snow banks, dirty cars, dreary skies, below zero temperatures, and more snow. As the winter seems to never end, so it is with the Fall, along with the affects of this fallen and broken world – it seems to never end.

But wait! Go back and read the hymn stanza above. Indeed, the winter of our sins is long and dark, but there is hope, there is awaiting joy, there is spring, there is Resurrection! Not only do we know eventually we will experience the beautiful spring and summer of North Dakota, but even now, right now, ours is the spring of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!

We don’t have to wait for seasons or days or snow melt or warming temperatures to have Easter – Easter is constant and without end! Easter is yours right now in your Baptism – you are an Easter people, a people forgiven by God, who has melted our sins, warmed our hearts, and gives us the eternal Son-light of eternal life!

In the dark days of winter, in the sadness of this fallen world, having to experience this cold and bitter world of sin, I give you the words of St. Paul to the Ephesians (chapter 5):

“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

We’ll get through this North Dakota winter, and even more so – already God in Christ Jesus has gotten us through the winter of our sins. You are a people of the resurrection, even as St. Paul says, “If we if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6) Truly, we have been raised in a resurrection like His, even as we await the final resurrection, yet even now, He permeates our very being with the warmth of his love, the sunshine of His forgiveness, and the light of everlasting life.

Take heart, people of the North Dakota District – ours is the “spring of souls” everyday in the Risen Christ!

In Christ,
President Baneck
Galatians 2:20

Dear Baptized in Christ,

I’m guessing Christmas is much on your mind these days.
For just a few moments, however, could just get you thinking about January 13 and 14?
If you have not already done so, please sign up TODAY for the Joint North Theological Conference.
President Harrison will be our speaker; addressing the North Dakota and Minnesota North Districts on his three-fold vision for the LCMS

• Witness
• Mercy
• Life Together

These are three very important themes for our church – which has significance right down to our local congregations and each individual Christian.
Please sign up and be a part of this critical discussion for times such as these. This conference is for ALL THE CHURCH: lay people, clergy, women, men, everyone!

Please visit the Joint North Theological Conference page more details.

Hope to see you there!
President Baneck

Dear Christians,
I am working on a 4-part Bible study which I will be sharing with our District congregations in the coming months. These Bible Studies will focus around the 4 value statements of our District:

• One in Christ
• Bible Based
• Mission Minded
• Grateful Stewards

As I write these studies, I am seeking input from you. As you think of the North Dakota District – what would be important to include in a Bible Study around our first value: One in Christ? What Bible passages would you say are most pertinent? What confessional statements would you use? What does “One in Christ” look like in the North Dakota District? What scenarios, examples, or illustrations in our District relate to this value? Do you know of any YouTube clips, media, etc that would be useful as attention grabbers, discussion starters, etc. What reliable statistics, demographics, etc do you have (with sources)? Anything you want to contribute in this value statement.

I’m only asking for input for the FIRST VALUE: “One in Christ” for now. Later I will solicit your thoughts on the other three.

Thanks for your input.
Blessings in Christ,
President Baneck

“I am crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ Lives in me.” Galatians 2:20

One of my priorities for ministry in the district is caring, confident, servant-like Leadership. It is important to set goals and priorities in ministry, and then develop a plan to implement them. having led many district entities through a goal-planning process, I believe it is important for the district, at all levels, to keep their vision, goals, and implementation before them.

As a leader in the district, one of my priorities is Encouragement and Compassion. I see it a priority to care for pastors, principals, full-time church workers, and their families. I believe they need a compassionate ear, regular visitation, and sincere encouragement and prayer. Relationships are a priority in the Church.

Another priority for ministry is Stewardship and Finances. I believe stewardship comes through Christ-centered preaching and teaching. When Christians understand who they are in Christ, as the baptized Children of God, justified by grace, they desire to give their tithes and first fruits to the Lord. Also, it is important to operate with a balanced budget, with the budget reflecting the vision and priorities of the district.

The North Dakota District has wonderful, competent, faithful Christians who are accomplishing much in the kingdom of God. I believe it is a priority to emphasize a Unified Mission Plan for the district. When our auxiliaries, human care ministries, schools, campus ministries, and rural and urban churches are working together under the common goal of proclaiming Christ – so much more can be accomplished in nurturing Christians and making new ones.