KEISKER REFLECTS ON 100 YEARS, LOOKS FORWARD

He's lived through two World Wars, survived the Great Depression, seen Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs, watched television when it was brand new and watched man walk on the moon.

But for the hundreds who have known him and call him friend, they are just glad the Rev. Walter Keisker has had the courtesy to be around for a century.

Friday was Keisker's birthday and to celebrate the Lutheran Family and Children's Services of Southeast Missouri put together a "century of blessings" dinner party to honor the man who spent more than 50 years ministering to the congregation at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Jackson. More than 300 people attended.

"Dr. Keisker is a living example of what we are about," said David Roth, president of the board of the Lutheran Family and Children Services of Southeast Missouri. "As Christians we have to speak the word of God and live it out in love. He did both."

It is that faithfulness that brought Vernon Kasten of Jackson to Keisker's party. Kasten has known Keisker since his arrival in Jackson in 1938.

Keisker graduated from Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis in 1923. His first served as pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Flat River, now Park Hills. He came to Jackson in 1938 and served 30 years. Then he was pastoral assistant there from 1968 to 1984.

Keisker still conducts Bible studies, and is an active member of the Cape Girardeau Historical Society and the Jackson Chamber of Commerce.

He said it is a pastor's duty to stay involved in the community. But he warns that ministers should remember their priorities.

"I don't think they should put the community ahead of their church," Keisker said. "Church work should come first and the community second otherwise you cannot carry out your contract with the parish. But the community should not be forgotten."

Keisker stays active in the community and pays attention to the news -- something he has always done. He said pastors should preach sermons that relate to the topics of the day.

"We want to apply the word of God to the time we live in and yet remain true to it," Keisker said. "The word of God is as true today as it was when it was first written."

But he has found that faith in God and his word has dwindled with the passage of time. Keisker said during times of hardship such as the Great Depression, there was more faith because people had no choice but to turn to God. Today the economy is good and people do not make God part of their lives, he said.

Keisker said instead they try to push God out. They misinterpret the constitution and have tried to take God out of society.

"There are too many people who don't understand what the First Amendment means," Keisker said. "They think the First Amendment does not only call for a separation, but that the state has an obligation to oppose religion. It says nothing of the kind. The First Amendment says that there can be no state supported church -- period."

Keisker said he cannot understand how anyone can use the First Amendment to take manger scenes off courthouse lawns or take the Ten Commandments out of schools.

He said the problem is that everyone has abandoned the standard of God's word. And even in his own church, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Keisker said too many people are injecting their own opinions and changing the Bible to fit their own needs.

"There is one word for the first century," Keisker said. "There is one word for the 21st century. It is all the same."