David Bahn – Reflections

Light from the Word and through the lens

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In 1968 Jerry Snell opened a door in the hallway outside our first hour chemistry class. He invited me into what I discovered was a darkroom. Soon I was on the school newspaper and annual staff as a photographer. Later I learned that Jerry was a Lutheran who was planning to become a pastor. A few years later I was not only a Lutheran, but I was heading off to seminary to become a Lutheran pastor, too. Jerry followed a year later and served as a pastor in Missouri until his untimely heart attack and death. I thank God for Jerry and enjoy photography still today – not to mention rejoicing in having served as a Lutheran pastor in congregations in Utah, Colorado, Arkansas and Texas. I’ve retired now and serve part time as a Congregational Support Specialist for the Texas District of the LCMS. I also provide coaching and leadership training through various PLI cohorts and with individual congregations and organizations. David Bahn is a follower of Jesus Christ, husband to Diane, father and grandfather. He is an avid amateur photographer. His photo website is “Flowers by God Photos by David” He also publishes a devotional blog DavidBahn-Reflections.com. He and Diane live in Cypress Texas and enjoy visiting their grandchildren who live in the United States and Germany. He graduated from Concordia Theological Seminary in 1979, and earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in 1991. Diane, his wife, is now retired from PLI (PLIleadership.org). They have offered presentations on Marriage and Ministry Partnership, Leadership, Changing Your Congregation’s Culture, and Missional Living. They look are working with PLI International training pastors and wives of the ELVD Diocese of the Lutheran Church of Tanzania. David’s personal mission statement is “Leading people to realize Jesus’ calling and plans for their lives.”

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  • Follow the Word: The Spiritual Capillary Effect

    Follow the Word: The Spiritual Capillary Effect

    Listen to today’s devotion Today’s readings: Jeremiah 10-12, Psalm 60. Jeremiah 10:1-12 Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the LORD: “Learn not the way of the nations,    nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens    because the nations are dismayed at them,3 for the customs of the peoples are vanity.A tree from…

  • Follow the Word: Is there no balm in Gilead?

    Follow the Word: Is there no balm in Gilead?

    Listen to today’s devotion Today’s readings: Jeremiah 7-9, Psalm 59. Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the   LORD:   “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,   24   but   let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I…

  • Follow the Word: The Song of God

    Follow the Word: The Song of God

    Listen to today’s devotion Today’s readings: Zephaniah 1-3, Psalm 56. Zephaniah 3:14-20 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;    shout, O Israel!Rejoice and exult with all your heart,    O daughter of Jerusalem!15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;    he has cleared away your enemies.The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;    you shall never again fear evil.16 On that day it…

  • Follow the Word: God’s Rightful Place

    Follow the Word: God’s Rightful Place

    Listen to today’s devotion Today’s readings: 2 Kings 23, 2 Chronicles 34-35, Psalm 55. 2 Chronicles 34:1-7 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; and he…

  • Follow the Word: When Comfort Comes

    Follow the Word: When Comfort Comes

    Listen to today’s devotion Today’s readings: Nahum 2-3, 2 Kings 22, Psalm 54. 2 Kings 22:11-13, 15-20 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. 12 And the king commanded [his men], saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this…

  • Follow the Word: Grace Received Becomes Grace Shared

    Follow the Word: Grace Received Becomes Grace Shared

    Listen to today’s devotion Today’s readings: Isaiah 66, 2 Kings 20-21, Psalm 52. Isaiah 66:19-24 I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20 And they shall bring…

  • Today’s Psalms for July 26, 2026

    Please pray these Psalms with me on this Lord’s Day  Psalm 26 Vindicate me, O LORD,    for I have walked in my integrity,    and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.2 Prove me, O LORD, and try me;    test my heart and my mind.3 For your steadfast love is before my eyes,    and I walk in your faithfulness. 4 I do not sit with men of falsehood,    nor do I consort with hypocrites.5 I hate the…

  • Follow the Word: True Religion

    Follow the Word: True Religion

    Listen to today’s devotion Today’s readings: Isaiah 57-59, Psalm 49. Isaiah 57:14-19 And it shall be said,“Build up, build up, prepare the way,    remove every obstruction from my people’s way.”15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,    who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:“I dwell in the high and holy place,    and also with him who is of…

  • Follow the Word: Five More Jewels from Isaiah

    Follow the Word: Five More Jewels from Isaiah

    Listen to today’s devotion Today’s readings: Isaiah 54-56, Psalm 48. The verses from these chapters that I will use are in the text of this post. JJust when you think you’ve reached the mountaintop, you discover another five peaks—each stunningly beautiful in its own right. That’s what happens after Isaiah 53 (yesterday’s post, The Gospel…

  • Follow the Word: The Gospel According to Isaiah

    Follow the Word: The Gospel According to Isaiah

    Listen to today’s devotion Today’s readings: Isaiah 51-53, Psalm 47. Isaiah 53:5-7 Who has believed what he has heard from us?        And to whom has  the arm of the  LORD been revealed?2  For he grew up before him like a young plant,        and like a root out of dry ground;he had no form or majesty that we should look at…