Michael T. Lembke

Col. Michael T. Lembke, an ELCA pastor, was born in California and grew up in Indiana. He loves serving soldiers, writing and playing music. He appreciates the joy of having a loving, supportive spouse, Nancy, and two wonderful adult children, Heidi, from New York City, and Mike, Morgantown, W.Va. Lembke recently served as the U.S. Forces-Iraq chaplain in Baghdad.

• Celebrating citizenship
• Go ahead, go to some trouble
  Some moments call for blatant extravagance
• A fall to remember
• 'The Lutheran' in the afternoon, Bonhoeffer in the evening
• Called to freedom
  Reading Galatians in Iraq
• Steeped in hospitality
  Could Iraqi tea offer a recipe for building bridges?
• Blessings from Baghdad
• Back to Iraq
  ELCA military chaplain prepares to deploy

• Closing this chapter
• Legacy, lineage, liturgy and listening
• "Welcome home. Where are you goin'? When are you leavin'?"
• We need space
• Water brings perspective
• Going the long way at the commissary
• Welcome home, inside & out
• Home from Iraq, jet-lag is part of re-entry
• Going home: advice for returning soldiers
• Running and remembering in Iraq
• Inspiration, perspiration, desperation... plus celebration and collegiality
• Duffle-bag drag
• Star quality
• Clean and serviceable, as 2010 ends
• One story, many stories
• For many, Christmas is about home
• Spiritual Thanksgiving
• People of goodwill
• Direct sunlight
• Seeing the forest and the trees
• A mustard seed that stands the heat
• Standing up for justice & mercy
• Making chaplain's visits to soldiers...and other chaplains
• Mozart in the mess hall
• Three 'C's: Community, collegiality and courage
• 'Give us the word'
• Humility
• Chaplains & suicide prevention work
• Jesus would have us focus on eternity
• The electricity is off, but the tea is on
• Page 247
• Jacob & Esau
• Peace through music
• Memorial Day was as much about the living as the dead
• God's grace over speed bumps
• On the road to healing
• A typical day
• Night melodies
• Opening doors
• The people I meet
• Riding the Rhino
• Blessings from Baghdad
• Going to the gym, packing the kit
• It's an attitude thing
• Photos from Kuwait and Bosnia
• Back to Iraq