Ascension Lutheran Church Podcast

Working for wages leads to burn out. Jesus offers a very different motivation for work.

No matter where we are, in a rocky place or a comfy bed, in a lounge chair on the beach or an adjustable hospital bed, God is with us, connected through Jesus.

I woke up grumpy. Actually, I woke up a couple of hours earlier than what I had set my alarm for and my mind began to race with a particular problem that has been ongoing for some time. Here's how everything changed for the better.

A friend of mine has a love/hate relationship with socks. His puppy just swallowed one. If the sock doesn't reappear on its own, surgery is on the docket.

The readings for this Sunday take us with John to his revelation of the end times and what he got to see in heaven. And guess what John saw?

Almost can consume us. Especially if it involves our hearts desires. Children. Spouse. New job. Cancelling the cancer.

Either Jesus has provided for our complete forgiveness and restoration with God, or he has not. And the prevailing opinion taught from the Pope on down to the local priest in the 1500's was that Jesus has done his part of God's salvation through his suffering, death and resurrection, but now each person must also do their part.

I could easily eat a case of baked Cheetos. If I had a case of wet wipes.   What in your life do you put off because it's too messy? It takes too much work.   Could it be a relationship that's dear to you that needs attention. Likely some conversation needing conversing.

The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 42, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”

The catalogue arrived old school. Compliments of the US Postal Service.   I didn't know companies still sent them. I remember my parents getting the Sears Christmas catalogue and spending time just looking at all that was available. This catalogue was from Amazon.

In our elementary school lunchroom we had this picture of Jesus hanging on the wall and I loved it. I imagined myself as the kid with the airplane looking fondly at our Lord.

On Tuesday evening the conversation soon morphed into a cassette tape journey down memory lane. My high school years have been labeled the cassette tape era of rock music.

Sunday, September 28 was our Foundations of Faith Capital Campaign commitment Sunday. And I am excited to share with you the results. Keeping in mind that this number will still be growing as more people submit their pledges in the coming days and weeks.

The book of Ecclesiastes provides an unvarnished look at reality. There is a flaw in the system that is designed to reward the good and unless you understand the law of random chance life will be hard to understand.

I'm a big egg guy. Could eat them every day. Do eat them almost every day especially now since I'm suppose to drastically limit carbs and sugar. I gravitate toward fried in bacon drippings. Over easy. With habanero hot sauce for the yolk.

I used to enjoy watching the nightly news at 5:30pm each night, but not any more.

Situations and events wreak the same havoc on our view. Causes us to see things disproportionately.

Acts chapter 2 Peter reminds us that Baptism is for you and your children.

Paul wrote to the slave owner Philemon about his runaway slave. Paul does not condemn him for owning another human being or even scold him wrongness of slavery, but that's not to say that he had nothing to say about these two men and their relationship with each other.

Transfer a prescription. Not an easy task. Express Scripts won't call the local pharmacy for a transfer. You have to get your doctor to send them a new prescription directly even if it's the same prescription.

But the wisdom of Proverbs comes in couplets and the end the second part of Proverbers of 14:4 states, “but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.”

The $12 car wash failed on multiple levels. I passed up the $20 version.   The scrubbing strips seemed to miss major portions of my truck. The tires look like they weren't even touched. Still covered in dust.

The card arrived compliments of the mail carrier. Encouraging me to better understand how my property taxes get decided. Something about “revenue neutral rates.”

RSVP Your Spot for the Foundations of Faith Small Group Meeting https://forms.gle/iTZcUNTDcfT8QD4R9 You will soon start to see progress being made in preparation for the Ascension Lutheran Grade School. Classrooms have been cleared out to make room for the renovation process.

This devotion is my 250th saved devotion. I say “saved” because there were other devotions in the beginning that I did not save. I never thought I would continue doing them for this long.

I have made a few videos about ChatGPT and other large language models In which I have sung their praises. But after using ChatGPT and other Apps like grok and Copilot, I have found that not only can they give you inaccurate and wrong information, But that also will tell you what you want to hear.

It's hard for me as a pastor not to view movies in the light of theology. It used to bother my wife when we were first married, but I can't stop seeing biblical themes run through storylines. And so today I want to look at the new Supeman and compare and contrast him to Jesus.

We want all of our relationships to be good. Our hearts sense “former” shouldn't define friends.

Read the Journal Article https://publications.ctsfw.edu/bookcase/tjycg/

The online check register attested to $435 more in the account than my paper checkregister. I was concerned. But it was a good kind of concern.

RSVP for the Ascension Grade School July 26 Banquet https://forms.gle/2VhXbxCBfX9JV5x7A

Varmints. Raccoons and squirrels. They have developed a taste for my tomatoes that I want and need to turn into spaghetti sauce, ketchup, salsa, soup, and chili; and of course for BLTs and hamburgers and sandwiches and Caprese salad.

RSVP for the Ascension Grade School July 26, 2025 Banquet https://forms.gle/4mQjC98GomzU51MY8

This past February, I attended a church conference called Best Practices. It's a gathering of Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod church workers sharing ideas, practices, and ministries with the hope that something learned may spark an innovation in their current ministry or practice.

In family life, say nothing of congregational life, when we see someone doing something that is not right, we often swing hard to one extreme to the other. We either come down hard and condemn the sinner or we say nothing at all.

RSVP for the July 26 School Banquet https://forms.gle/FBYeqa5jJuhDiDLj6

I am thankful for the gift of medicine and technology our God has given us. I am praying the cancer cells don't come back or reactivate. Join me in rejoicing in praise to God and join me in thankfulness even when one is still going through the pay up.

The amazing truth that confronts each of us today is that the Holy Spirit is just as active today and, in our lives, as he was on the day of Pentecost.

This coming Sunday is the last Sunday of Easter until the completion of the 50 day Easter celebration that ends with Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Ascension is the day we celebrate Jesus transitioning from being at one place physically, to be present everywhere, always with us, always showing up somehow, someway as King of kings.

It is hard for us to remember that Christianity isn't our religion, but we were outsiders who have been adopted into the Jewish family, by the Jewish Messiah.

Earlier this Spring, I was cleaning up the corner flower bed by our front door. We have a large River Birch that grows there and its leaves still covered a mound on which we plant flowers. When I blew the leaves off the mound, to my surprise the Dianthus flowers and the Dusty Miller survived the winter

I came across an interesting article last week by Kelsey Borresen from the online version of Huffpost. And if you are raising or have raised children, I think that you might also want to tune in as well.

God treats you with never-ending love. An always-present ear. A forever-attentive eye. He treats you with His Son. His Spirit. His heart longing for your heart.

As a kid, glitter was this magical sparkle that could be added to any art project, and it would make even the most mundane picture a masterpiece. My thinking back then as a child was: more glitter, more better.

You belong to Jesus. Your ending is resurrection. You and the rest of the world will one day experience a grandiose makeover where all who belong to Jesus will live in crystal clear joy.

Register for VBS - June 9-13 Tyler Campus https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094FABAD28ABFD0-56094137-vbsjune#/

What a mess. Not only had Jesus been tragically taken from those who so dearly loved him. Not only had he suffered so terrible at the hands of the authorities that had been called by God to serve and protect the innocent. Not only had Jesus been crucified, mocked and forsaken by God. But now they can't even properly grieve his death.

Last week, being Holy Week, reminded me once again of one of my most egregious errors. I'm sure I was taught in seminary. I guess. Or else they simply assumed. Incorrectly.

What makes God's grace so amazing isn't that it is free and that you need do nothing, but that God offers his grace as we actively resist his offer fighting with every inch of our being to make things right on our own.

After weeks of anxious waiting, the surgeon revealed the results. I hadn't expected the word he used.