Podcasts about Lowell

Today on the podcast, we'll cover the CFO of a southern Vermont hospital who has resigned, the town of Lowell is holding a vote this week on an industrial solar project, then later, unique gifts made in Vermont for everyone on your list.

Interracial Marriage is critical to the reasons for a priesthood/temple ban on black LDS Church members. For many years, the official position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) was that “it is not known precisely why, how, or when this restriction [on the priesthood for male members of African descent] began in the church.” However, historical research utilizing early records suggests that the origins of the ban are quite specific, pointing to a confluence of events involving race and interracial sexual relations (often called “amalgamation” or “miscegenation” at the time) that served as the primary catalyst. https://youtu.be/V3DtkTfLazM Don't miss our other conversations on the priesthood ban: https://gospeltangents.com/mormon_history/racial-priesthood-temple-ban/ Copyright © 2025 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved 0:00 Meet Stassi Cram Priesthood Before the Prejudice (1830–1846) Contradicting later restrictions, evidence shows that Black men held the priesthood and participated in temple ordinances during the earliest decades of the Church. Black Pete, the first Black convert, was baptized in 1830 and served a mission in Ohio, likely performing baptisms in January 1831. Elijah Abel, perhaps the most famous early Black Mormon, was ordained an Elder and then a Seventy in 1836, received his washing and anointing ordinance in the Kirtland Temple, and participated in baptisms for the dead in the 1840s. Joseph Ball was ordained a high priest and served as a branch president in Lowell, Massachusetts, after Joseph Smith’s death in 1844. Ball was also slated to receive his temple endowment in Nauvoo in 1845. Walker Lewis, baptized in 1843, was ordained an Elder by William Smith, and was later referred to by Brigham Young in 1847 as “one of the best elders an African in Lowell,” [Massachusetts.] Furthermore, marriage between Black and white members was not automatically prohibitive; John Teague, a white Irishman, joined the church in 1842 with his Black wife, Evelyn Wilbur, and John was ordained a priest and then an elder. These facts confirm that no formal priesthood restrictions existed before 1847. Interracial Marriage Crisis of 1847 The shift from granting the priesthood to prohibiting it appears to have been driven by the highly visible, controversial interracial relationships of two Black elders in 1846 and 1847. Warner McCary and Interracial Polygamy: McCary, a freed slave who claimed to be part Indian, was baptized by Apostle Orson Hyde in 1846. Some believe he was ordained an Elder, but this is disputed. In 1847, McCary married Lucy Stanton, a white woman, with Orson Hyde performing the wedding. McCary later caused outrage in Winter Quarters by engaging in “sealing ceremonies” with white women that included sexual intercourse witnessed by his wife. Church leaders quickly expelled McCary from the camp. Brigham Young expressed concern about “amalgamation,” or race mixing, during a meeting where McCary was discussed. Enoch Lewis and the Mixed-Race Child: Simultaneously, in Massachusetts, Enoch Lewis (son of Elder Q. Walker Lewis) married Matilda Webster, a white woman, in 1846, and they had a mixed-race infant girl in 1847. Mission president William Applebee was so disgusted upon meeting the couple and their child that he wrote a dismayed report to Brigham Young asking if it was “the order of God to be tolerated in this church to ordain negroes to the priesthood” and allow amalgamation. When Brigham Young received Applebee’s report in October 1847, he responded strongly, stating that when Black and White people “mingle seed it is death to all” and that if they were far away from non-Mormons, they would “all be killed.” Following these cases, Brigham Young privately claimed that “black-white sexual relations were against the law of God and advocated death to all who participated.” This reaction was fueled by a desire to stop interracial marriage & led to the institutional restriction. The ban was publicly affirmed on February 15, 1852, when Brigham Young addressed the Utah territorial legislature and espoused the Curse of Cain doctrine, stating that the mark of Cain “is seen in the face of every negro on the earth” and declaring that any man “having one drop of seed of Cain in him cannot hold the priesthood.” Elephant in the Room: Racism While interracial relationships may have been the catalyst that triggered the ban, many argue that this analysis ignores the underlying issue: pre-existing racial prejudice. Marguerite Driessen notes, “interracial marriage can cause no problems and it can result in no bad consequences at all unless there’s already racial prejudice to begin with.” The underlying racism allowed church leaders to: Ignore precedents like Elijah Abel's ordination. Contort accepted doctrine to justify exclusion. For example, the Second Article of Faith states that humans will be punished for their own sins, not Adam’s transgression, yet the priesthood ban relied on the “curse of Cain,” effectively punishing Black individuals for the sins of an ancestor. The notion of “accursed lineage” derived from the Book of Abraham’s account of Egyptus, which was used to justify denying saving ordinances based solely on lineage, a factor over which people have “no agency or control.” Thus, the events of 1847-1852 did not create the prejudice, but rather offered a convenient, concrete focus for leaders to impose restrictions that many members and leaders were already culturally inclined to accept. The ban was the result of church policy, not doctrine, and was maintained because the congregation was unwilling to fully accept equality until the 1978 revelation ended the restriction.

December 15, 2025Today's Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 30:27-31:9; Revelation 3:1-22"A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain." (Isaiah 40:3-4)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.When John the Baptizer was asked who he was, he pointed to this verse from Isaiah. So, how did he change the landscape? By preaching repentance. Turns out people aren't generally keen on confessing their sins. The world is not a very forgiving place. We ourselves have been trained from the earliest ages to find reasons why our wrongs were actually rights. A child who is confronted with knocking over a lamp might blame a stuffed animal. That doesn't work, but our reasoning gets more sophisticated as we grow. It was a sibling's fault. It was a parent's fault for putting the lamp so close to the edge. It was an emergency, so haste was more important than the lamp. Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter. So long as someone believes it, we show ourselves to be right.We live in a world that demands self-righteousness. If you cannot justify yourself, you will be blamed. However, when people without faith sin in such a way that they cannot justify themselves, it breaks them. Guilt overwhelms them. All that self-justification was actually protection. And without it, people lose their minds, which is why confession and absolution in the Church is so weird to people. Why would anyone willingly put themselves through such guilt and shame? However, the repentance of a Christian has two parts. First is sorrow over our sin. That is the same as anyone else. It's the second part that is different. The second part is hope. A sure and certain hope that all our sin is forgiven. The guilt is made Christ's. The shame hangs on His shoulders. His blood pays for it. And His life is given for our salvation.Without Christ, we would make mountains to hide our sin behind. We would bury in whatever valley we could. But the way of the Lord leaves nowhere for our sin to hide. All our hiding places are made an open field, so the sin can all be seen. And so that Jesus can take it all away. That is why we are so willing to turn in repentance. That is why we willingly confess our sins. Because we know the one who takes them and makes them His. And they're ours no longer. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Make ye straight what long was crooked; Make the rougher places plain. Let your hearts be true and humble, As befits His holy reign. For the glory of the Lord Now o'er earth is shed abroad, and all flesh shall see the token That His Word is never broken. (LSB 347:4)Author: Rev. Eli Davis, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, OR.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

In this insightful conversation, Kat sits down with celebrated realist painter, author and educator Todd M. Casey. Known for his bestselling books The Art of Still Life and The Oil Painters' Color Handbook, Todd opens up about the winding road that shaped his artistic life, from studying at MassArt to discovering the atelier system and developing a deep appreciation for classical training. He shares refreshing honesty about navigating art school, finding mentors, resisting social media pressure, and staying connected to the curiosity that fuels meaningful work. Whether you're a painter refining your technique, a creative searching for direction, or an artist feeling overwhelmed in a content-driven world, this episode offers clarity and grounded wisdom for your path ahead. What We Cover • Todd's early years discovering art alongside his brother and studying at MassArt • How returning to foundational training transformed his approach to painting • What traditional art education gets wrong, and what artists actually need to grow • Why guidance and consistent mentorship are essential for developing strong technique • The double-edged sword of social media for artists: visibility, burnout, and boundaries • How curiosity, awareness and everyday life become the fuel for new ideas • Navigating commercial expectations, artistic identity and pivoting when your work evolves • The importance of resisting fear-driven creativity and choosing work that feels true • Todd's upcoming books and teaching philosophy About Today's Guest Todd M. Casey is an artist, author and teacher whose work blends classical realism with a contemporary, introspective approach. Born and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, he studied at MassArt, the Academy of Art University, and eventually trained under Jacob Collins at the Water Street Atelier. His paintings and teachings emphasize discipline, observation and a deep respect for the craft of oil painting. He is the author of bestselling books The Art of Still Life and The Oil Painters' Color Handbook, with two new books forthcoming in 2026 and 2027. Todd teaches at the Lyme Academy of Fine Art and through online programs offered worldwide. Links & Resources • Follow Todd M. Casey: Website / Instagram / Patreon • The Art of Still Life and The Oil Painters' Color Handbook • Learn with Todd: Online workshops and mentorship • Explore Create! Magazine: https://www.createmagazine.com • Support independent art publishing on our Substack: createmagazine.substack.com Want More Conversations Like This? Subscribe, leave a review and share this episode with a fellow artist who needs a dose of real-world wisdom and encouragement.

December 14, 2025Today's Reading: Matthew 11:2-11Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 30:15-26; Revelation 2:1-29"Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?" (Matthew 11:3)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.John the Baptizer has been faithful since before he was born. John leapt in his mother Elizabeth's womb in greeting when Jesus visited inside Mary before He was born. He proclaimed a baptism of repentance while dressed in camel's hair and eating locusts. He stood against Herod marrying his brother's wife, which is why he was in prison. But such faithfulness doesn't make doubt impossible, especially when things don't work out the way you hoped they would. We, too, might be faithful in much of what God gives to us. We have confessed Christ when it cost us. We have shared the Gospel with those who needed it, even if they didn't want it. We have called upon Him in times of great need. But what happens when things don't turn out the way we planned? That prayer didn't receive the answer we wanted? That friend betrayed us? A loved one dies? In those moments, we want Christ to answer us: Are you the right one? Or is it someone else? Jesus answers John, John's disciples, and us in the same way, by actually doing the things that He promised. And every promise finds its yes in Jesus' death and resurrection. Because Jesus died for you. Those things that didn't go according to our plan? Remember that God's plan included a cross for Christ to die on. Prayer didn't get the answer we wanted? Jesus prayed for the cup to pass from Him, though not if it was against the Father's will. And the Father's will was for us to be saved from our sin. That friend who betrayed us? By Jesus' betrayal, the price for sin was paid forever on our behalf. A loved one dies? By the death of Jesus, death itself is destroyed. It may have seemed like things were not working throughout Jesus' passion and death. But as Easter morning dawned, sin was forgiven, paid in blood. Death was conquered, as Jesus rose as the firstborn from the dead. The devil had no more claim on anyone, as Christ kicked down the gates of Hell itself in victory. Yes, those moments of doubt come. But all God's promises are answered with “yes” at His cross. Look there, and see what our Lord thinks of you. You are worth God giving up His own life to save. And what can matter more than that?In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lord Jesus Christ, we implore You to hear our prayers and to lighten the darkness of our hearts by Your gracious visitation; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the Third Sunday in Advent)Author: Rev. Eli Davis, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, OR.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

December 13, 2025Today's Reading: Introit for Advent 3 - Psalm 85:1-2, 6, 8; antiphon: Phil. 4:4-5Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 29:15-30:14; Revelation 1:1-20"You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin." (Psalm 85:2)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.The Introit for tomorrow comes from Psalm 85, but there's a part of many psalms that we don't bother with very often. If you open up your Bible to Psalm 85, you will see at or maybe even before verse 1 these words: "To The Choirmaster. A Psalm Of The Sons Of Korah." Who is Korah, and who are his sons? For that answer, we start at Numbers 16.Korah rebelled against Moses during the 40 years in the wilderness. He thought He should lead God's people, and talked a number of them into staging a coup against Moses and Aaron. He refused to meet with Moses, lest Moses kill him and call it judgment from God. Well, the rebellion ended with the ground opening up before the people and swallowing Korah and his closest followers before closing over the top of them. A plague then hit the rest. There was no mistaking God's action. Moses didn't do a thing. But not everyone in Korah's family died. His sons lived (Numbers 26:11). We have their genealogy in 1 Chronicles 6. One of Korah's descendants was a man named Samuel, son of Elkanah, who was the prophet who anointed David to be king. His grandchildren and great-grandchildren went on to be musicians at the temple. The Holy Spirit inspired them to write eleven of the 150 Psalms. They used to rebel against God. And the Lord turned them to be speakers of His Word. He did the same with a Pharisee named Saul, who we now know as St. Paul. And He continues to call us out of our sin, and speak His Word to us, and through us to our neighbors. He does this because God forgives sin. He covers iniquity. And He did that through Jesus. That is why Advent prepares the way for Jesus to come to us. As a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. As a Savior wrapped in burial cloths and laid in a tomb. The death of Jesus pays for all sins, whether Korah's, or Paul's, or ours. His blood covers them all. And we stand forgiven in Him.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Hark, the herald's voice is crying In the desert far and near, Calling sinners to repentance, Since the kingdom now is here. O that warning cry obey! Now prepare for God a way; Let the valley rise to meet Him And the hills bow down to greet Him. (LSB 347:3)Author: Rev. Eli Davis, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, OR.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

December 12, 2025Today's Reading: Jude 1-25Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 29:1-14; Jude 1-25"I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." (Jude 3b) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.The letter from St. Jude, also known as Thaddeus, to the Church is short. But in it, the apostle sees that false teachers are twisting God's Word, and people are following after them. He reminds the Church that this is not the first time this has happened. In fact, it has been happening throughout the history of God's people. From Cain, who killed his brother, to Balaam, who had to be repeatedly warned not to go beyond God's Word, no matter what earthly gain he got from it, to Korah, who rebelled against God and Moses (and whom we will see more of in tomorrow's devotion). We have always needed to be on the lookout for those who say things we want to hear. For the desires of our hearts are only evil continuously (Genesis 6:5). As we saw a couple of days ago, false prophets don't come with warning labels. However, the Lord has let us know that they will be here. And that means we can watch for them. We test everything we hear against the Word of God. Even what you read here, even what you hear from your own pastor. And if there's something that doesn't seem to fit, ask. The misunderstanding may be with you, and he can help. Or the misunderstanding is with him, and you have been a help. For we're all to have mercy on those who doubt, according to St. Jude. Hold tightly to God's Word. For in it we're given Christ. His work of the cross is delivered to us, faith is created in us by the Holy Spirit relaying this Word. God's Word comes to our ears as we hear it read, and as we hear sermons rooted in what God reveals in that Word. God's Word comes to us as Absolution, Christ forgiving our sins directly. God's Word is connected to water in Baptism, where we are buried with Christ in death in order that we can rise with Him in the resurrection. Where we are washed and made clean from all our sin. God's Word says of bread, "This is My body, given for you." The Word says of wine, "This is my blood, shed for your forgiveness." And we receive that word in our mouths.The book of Jude has many other interesting details in it as well. Yet the central theme is to hold tight to that Word, no matter what the world wants you to hear. Because God gives His Gifts by His Word. And that Word is given to you.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Hark the glad sound! The Savior comes, The Savior promised long; Let ev'ry heart prepare a throne And ev'ry voice a song (LSB 349:1)Author: Rev. Eli Davis, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, OR.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

UMass Men's Basketball has won four straight and the last four played vs. Boston College. Coach Frank Martin covers that and the wins over Lowell and Harvard as his team prepares for another ACC challenge with a trip to the Sunshine State to take on Florida State. Huge thanks to the Mass Collective and Commonwealth Legacy Foundation for all the support in Springfield. Interested in joining? check them out here. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

December 11, 2025Today's Reading: Catechism - Table of Duties: To YouthDaily Lectionary: Isaiah 28:14-29; 1 John 5:1-21; 2 John 1-13; 3 John 1-15"Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you" (1 Peter 5:5–6)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.You will hear the word 'vocation' a lot in Lutheran circles. It means the place in which God put you, and the responsibilities that come with that. You will have many different vocations throughout your life. Right now, you are young. And with that comes the responsibility to defer to those with more experience, for experience comes with time. That's a difficult thing to do. Because you have ideas. You know how you want things to go. And you have a world that worships the young, pushing you from behind. Our Lord calls for humility, but humbling oneself just makes everything take longer. But what is better, the Lord raising you up or you raising yourself up? Which one is even possible when we are dead in our own sins?Yet the Lord doesn't call you to do any less than He has done Himself. Jesus is God, and yet when He was in the vocation of youth, He listened to the teachers in the temple—asking good questions, yes, but hearing their answers. Likewise, He was obedient to His earthly parents and humbled Himself to obey what they said. In another vocation, Jesus humbled Himself to be tried before the Sanhedrin. They did not do the right thing, but by Jesus' humility, we were saved. Jesus humbled Himself before Pilate, a pagan who feared more for his own skin than for doing what was right. Pilate also failed, but by Jesus' humility, all our sins are forgiven. Jesus was placed under the authority of death. Not that death had a claim on Him, but by His humility, Jesus died on a cross and saved us from death forever. God places people above us in authority for a reason. Those people might not always get it right, but our Lord does this for our good. When we fall short of what God expects, we humbly return to His grace and mercy, which He gives to us through Christ. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Oh blest that house; It prospers well, In peace and joy the parents dwell. And in their children's lives is shown How richly God can bless His own (LSB 862:4)Author: Rev. Eli Davis, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, OR.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

trying different things from the social leaf

December 10, 2025Today's Reading: 1 John 4:1-21Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 26:20-27:13; 1 John 4:1-21"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.False prophets don't come with warning labels. They do not advertise that they are wolves dressed as sheep. They may not even intend to do harm, but that doesn't stop the harm they cause. There are a lot of things in this world called 'Christian.' And yet, they do damage to Christians and threaten to take away their hope found in Christ. If we are not careful, we may even find ourselves as one of the wolves.This is why it is so important to be in God's Word regularly. Scripture is where God talks to us. He teaches us what is right, what is His. It's God's Word that tells us of our sin and fallen nature. It's God's Word that tells us how God made a plan to save us from the beginning through Jesus. God's Word shows us the world that we really see. Things are difficult here. Things hurt here. There are crosses here, especially when we confess Christ. Anything that tells us these things will not bother you if you have enough faith, does not come from God. Our hope comes from something far better. Our hope is found in Jesus. There is sin in the world. We have sin ourselves. But Jesus bears it in our place. Dies for it on His cross. You know what God thinks of you by looking at what He did on Good Friday for you. He takes your sin away. He forgives you. He saves you. He makes you part of His family. He feeds you. He washes you. He is present even now with you. Now might not be without pain, but with Christ, there is more hope than all the world's comfort apart from Him. Included in this hope is resurrection for you. Eternal life for you. A world without sin for you, those you love in the faith, all believers, and God Almighty Himself. These are all promised in that Word.False prophets, even unwitting ones, put those things in doubt, take those things away. But Christ has given you His Word to test these things by. Be in His Word often. For He is with you always.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen."Comfort, comfort ye My people, Speak ye peace," thus saith our God; "Comfort those who sit in darkness, Mourning 'neath their sorrow's load. Speak ye to Jerusalem Of the peace that waits for them; Tell her that her sins I cover And her warfare now is over." (LSB 347:1)Author: Rev. Eli Davis, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, OR.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

December 9, 2025Today's Reading: Romans 15:4-13Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 26:1-19; 1 John 3:1-24"For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." (Romans 15:4)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.I've sometimes heard people say they like Jesus pretty well, but that Old Testament God sure sounds mean. As tempting as it is to point out that Jesus isn't always smiles and sunshine (Hello, cleansing of the temple!), it's better to find out why. If not, we won't understand why He tells His people to conquer a land and get rid of the people who were in it before. Not understanding that when God's people fall into the same idolatry as those before, the Lord has many harsh things to say and do to them, too.Why is God angry? Because they hurt those whom God loves. They weren't just going about their own business, and then one day got smited by the Lord out of the blue. The Canaanites were offering their own daughters as prostitutes for their idols. They slaughtered their own sons for a mute statue's favor. Wouldn't you get angry if the people around you demanded the most vile things imaginable from your own family members in order to get an inanimate object to love them? Or worse, so they could prove to themselves how good they were?Sin isn't just the breaking of arbitrary rules. Sin hurts those whom God loves. Sin hurts your neighbors, your relationships, your self, your own body, your own soul. Wouldn't you expect the Lord to get angry over such things? And yet, what do we do when that sin is ours? What do we do when God has every right to be angry with us?We give those sins to Him. The Lord's anger isn't like ours. It's not like anything else in this world. God's anger is focused into action. Focused on righting the wrong, healing the wounds, making whole what is broken, taking our sin away. And that doesn't mean that our sin gets ignored, as if it weren't real. It is carried by Christ. Christ, our ram caught in the thicket, who dies instead of us on God's altar. Christ, our brother, who goes ahead of us into death in order that we might live, fed by His Body and Blood. Christ, who parts the sea of sin and death that we may cross over by the Baptism He gives us into a new kingdom. Christ the suffering servant, who bears the sins of the world, including all yours and mine. All the anger over sin has been poured out upon Jesus at the cross for your sake. And He did it for you.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Once He came in blessing, All our sins redressing; Came in likeness lowly, Son of God most holy; Bore the cross to save us; Hope and freedom gave us (LSB 333:1)Author: Rev. Eli Davis, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, OR.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

December 8, 2025Today's Reading: Malachi 4:1-6Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 24:14-25:12; Obadiah 1-21; 1 John 2:15-29"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes." (Malachi 4:5)"On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true." (End of the Explanation of the Third Article) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.We look forward to the coming of the Day of the Lord. A day when all evil will end. A day when those arrogant, who are sure they know better than to believe in God, will come face to face with Him. A day of fire for the sinful world. So that sin, death, and the devil have roots to take hold any longer. On that day, we will go out leaping with joy at the resurrection, the forgiveness of sins, our salvation, and eternal life with God. And all that's left which is wicked will be ash under our feet. We are ready for the Last Day, to be sure. But there is another day that has already happened. A day where evil ended, because it was conquered. A day when the arrogant, who were sure they knew better than God, saw God face to face. A day of fire, as the wrath of God over the world's sin burned brightly. And by this day, by the death of God on this day, sin, death, and the devil have no way for roots to take hold any longer. On that day, that great and awesome day of the Lord, Jesus Christ died on His cross. We call that day Good. What Jesus won for us on that day causes us to go out leaping with joy. Joy over the forgiveness of all our sins. Joy that He has saved us. Joy that eternal life has been made ours. Joy, because resurrection is coming. All promises made by the God who keeps His every promise. Elijah was indeed sent before that day. Jesus Himself will show us that John the Baptizer is the Elijah who was to come. And that same John the Baptizer has likewise made the way ready for Jesus to come to us. From God's perspective, these two are the same day. And we can see them that way as well. We look forward to the coming Day of the Lord. We look back at the already arrived Day of the Lord. And on both days, we rejoice that Jesus Christ has paid for our sin, conquered our death, defeated that devil, and saved us forever. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Behold the Lamb of God That bears the world's transgression, Whose sacrifice removes The devil's dread oppression. Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away our sin, Who for peace and joy Will full atonement win. (LSB 346:3)Author: Rev. Eli Davis, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, OR.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

December 7, 2025Today's Reading: Luke 21:25-36Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 24:1-13; 1 John 1:1-2:14"Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." (Luke 21:28)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Where is God? The nations are in distress, the earth roars with violence, people are fainting with fear, the powers are shaken. Where is God? My home breaks, disaster takes away what I have, fear haunts my waking moments, and the social pressure is more than I can bear. Where is God? I struggle with my sin, my temptation abounds, I endure the disgrace of those who have sinned against me, I am ashamed. Where is God? Diseases rampage, wars rage incessantly, my body breaks, those I love die. Where is God?We ask, because we have heard that God loves us, that God delivers us, that God saves us. If we are going through these things, we assume that He must not really be here, or else we wouldn't go through them at all. Even though our Lord has told us directly that we would. The Lord says, "the wickedness of man [is] great upon the earth, and that every intention of his heart was only evil continuously." However, we still can't figure out why the world has so much evil in it. The Lord said, "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it." Yet we are frustrated that nothing we do seems to change anything. Jesus said, "Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you." And for the life of us, we cannot figure out why the world seems to want us dead, and will do anything to accuse us of the worst.Jesus also said, "Take up your cross and follow me." Where is God? He is found in the suffering, the struggles, the shame, the death. "When you see these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Jesus is found at the cross. And it's there where our sins are counted His, and He pays for them in full. It's there where our shame is counted as His, and He bears it publicly, humiliated before all for our sake. And when you face the things of this world, which will always be there, you never face them alone. Your redeemer is with you. Jesus is with you. And these things are not the proof of God's absence. Just the opposite. He's telling you to take them as proof of His presence. "Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of your only-begotten Son, that by His coming we may be enabled to serve you with pure minds; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the Second Sunday in Advent)Author: Rev. Eli Davis, pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Grants Pass, OR.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

December 6, 2025Today's Reading: Introit for Advent 2 - Psalm 80:1, 3, 14, 17; antiphon: Isaiah 62:11b; 30:30, 29Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 14:1-23; 2 Peter 3:1-18“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes.' The Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard, and you shall have gladness of heart. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved! Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see. But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself! Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your salvation comes.' The Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard, and you shall have gladness of heart.” (Introit for the Second Week of Advent)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.God is present with His people. That promise runs all the way through Holy Scripture. It especially runs through tomorrow's Introit from Psalm 80 and the parts of Isaiah that comfort us today. Loneliness is a powerful feeling. It's hard when you feel abandoned by your friends and misunderstood by your parents. When it seems that God is far away from you, you can also feel a spiritual loneliness that is really discouraging.  In those times of loneliness, Scripture leads us to call on God, “Look at me and don't forget me! Save me! Restore me! Don't go away, but stay here with me!” That's the prayer of Psalm 80. Hear the Word of God. Call out to your dear Heavenly Father as one of His dear children. You are not alone, because God is with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Hope in the Lord and in His plentiful redemption!When you feel alone and when you wonder if God really does care about you, remember that He has baptized you, placing His own name on you. Remember that He speaks His Word in your ears to remind you that you are forgiven and that you belong to Him. Remember that He has broken His own body and shed his blood for you, and gives you that Gift in Holy Communion. You are not alone, because your Lord, Jesus Christ, draws near to you and is present with you. He will remain with you until the Last Day, when He will take you to Himself. The Lord is always with you, no matter what!In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.God Himself is present: Let us now adore Him And with awe appear before Him. God is in His temple; All within keep silence; Humbly kneel in deepest rev'rence. He alone On His throne Is our God and Savior; Praise His name forever! (LSB 907:1)Author: Rev. Peter Ill, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

December 5, 2025Today's Reading: Isaiah 11:1-12:6Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 11:1-12:6; 2 Peter 2:1-22“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.“Salvation” is a powerful word, but you might not use it every day. We're more familiar with the verb “to save” and with the noun “savior,” but to say that God is our salvation is unique. Salvation is what God accomplishes and brings. The Savior brings salvation. Isaiah doesn't just say that God brings salvation, but that God is salvation. In other words, this isn't something God simply accomplishes, but salvation is God's identity (along with many other important things!)Isaiah lived in a chaotic world. The politics were complicated. Life was dangerous. Things were confusing. Where would God's people find help? Their kings hadn't been great. Other nations were attacking them and trying to take advantage of them. Was there hope that things would get better? Isaiah promised that there would be a branch from the stump of Jesse. There would be a descendant from King David who would do great things for God's people. “Great things” sells that promise short. The One who is coming would not be corrupt, but would do everything right. The peace would be so profound that wolves and lambs would lie down next to each other, and the lambs wouldn't get eaten! There would be no danger, even to the point that toddlers could play over snake dens without getting bitten! God's people who had been carried away would be brought back home. Everything would be restored!Who would do this? No mere human king. No political or military leader could pull this off. This is the work of God Himself. God is the salvation of His people. God is the hope of the hopeless, the strength of the weak, and the perfection of the imperfect. That's great news, because life today can be chaotic as well. Politics, health, safety, emotions, families, and so many other things are difficult, challenging, and messed up. Both in the days of Isaiah and today, God is the salvation of His people. God shows up with healing and forgiveness and restoration and righteousness, and He makes all things right, just the way they should be by His very presence. God comes to you as your salvation. In the middle of chaos, trust in the Lord your God because He is your salvation.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Since Christ has full atonement made And brought to us salvation, Each Christian therefore may be glad And build on this foundation. Your grace alone, dear Lord, I plead, Your death is now my life indeed, For You have paid my ransom. (LSB 555:6)Author: Rev. Peter Ill, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

December 4, 2025Today's Reading: Catechism - Table of duties: To Employers and SupervisorsDaily Lectionary: Isaiah 10:12-27a, 33-34; 2 Peter 1:1-21“Masters, do the same to [your bondservants], and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.” (Ephesians 6:9)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Well, this is an awkward bit of the Catechism to discuss in reflections geared toward youth, isn't it? The “bondservants” described in Paul's letter to the Ephesians can also be understood as slaves or indentured servants. That's not how things work around you, though. These words are appropriate not only for people who supervise indentured servants, but also for bosses, teachers, supervisors, and anyone who holds a position of authority.That's not too many high-school students, but that doesn't mean you're off the hook. Are you a captain on your sports team? Do you babysit? Are you sometimes left in charge of your younger siblings? If you're an older student in your school, how do you treat younger students? Do you take advantage of others? Are you bossy when you babysit or pushy to your teammates? When you serve in those places of honor and respect, do you treat those around you lovingly?This encouragement has a deeper significance than “be nice to others.” While “it's nice to be nice,” God created all people. Those with authority and those under authority have the same heavenly Master, and God doesn't play favorites. A threatening, belligerent boss doesn't honor God when he or she mistreats their employees. A rude or quarrelsome teacher doesn't honor God by their actions. A condescending babysitter or trainer at a part-time job doesn't honor people created by God. God has every right to judge you for how you treat others, including those whom you supervise in any capacity.The way that you treat others is imperfect. Have you threatened, patronized, or been rude to others? Well, since you have a pulse - probably. What hope is there for you? Jesus shed His blood on the cross to cover even those sins, and the fruit of the Spirit fills you with strength to love others in a more excellent way. Your sin is forgiven, and when you have influence and authority over others, use it in service to them, as you are one of God's gifts to the people He created.God loves everyone He has made. God calls you to love and respect the people He made, not only because it's the right thing to do, but because He has given supervisors and bosses and babysitters and team captains to the people He has created.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.The humble heart and lowly God raises up on high; Beneath His feet in terror The haughty soul shall lie. The heart sincere and right, That heeds God's invitation And makes true preparation— It is the Lord's delight. (LSB 354:3)Author: Rev. Peter Ill, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

December 3, 2025Today's Reading: Romans 13:(8-10) 11-14Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 9:8-10:11; 1 Peter 5:1-14“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:11-12)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Perhaps you remember the story of Paul Revere, the Boston silversmith who warned the American revolutionaries that, “The British are coming! The British are coming!” If you don't remember Paul Revere, you might remember that student in your elementary classroom who stood in the doorway when the teacher left the room. As the rest of the class got up to their shenanigans, the lookout would loudly whisper, “Shhh! The teacher's coming back!”Holy Scripture doesn't need Paul Revere or the classroom lookout because the Holy Spirit inspired St. Paul to write that it's time to wake from sleep. There is no time for sleepiness, laziness, or shenanigans for God's people. The Lord's salvation is near at hand, and Christ is returning soon. Live like Jesus is coming in glory soon! Live as one of the Christians who is forgiven by Jesus and for whom Jesus died.It's hard to live in a constant state of readiness. Have you ever had a class at school where your teacher warned you that you could have a pop quiz at any time? It was really stressful, wasn't it? Or if you have a job, you know how nerve-wracking it can be when your boss watches your normal tasks and then asks to have a private chat.  You are covered by the grace of Christ. That doesn't mean that you can let your guard down or live in a spiritually lazy way. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of your faith. (Hebrews 12:2) Live out your faith because you are a beloved child of God. Jesus is coming back. Yet, your life of faith isn't something you need to do because you are afraid of God, but because that is who God has made you to be. While it can be hard to remain dedicated to the loving service that God has called you to do, don't grow weary. Don't give up. Don't stop serving and loving your neighbors. After all, God put those people in your life for you to love. He has also called you to love Him with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul. As hard as it is, simply do that until the day that Jesus returns in glory.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.As we worship, grant us vision, Till Your love's revealing light In its height and depth and greatness, Dawns upon our quickened sight, Making known the needs and burdens Your compassion bids us bear, Stirring us to tireless striving, Your abundant life to share. (LSB 848:3)Author: Rev. Peter Ill, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

December 2, 2025Today's Reading: Jeremiah 23:5-8Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 8:9-9:7; 1 Peter 4:1-19“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.'” (Jeremiah 23:5-6)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.These days, there aren't very many kings in the world. Sure, there's a King of Great Britain and the British Commonwealth, but where else are there kings? Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Monaco, and Morocco are some current monarchies as well, for your trivia background information. Still, “kings” sound foreign to most people today. But the Lord's promise through Jeremiah is more than talking about a monarchial form of government, but the establishment of the “once-for-all-ruler-over-all-things.”  This is not a promise about another monarch or king in the world, but the ultimate ruler over all things.  The righteous Branch of David is not just another ruler. He is the be-all, end-all ruler. All authority in heaven and on earth is given to Him. (Matthew 28:18) He is before all things; in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17) In him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17:28) There is no one like Jesus Christ, the righteous Branch. The justice and righteousness that He brings are no mere human ideal, but the very justice and righteousness of God.Jesus has come. The Lord is our righteousness. Jesus, the righteous Branch, has made you righteous by His grace. In a human court, a judge will declare an accused person “not guilty” if there isn't enough evidence to convict them of a crime. Notice, though, that there is a big difference between “not guilty” and “innocent.” Someone who didn't commit a crime isn't guilty of that crime, but they aren't innocent. But when Jesus, the ruler and judge of all things, comes, He is our righteousness. Jesus doesn't declare you “not guilty” nor “innocent” but rather “righteous.” By the grace of God that covers you, Jesus says that, because of His grace, you are just the way you are supposed to be. He has claimed you as His own. That's the only authority that matters. Live as a subject in God's Kingdom, because “The Lord is Our Righteousness” (that is, Jesus Christ) is your King.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lo, how a rose e'er blooming From tender stem hath sprung! Of Jesse's lineage coming As prophets long have sung, It came, a flow'ret bright, Amid the cold of winter, When half-spent was the night. (LSB 359:1)Author: Rev. Peter Ill, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

Jim and Abigail Zimmerman are a father-daughter investment team at Lowell Capital Management, combining Jim's two decades of disciplined value investing since founding the firm in 2003 with Abby's research-focused approach to identifying small-cap companies with fortress balance sheets and strong free cash flow generation.The episode is sponsored by TenzingMEMO — the AI-powered market intelligence platform I use daily for smarter company analysis. Code BILLIONS gets you an extended trial + 10% off https://www.tenzingmemo.com/3:00 - Abby shares her first stock purchase of American Eagle in middle school, using it as a gateway to understanding that investing isn't abstract but about owning real businesses and thinking like an owner.5:21 - The Zimmermans explain their core philosophy: “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” emphasizing that fewer things need to go right in an investment, citing Peter Lynch's principle that if you can't explain what a company does to an 11-year-old in a sentence or two, you probably shouldn't own it.8:34 - Jim discusses their strategy of buying growth companies at value prices, explaining their best investments are companies trading at 5-6x EBITDA with no debt that possess sustainable moats allowing intrinsic value to compound over time.12:00 - Discussion of the Sprouts Farmers Market case study, demonstrating how they identify turnaround situations where strong unit economics exist but the market hasn't recognized the potential yet.28:00 - Abby explains their disciplined selling process, particularly the importance of position sizing and their “20% trim rule” when stocks appreciate significantly to maintain portfolio balance.35:00 - The team reveals their contrarian approach during market dislocations, specifically discussing how they deployed capital during the COVID crash by focusing on companies with fortress balance sheets.42:00 - Jim shares wisdom from his father Lowell: live beneath your means, invest the excess, and build things over time - the Charlie Munger approach that shaped their entire investment philosophy.51:00 - Discussion of free cash flow as the ultimate metric, with both emphasizing that businesses generating cash can survive any environment and capitalize on opportunities when competitors stumble.57:05 - Abby defines success as alignment - living in a way that reflects what matters most, building something meaningful with family, and treating others well while maintaining disciplined investing even when unpopular.1:00:24 - Bogumil adds perspective on wealth preservation across generations, noting the US uniquely allows both creation and multi-generational preservation of wealth.Podcast Program – Disclosure StatementBlue Infinitas Capital, LLC is a registered investment adviser and the opinions expressed by the Firm's employees and podcast guests on this show are their own and do not reflect the opinions of Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC. All statements and opinions expressed are based upon information considered reliable although it should not be relied upon as such. Any statements or opinions are subject to change without notice.Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed.Information expressed does not take into account your specific situation or objectives, and is not intended as recommendations appropriate for any individual. Listeners are encouraged to seek advice from a qualified tax, legal, or investment adviser to determine whether any information presented may be suitable for their specific situation. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

December 1, 2025Today's Reading: Matthew 21:1-9Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 7:10-8:8; 1 Peter 3:1-22“And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!'” (Matthew 21:9)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Wait, how did a Holy Week reading break into December? Palm Sunday happened the week of Good Friday and Easter, not four weeks before Christmas. Maybe the Bible-reading calendar (the lectionary) goofed up! Don't worry. This is not a mistake. At the beginning of this new Church year, we are supposed to hear about Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem as King, about Jesus' appearance as Savior, and recognize Jesus' presence not only in Jerusalem but with the whole Church. That day, Jesus entered on a humble donkey to the shouts of the crowds. During this season of Advent, we also look at how Jesus was born and laid in a manger at Christmas, and how Jesus will come again in glory on the Last Day.What those events all have in common is that Jesus is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. In Jerusalem, the crowds shouted the Hebrew word “Hosanna!” which means “Save us now!”  Psalm 118:25 teaches us to pray like this, and it continues to be the prayer of Christ's Church today.  In Advent, in Holy Week, and for every day throughout the year, you need Jesus. You need a Savior. The world threatens you, the Devil attacks you, and your own sinful flesh and mind try to get you to doubt God. You fall into sin; no matter how hard you try, you cannot live perfectly. By yourself, you are a lost cause. You can't do what God has called you to do in His Law. That's why He has come. He has come to save you. The Lord of all, present in the manger. The One who humbly rode a donkey into Jerusalem as an answer to prayer. The One who was subject to death, even death on a cross, for your forgiveness. The One who rose from death to give you the promise of everlasting life with Him. Jesus has come to save you.Keep praying! Keep singing with the crowds, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Save us now, Lord!”  Confess your faith in Jesus, your Savior. He has come to rescue you from sin and every evil. Rejoice, because He is the Savior you need, and He will never leave you nor forsake you.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.“Hosanna in the highest!” That ancient song we sing; For Christ is our Redeemer, The Lord of heav'n our King. Oh, may we ever praise Him With heart and life and voice And in His blissful presence Eternally rejoice!” (LSB 443:3)Author: Rev. Peter Ill, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

November 30, 2025Today's Reading: John 1:35-42aDaily Lectionary: Isaiah 6:1-7:9; 1 Peter 2:13-25“One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah' (which means Christ)” (John 1:40-41)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Andrew told his brother that they had found Jesus, the Messiah. It seemed that way. They believed the Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah would come. Now, they had found Him! Except that Jesus hadn't been lost. Instead of Andrew and Simon finding Jesus, Jesus came and found them. Jesus, the all-knowing Lord, walked past John the Baptist while he was teaching, and John pointed out Jesus, the Lamb of God. When Andrew followed Him, Jesus invited Andrew to “come and see” where Jesus was staying and what Jesus was doing. In other words, Jesus invited Andrew to follow Him.  Sometimes, it's easy for people, including you, to think that they've “found Jesus” or “got Jesus.” From our perspective, that's what it seems like. Yet, it's not that we find Jesus, but that Jesus finds us. In the Small Catechism about the Creed's Third Article, we confess, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”  We who cannot believe in Jesus as Lord or come to Him don't find. Instead, Jesus and the Holy Spirit find us!That's great news, because it takes the burden off you. It can be tempting to think that you need to find Jesus or that you need to make sure that you are following Jesus the right way. Don't be confused: you aren't in charge of God's grace. Jesus isn't lost, and Jesus doesn't need finding. You were lost, but Jesus has found you and called you His own new creation, baptized into His name and an heir of eternal life with Him! Jesus now invites you to “come and see” His gracious work for you because of His great love for you!In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Almighty God, by Your grace, the apostle Andrew obeyed the call of Your Son to be a disciple. Grant us also to follow the same Lord Jesus Christ in heart and life, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.Author: Rev. Peter Ill, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt, IL.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.Work through the first ten chapters of Matthew and learn more about who Jesus is. As you move through this study, you'll ponder the theological, practical, and historical considerations of the text. With ample room for personal notes, this study will have you feeling confident in your understanding of Matthew's Gospel. Matthew 1:1-11:1 of the new Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series is available now.

November 29, 2025Today's Reading: Introit for Advent 1 - Psalm 25:4-5, 21-22; antiphon: Psalm 25:1-3aDaily Lectionary: Isaiah 5:1-25; Amos 1:1-9:15; 1 Peter 2:1-12“Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.” (Psalm 25:22)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Advent strikes a truer chord in the Psalms. We wait for the God who has made great promises. Let me not be put to shame. By the devil, who prowls about like a lion seeking to devour me. By the world, who finds little worth in everything I call precious. By myself, because if I'm being honest, the devil and the world will probably ignore me, except for the fact that I take shelter under a God whose law I make a mockery of. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. Even when his troubles are himself. Advent is a season of penitential hope. And we treat those two things like oil and water. Real hope has no shame. The truly penitent are too downcast to dare to hope. To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul anyway. My escape from shame isn't myself. It's my God. It's yours. He advents to take away your sin, to bear your shame, and promises to return in glory at last to put right everything shameful that the devil, the world, and my own sinful flesh can do wrong. So we wait in penitent hope. That's the right kind. We won't be lost to dwelling in our shame. We'll take it to the Jesus who advents to bear it upon a cross, who advents to meet us at the altar with forgiveness for all of our sins, and who advents at last to free us from this vicious cycle of daily dying and rising to sin. On the Last Day, we'll only rise. Instead of a focus only on what's wrong, Advent says God will show up to be what's right. Our Redeemer. He invites everyone with shame. Bring the shame from all you've done. All the shame from what's been done to you. All the shame the world heaps on you, and all the devil can stir up, too. Gather it up and take it to where God advents to join you to Himself at His table, where He feeds you with His Body and Blood and joins you to angelic hosts and all the company of heaven who sing hymns just because they see you with them at the feast. The mark of freedom from shame isn't a perfect life. It's one of waiting for the God who takes shame away. Indeed, none who wait for Christ shall be put to shame.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Come, Thou precious Ransom, come, Only hope for sinful mortals! Come, O Savior of the world! Open are to Thee all portals. Come, Thy beauty let us see; Anxiously we wait for Thee. (LSB 350:1)Author: Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 28, 2025Today's Reading: Catechism: Table of Duties - To Workers of All KindsDaily Lectionary: Isaiah 2:1-22; Isaiah 3:1-4:6; 1 Peter 1:13-25“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.” (Ephesians 6:5–8)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The language here is…challenging. Slave. Obey. Earthly masters. Just as you would obey Christ. First of all, slaves. Second of all, I'm not even great at obeying Christ in the first place, let alone sinners like every earthly master. I'm not going to parse the word slave and come up with a definition that's more palatable. I'm not going to wax eloquent on the working class that can't escape poverty. Almost all of you have someone in charge of you. That's plenty to talk about already. When one sinner has power over another, that doesn't naturally produce a sense of peace. Those kinds of power dynamics are easy to abuse. But Luther sees only gift. Vocation isn't just “thou shalt not rage against the machine.” The gift of vocation sees God behind all things. Even sinners who are your boss. Ephesians says to serve them as if you were serving Christ. Because Christ works through your neighbor. Now there are two things to talk about. First, if your boss abuses you, that's always bad. That's never good. God is not pleased by this sin. You can tell, not because He gives you the boss, but because He gives your boss the same Ten Commandments. Second, you can expect God to work good through your boss anyway. Think about it, as sinful as all of us are, and as prone as those power dynamics are to abuse, we have not descended into anarchy. God brings more good from these relationships than we have any right to deserve, but we can expect them anyway because He is gracious. When it comes to your boss, recognize that God wants to care for you through them. Your role as a worker, in whatever phraseology you use, is challenging. Because all of us, in an uneven power dynamic, would rather be God than the Christian. Repent, and recognize just how much good we receive because God, who is powerful, is merciful to us. He even wants to use your boss to make sure you're provided for. It won't be perfect this side of glory, but we can dare to hope because God, who knows your boss too, dares to promise good here. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.In what You give us, Lord, to do, Together or alone, In old routines or ventures new, May we not cease to look to You, The cross You hung upon— All You endeavored done. (LSB 853:4)Author: Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

Send us a textLowell Johnson Returns In this conversation, Gareth Duignam and Lowell Johnson discusses the Stunning Evidence and the  reality of contact with higher vibrational experiences and the importance of awareness in recognizing these phenomena. They emphasizes that Light Beings Caught on Camera at Mt Shasta and genuine experiences are available to those who are attuned to them and that many people are not yet aware of this potential. Watch on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcGNJe2Z6G0Watch Part 1  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4bvAH08mu8Spiritual Awakening and Energy Healing: The podcast explores the journey of spiritual awakening and energy healing, featuring discussions on personal experiences and insights.Mount Shasta and Mystical Experiences: The conversation includes stories about Mount Shasta, its mystical cloud formations, and the experiences of visitors who have witnessed unusual phenomena.Lemurian Civilization and Inner Earth Cities: The discussion touches on the Lemurian civilization believed to reside within Mount Shasta and the concept of inner earth cities.Crystal Skulls and Akashic Records: The podcast delves into the mystery of crystal skulls, their origins, and their connection to Akashic records and ancient knowledge.Light Beings and Energetic Phenomena: Experiences with light beings and other energetic phenomena are shared, highlighting personal encounters and the significance of these events.Audience Engagement and Podcast Growth: The podcast's growth and audience engagement are discussed, emphasizing the impact of previous episodes and the importance of viewer interaction.

November 27, 2025Today's Reading: Luke 17:11-19Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 1:1-28; 1 Peter 1:1-12“[the lepers] lifted up their voices, saying, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.'” (Luke 17:13)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Today, we celebrate the blessed and historic feast of American Thanksgiving and try to keep the sarcasm off our faces. Pilgrims and Indians ate together, got along perfectly, and avoided arguing about politics. If you sprinkle some Jesus on it, there's a sermon in there about who you're thankful to. The problem is, I'm bad at it. All I can do is hang onto the losses. The what could have beens. I can come up with something to say at the table, but my heart just isn't in it most years. I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me a long list of stuff I can't list here because of word counts. This is most certainly true. Still, it's easier to find two things missing than all the ones there. That's why trying to be more thankful doesn't work for long. We don't need Thanksgiving sermons here. We need Jesus healing the least of these. Us. This is more than just a reminder to look on the bright side. Leprosy sermons aren't about feeling better with your lot in life; they're about Jesus helping people who can't help themselves. He's not with the worthy, but the outcasts, the unclean, and even helps those who don't know what thankfulness really is. Even the nine who fail to return are still healed. Because Christ isn't in it for the thank yous. He did it because He loves them. He bears the cross for them. And He loves you. It isn't measured in how many things you can list at the table to give thanks for. It's measured in the cross. Only Samaritan was truly thankful because thankfulness isn't halfhearted praise, but going back to the source for more. True thankfulness is getting seconds because that means more to whoever cooked for you all day than anything else. Go to the Thanksgiving Meal. The Eucharist. Communion. Then, go back for more. Thanksgiving is just returning to it over and over, heaping everything else that wasn't enough on a pile, and rejoicing in forgiveness and mercy for it all. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Even so, Lord, quickly come To Thy final harvest home; Gather Thou Thy people in, Free from sorrow, free from sin, There, forever purified, In Thy garner to abide: Come with all Thine angels, come, Raise the glorious harvest home. (LSB 892:4)Author: Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

Earlier this year, the seminal self-titled debut from Jars of Clay turned 30 years old. We honor that milestone anniversary by having two members of the band, Charlie Lowell and Matthew Odmark, on the show to reminisce on their memories of the album and to reflect on its legacy today. Joining the conversation are JFH's John DiBiase and Josh Balogh. Would you like to hear and even appear as a guest on the host's new podcast series? Click here for more information. The JFH Podcast is hosted and produced by Chase Tremaine and executive produced by John DiBiase and Christopher Smith. To meet the people behind the show, discuss the episodes, ask questions, and engage in conversations with other listeners, join the JFH Podcast group on Facebook.

Dan Guttenplan sits down with Marc Deschenes, the new owner of the Lowell Spinners, a Futures Collegiate Baseball League team. Mark shares his journey from nearly missing out on baseball in Lowell to reviving the Spinners with a focus on community engagement and player development. He discusses the strategic assembly of the new ownership group, which includes notable baseball figures like Johnny Damon and Jonathan Papelbon. Mark also delves into his professional baseball career, touching on his experiences with the Cleveland Indians and his transition into business with Pison Technologies, a company that develops wearable cognitive training tools. The episode wraps up with a fun segment of baseball trivia and memorable moments. Topics 00:40 Background of the Lowell Spinners 01:33 Formation of the New Ownership Group 03:03 Building the Team and Community Engagement 04:36 Roster Development and Recruitment 08:49 Promotions and Fan Experience 14:31 Professional Baseball Journey 21:19 Career Decisions and Transition from Baseball 22:22 Introduction to Pison Technologies 23:44 How Pison Technologies Enhances Baseball Performance 26:56 Three Up, Three Down: Baseball Memories and Trivia 37:04 Conclusion and Podcast Wrap-Up

November 26, 2025Today's Reading: Revelation 22:1-21Daily Lectionary: Daniel 6:1-28; Daniel 9:1-27; Revelation 22:1-21“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.” (Revelation 22:14)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Bible ends with hope. Christ will return soon. The faithful pray, “Amen. Come Lord Jesus,” and the grace of the Lord Jesus is with them all. If there's that much hope, it can endure even when the evildoer still does evil. The filthy will still be filthy. The righteous still do right, and the holy still are holy. Don't worry. Hope. And in hope, live. It's going to look messy. As we live closer each day to the last when Christ returns, the evil and the holy will live alongside one another. It will look so messy that at times, we'll lose sight of who is who. We find ourselves in plenty of filth, committing plenty of sin, and arguing about the right context of it all so we can appear righteous. Every war is fought so that the winner can proclaim their deeds righteous at the end and vilify the loser. Every sinner knows the pattern of self-justification. People blame others. People excuse themselves. So do you. Everyone will just keep doing what we're doing until the end. But the Lord sees through the mess as to who is who. Not by your excuses. Not by your self-justifications. By His water. By His grace. By His Baptism. You who have been baptized, who have washed your robes, have the right to the Tree of Life. Even your sin can't take that right from you. For Jesus has taken that sin away through your Baptism. You are holy. Jesus makes you that way through your Baptism. Let the one who is holy still be holy. It's just who you are. Even when you fall into sin. Daily, you are washed clean again. That's why, in faith, you worship Christ. Keep doing what you're doing. Take your sin to Jesus. Let the one who is thirsty take the water of life without price. Rejoice in your Baptism. Live in hope. The end will be soon. But even while it's messy, never worry about who you are. You are baptized. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Spirit, water, blood entreating, Working faith and its completing In the One whose death-defeating Life has come, with life for all. (LSB 597:5)Author: Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 25, 2025Today's Reading: Colossians 1:13-20Daily Lectionary: Daniel 5:1-30; Daniel 7:1-8:27; Revelation 21:9-27“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. This is what God looks like. Jesus. And you'll only see it here. On account of the “image of the invisible God” part. We rush to creation to find evidence of God, but can't see anything, even if we know that even there Christ was working. Psalm 19 is right. Creation shows there is a God. It doesn't reveal Him fully. You can argue about how complex a bird's wing is. There is plenty out there to support the notion of intelligent design. But even then, what intelligence? It's why everyone can look at the same bird, the same mountain range at sunset, and come up with different ideas about how we got here. Here's the thing, though. The chief work of God isn't creating. It's saving. This is the place you see God clearest. It looks like this. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14). The cross He bore to redeem creation. Which is grander, making what can be broken, or redeeming something in a way that it can't be lost? It isn't just intelligence that shaped creation, but love. Mercy grand enough to see the depths to which we've fallen in sin, the darkness we get lost in, the pain we feel, and assume it unto Himself. God was made man that He would take upon Himself the fullness of our sin and bring it to nothing upon the cross. He did this for you. And it's finished. Now. You live in the kingdom of the Son. On the Last Day, that kingdom will look like the resurrection. A new creation, free from darkness and sin and pain and death. But Colossians tells us that He has already transferred us. Already delivered us. And again, you'll only see it here. On the cross. Not in creation. Because that part still looks pretty dark. So we look to the light of the world, Jesus, who darkness cannot overcome, who has borne death and left it broken and defeated. Even if you still live in the land of darkness, you live in the kingdom of the Son, who cannot die again. That means the darkness can assault you, but never own you. The creation can fall apart, but you'll just rise again. And if that ever gets hard to see, look to the cross, and know it stands. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Praise be to Christ in whom we see The image of the Father shown, The firstborn Son revealed and known, The truth and grace of deity; Through whom creation came to birth, Whose fingers set the stars in place, The unseen pow'rs, and this small earth, The furthest bounds of time and space. (LSB 538:1)Author: Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 24, 2025Today's Reading: Malachi 3:13-18Daily Lectionary: Daniel 4:1-37; Revelation 21:1-8“You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts?” (Malachi 3:14)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It doesn't seem to be going any better for the faithful than they were when Malachi wrote. We aren't marked as the richest or most successful. We aren't the healthiest. We don't avoid natural disasters. It hurts down here for believer and unbeliever alike. Even the people in Malachi's day noticed and dared to ask. What's the point of all this? So the prophet responds. “They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.” It's not just, “Hey, one day you'll go to heaven and they won't, so you're way better off.” That's shallow at best, and pretty ugly at worst. First of all, who do you think seems to shine the sun on the good and the evil alike? It's God who gives even the unbelievers everything they have. It's Him who seems to set up a system where even the wicked receive daily bread the same as the faithful. It's almost like He wants sinners to receive good gifts. It's almost like He loves us all enough to die for the entire world. Evil people have stuff because God atones for all. Bleeds for all our sin. That's why the faithful have anything, too. Why do you think God giving you lots of stuff is somehow a great witness for Him and not just…like…really nice for you? The cross where God is even willing to die for His enemies makes a far better claim to His love. If you want to see the difference between the wicked and the righteous, don't look to how much they have. Don't even look to what they're doing. Look to the Lord, who forgives, saves, and names righteous. Yours is the God who insists on giving good gifts to those who don't deserve them. He insists there be order we haven't built, daily bread we haven't earned, all so that there would be space for us to hear His word that promises even more to us. Forgiveness of sins. Life. Salvation. All of us are born evil. And by the word and sacraments, you believe. Others are brought to faith, too. And if heaven happens to get a little more crowded, you can do more than just lament the fact that someone had nice things and salvation. You can rejoice with all the angels in heaven when one sinner repents. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Even so, Lord, quickly come To Thy final harvest home; Gather Thou Thy people in, Free from sorrow, free from sin, There, forever purified, In Thy garner to abide: Come with all Thine angels, come, Raise the glorious harvest home. (LSB 892:4)Author: Rev. Harrison Goodman, content executive for Higher Things.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 23, 2025Today's Reading: Luke 23:27-43Daily Lectionary: Daniel 3:1-30; Revelation 20:1-15“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!'But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.' And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.'” (Luke 23:39–43)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.The thief on the cross shows that in someone's last moments, they are the most honest with themselves. Crucifixion gave someone a lot of time to reflect on their life as they suffocated to death, their sins exposed before every person who witnessed the event and to themselves. The first thief thought that the kingdom of Christ was of this world. He had a prosperity Gospel that proclaimed that if he believed in Jesus, all of his problems would go away. He wanted a savior who brought down the heavenly armies and not only lowered him from the cross but also brought down the Roman Empire. This view of Jesus misses the purpose of his first coming. The second thief was aware of his sin and why he was hoisted up to die.This second sinner was exposed and had nothing to hide behind. He knew he needed a savior and, more importantly, who was his savior. He had faith that Jesus had something better than this life of sin, and he believed that Jesus was the only way to get there. We have the same faith as the second thief because we also know that we offer nothing to our savior, but we believe that he will have mercy on us as he did to that fellow believer.We have the assurance that we will see Jesus in Paradise when we receive his name in Baptism. We are no better than the thief who was crucified for his crimes. Like the thief, we are given faith, and that faith is sustained until God takes us home. We have continual assurance of what Jesus does for us when we receive him through his Word and the Sacraments. So on our deathbeds, as our weak bodies draw our last feeble breaths, we can look back to the promises of God and be confident that we will be with Jesus in Paradise.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lord Jesus Christ, You reign among us by the preaching of Your cross. Forgive Your people their offenses that we, being governed by Your bountiful goodness, may enter at last into Your eternal Paradise; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.Author: Jonah Clausen, seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 22, 2025Today's Reading: Introit for Pentecost 24 - Psalm 134; antiphon: Psalm 33:8Daily Lectionary: Daniel 2:24-49; Revelation 19:1-21“Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,  who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!... Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!” (Psalm 138:1-3, Psalm 33:8)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Psalm 138:3 gives three locations: 1) Zion, 2) Heaven, 3) Earth. These are places, not just ideas or concepts—they're proper nouns. Proper nouns are capitalized; ideas and concepts are not. Thus, Zion, the city of David, Heaven, the location of standing at the face of God (it's the eternal Throne, Revelation 19:4). Heaven's not geographically located, as if hiding behind the Sun; it's where the angels and the living ones stand at the face of God (e.g., Revelation 19:4-6). Earth is, of course, a planet, like Mars or Jupiter; it's the planet where the Lord placed us, where we live out our lives in service to neighbor. Strangely, we seem afraid to give the proper nouns “Heaven” and Earth” their proper capitalizations. Maybe we're a little afraid, so we cower and spell “Heaven” as “heaven,” treating it not as a place, but an idea or concept, thus “heaven.” (Most modern translations of Scripture do this even with Earth, as if there's one planet named Jupiter, another named Earth.)Zion is the city of David; Heaven is at the face of the Lord; Earth is our planet. What do the three have to do with each other? We brought Earth, the place of our creation and life, into sin. So on Earth, the Lord appointed a location to place his Name: Zion. Wherever the Lord places His Name, He is coming to bestow forgiveness upon the sinner.For the Israelites, Zion is the holy place (Psalm 138:2), the location of the Temple. When Jesus comes, He says, “Tear down this Temple, and in three days I will build it up” (John 2:19). In this way, Jesus' Body now stands as the Temple of God—the body torn down at the cross, raised up in three days in the resurrection.Now Jesus brings you to Mount Zion, the city of the Living God. It's the Church, the assembled saints (Hebrews 12:22). It's where Jesus is distributing the riches of the New Testament in his Blood (Hebrews 12:24). Zion is wherever Jesus is having his Gospel proclaimed on Earth, his Sacraments administered, and his people assembled so that they would hear the Name of the Living God proclaimed from Heaven. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lord Jesus, gather us to your Mt. Zion, the assembly of your saints. Let us hear your Word of Gospel. In the eating and drinking of your Body and Blood, forgive our sins, letting us receive the benefits of your cross, which is life and salvation. Amen.  Author: Rev. Warren Graff, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

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November 21, 2025Today's Reading: Daniel 2:1-23Daily Lectionary: Daniel 2:1-23; Revelation 18:1-24“Daniel answered and said: ‘Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;  he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king's matter.'” (Daniel 2:20-23)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Look around in the world and try to figure out what God is doing. A flood hits Florida, or in a foreign country, a dictator is overthrown—how are we to see God's hand in this? Even in our personal lives, a friend gets laid off at work, or another friend gets a great, high-paying job—can we see how God is working in this? The Prophet Daniel reveals that God's hand is not absent from our world's affairs. It's God who sets up kings (or presidents, or dictators), and it is God who tears them down (Daniel 2:21). Our problem is that, while God uses events and persons of this world to work all things for the good of his people (Romans 8:26-30), we cannot know how God is doing this. His hand is there, but what's it doing? Even though King Nebuchadnezzar could not know it, and even while he was the captor of the Lord's people, the Lord was using him to benefit the Lord's people! By Nebuchadnezzar, the Lord kept his people intact so that generations later from Israel's lineage, the Lord himself would come in the flesh as the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world—including Nebuchadnezzar's sin and yours and mine.Because the Lord used people such as Nebuchadnezzar (and for that matter, later Judas) to keep a remnant of his people and to bring forth the salvation of the cross, we may give thanks that while we cannot know how, God's hand is, indeed, working all things together for good for those called by the Gospel, so that nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (cf. Romans 8:37-39).In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Blessed be your Name, O God. All wisdom and might is yours. You change the times and seasons, you remove kings and set them up, though we are not given to know how. To you, O God, I give thanks and praise, for you make known the wisdom of the cross to people of every nation, and by the preaching of your Word, you reveal the justification of the sinner by the blood of your Son, the Christ from the lineage of Israel. Amen.Author: Rev. Warren Graff, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 20, 2025Today's Reading: Catechism: Table of Duties - To ChildrenDaily Lectionary: Daniel 1:1-21; Matthew 28:1-20“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and your mother'—which is the first commandment with a promise—' that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life in the Earth.' Eph. 6:1-3” (Catechism, Table of Duties: To Children)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. How does the Lord take care of you in this world—not just in your life of faith where you are justified by your Lord's Word, but in your earthly life, where you need food and drink and home and safety? The Lord sets, for the benefit of children, parents. Mom and Dad. The son or daughter, then, is given to receive all good gifts of family and childhood from his or her parents. And where the parent needs help in caring for a child, perhaps a teacher to teach algebra or a doctor to diagnose a fever, the parent brings in a teacher or doctor or whatever other profession so that the teacher or doctor (or whomever) is acting by the authority and in the stead of the mom and dad. Mom and Dad are the Lord's instruments. They are standing in the Lord's stead to provide for the children. So obedience to parents is not just some ritualistic keeping of the law; it's much more. When we are young, respect and obedience are our recognition that we receive every good gift from our Lord, including all the gifts of “daily bread,” through our parents. They are the Lord's servants, his vessels. This, of course, often goes poorly in our sinful world. A parent may die; a family may be torn by divorce; or a parent does his or her parenting poorly (which is true to some extent for every parent, except, of course, God the Father). Yet, in all of this, even when we find them in their weakness, we give thanks for parents, for they stand as God's instruments to care for, protect, teach, encourage, comfort, and sustain the children. And we pray to our Father in Heaven that we may be forgiving of our parents where they do poorly, and happily obedient to them, hearing them with ears of respect and thankfulness.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.You are our holy Lord, The all-subduing Word, Healer of strife. Yourself You did abase That from sin's deep disgrace You so might save our race And give us life. O ever be our guide, Our shepherd and our pride, Our staff and song. Jesus, O Christ of God, By your enduring Word, Lead us where You have trod; Make our faith strong. So now, and till we die, Sound we Your praises high And joyful sing: Infants, and all the throng, Who to the Church belong, Unite to swell the song To Christ, our king! (LSB 864:2,4,5)Author: Rev. Warren Graff, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

Baseball is back in Lowell! It was just announced the Lowell Spinners will resume play in 2026 at LeLacheur Park in Lowell. To celebrate that occasion, I talk about that, in addition to my top 10 (or so) moments from my time calling the Spinners on the radio.

November 19, 2025Today's Reading: Jeremiah 38:1-28Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 38:1-28; Jeremiah 39:1-44:30; Matthew 27:57-66“So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.” (Jeremiah 38:6)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Put yourself in Jeremiah's shoes. Wait, maybe don't do that. Jeremiah is standing in mud. At the bottom of a cistern. Waiting to die. Jeremiah could've avoided the cistern treatment if only he had agreed to go along with the current wisdom, if only he had spoken what was popular. He didn't. Now he's waiting to die, sunk in the cistern's mud. It can be hard to turn our backs on the worldly temptations of prestige, popularity, or power. When our world pressures us to bow down to the predominant ideology or current movements, the reasonable response can seem to be “Go along to get along.” The world's recognition is a siren song. The prophet Jeremiah did not go along to get along. Rather than seek the king's favor and secure friendship with the public, Jeremiah did the opposite. He spoke the Word the Lord had given him, even when everyone wanted to hear a different word, and found himself standing in the cistern mud, waiting to die. Of course, we know Jeremiah was rescued. The Lord was not ready to have his Word shut down. The Lord was about the business of giving the gift of repentance, rescue, and salvation to his people, and Jeremiah was his appointed mouthpiece. But the worldly lesson was clear: the easiest path would've been for Jeremiah to speak words acceptable to the world, and to go to sleep at night in his own comfortable bed with the approval of the king, not sinking in mud.Many generations later, around 1230 A.D., St. Elizabeth of Hungary is quoted as saying, “How could I bear a crown of gold when the Lord bears a crown of thorns? And bears it for me!” That's the suffering of every person in our world, including Jeremiah, whose faith is in the promised Christ. The preaching of the cross turns us away from the siren song of worldly prestige, popularity, or power. It turns us to the Word of Jesus, the Gospel of our redemption.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.By all Your saints in warfare, For all Your saints at rest, Your holy name, O Jesus, Forevermore be blest! For You have won the battle That they might wear the crown; And now they shine in glory  Reflected from Your throne. We praise you for the prophet Who spoke your word at cost, He stood in the cistern mud— foreshadow of your cross. From the mouth of Jeremiah,  we heard your word impart Your Gospel of redemption To cleanse the sinful heart. ( LSB 517:1, verse for Jeremiah)Author: Rev. Warren Graff, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 18, 2025Today's Reading: 2 Thessalonians 3:(1-5) 6-13Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 37:1-21; Revelation 17:1-18; Matthew 27:33-56“May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. … For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.” (2 Thessalonians 3: 6, 11)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “Idle hands … devil's workshop”—we don't want to be caught being idle. So the Apostle instructs us to keep away from those walking in idleness. But Paul's actual word here in the Greek addresses something more than just laziness.In Greek, it's disordered, the same root word as properly ordering things. Scripture uses this word for the institutions the Lord put in place for us in creation—institutions such as marriage and home, neighbor and society, possessions and property, all given in the “orders of creation.” Paul knows as well as we do that the Church lives in a sinfully disordered world. “Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from any brother who is walking outside of order and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. … For we hear that some among you walk in disorder, not busy at work, but busybodies.” (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 11)In these last Sundays of the Church year, we review how the Church is given to live in these latter days while waiting for our Lord's return to judge the living and the dead. In this disordered world, the Lord's institutions (life, marriage of man and woman, life and family and home, neighbor and society, possessions and property) will remain under attack. So the Apostle encourages the Church. But this disordering is not just our world. It's us, our own sinful flesh. Realizing this, we have one place to turn. 2 Thessalonians 3:5: “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”Where we're unfaithful to Christ, he's steadfast and faithful to us. Until that day when he comes again to judge the living and the dead, as we live in this disordered world and our own disordered lives, we turn to him, for he is faithful to his promise: “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” (2 Thessalonians 3:3)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lord, you remain faithful to your promise. In our disordered world, we pray for our neighbor, that your institutions of family and home, of marriage of man and woman, of possessions and wealth, may be upheld for our neighbor's benefit. And we give you thanks that you have instituted for us your gift of Baptism. Keep us in Baptism's forgiveness of all sins and promise of life everlasting. Amen.Author: Rev. Warren Graff, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 17, 2025Today's Reading: Malachi 4:1-6Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 33:1-22; Jeremiah 34:1-36:32; 45:1-51:64; Matthew 27:11-32“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4:5-6)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The prophet Malachi promises an Elijah. But what was Israel's problem that they needed an Elijah? Israel's great sin is that they were treating the Lord's altar as common. The Lord gathers Israel to his altar to receive the forgiveness of their sins, to be made holy by the Lord's institution of sacrifice. But Israel is treating his altar as common, even profane—they even call it not a holy Altar but a defiled table! (See Malachi 1:7, 1:12) Because they treat it not as the holy Altar where the Lord comes to them with blessing, but as a defiled table for empty religious rituals, Israel has been bringing not the proper, appointed sacrificial animals, but … trash. (See Malachi 1:7, 1:13-14)When she has despised the Lord's Altar, denigrating it as a common table, where has Israel left herself to go to receive the forgiveness of sins? What hope is there for the sinner separated from the Altar where God has placed his holy Name (Malachi 1:11)? Enter Malachi. He decrees the promise to save the sinner from the deserved decree of utter destruction (Malachi 4:16). It is the promise of an Elijah: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.” Elijah? Elijah was, of course, in Israel some 450 years before Malachi's time. But Malachi is promising there will be another prophet who will stand in the office of Elijah. This prophet will do the “Elijah job” of bringing salvation for the sinner. As we know, that new Elijah is John the Baptist (Matthew 11:12-14), who, after baptizing Jesus in the Jordan, then declares: Jesus is the Lamb of God who is bearing the sin of the world! (see John 1:29) John, the new Elijah, has announced the greatest news of all. Jesus bears the sin of the world, every sinner of every generation! Your sin and mine. And where we, in our sin, have forgotten the Lord's Name and treated the gifts of holiness as common, we hear the voice of Jesus, and we know that his table is not common, not to be despised, but is nothing less than the holy gift of the Blood to forgive our sins. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Lord, where we have treated your gifts as common, where we have forgotten your Name bestowed upon us in Baptism, forgive. Gather us again to hear your Gospel; restore us as your holy people. For you alone, O Lamb of God, are the forgiver of sins, the Savior of the world. Amen. Author: Rev. Warren Graff, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 16, 2025Today's Reading: Luke 21:5-28 (29-36)Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 31:1-17, 23-34; Revelation 16:1-21; Matthew 27:1-10“[Jesus said,] ‘And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,  people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.'" (Luke 21:25-28)In the Name +  of Jesus. Amen. When you see these things: things of evil governments laying hands on Christians, Christians being persecuted for the holy Name; things of your own sin, your own failures; things of the frustration of living as a Christian, wishing you could do better each day, but seeing the hopelessness of it all as you find yourself once again, as yesterday and the day before, falling to doubt, to fear, to lust, to the desire to control others, or to any other temptation—when you see these things, Stand, lift up your heads, for you belong to Baptism. And Baptism is not the sinner showing allegiance to God. It's God saving the sinner. It's your Lord using his appointed means to work the forgiveness of sins, to rescue from death and the devil, and to give eternal life to all who have faith in the words and promises of God. So despair not. Lift up your heads, for you belong to the life-giving water, rich in grace, a washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)With each day, the world nears its final judgment. We see the signs all around. Despair not. We continue to rejoice in serving neighbor, in opportunities to work for peace and good order, in words spoken in kindness to acclaim our Lord's gift of life, extolling his institutions of family and home, of marriage of man and woman, of property and possessions, our Lord's institutions so often rejected by our fallen world. For we know that these things instituted by the Lord are his way of providing for us and our neighbor on Earth.We see our sin, our failures, and we fear. Despair not. Hear your Lord's Gospel and rejoice in the life of Baptism to which you belong. We stand and lift up our heads in faith. Luke 21:28: [Jesus said,] “Now when these things begin to take place, stand and raise up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.O Lord, Almighty and always-living God, You gave great and precious promises to people who trust You.  Reign and lead our hearts and minds with Your Holy Spirit. Then we can continue to live forever in Your Son. Jesus lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.Author: Rev. Warren Graff, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, NM.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 15, 2025Today's Reading: Introit for Pentecost 23 - Psalm 121:1-2, 5, 7-8; antiphon: Luke 21:33Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 30:1-24; Revelation 15:1-8; Matthew 26:57-75“The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.” (Psalm 121:5)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.“The Lord is your keeper.” Wow! Now that's a promise to grab onto. Not just any lord, but The Lord is your keeper, and his keeping covers your entire life, past, present, and future. If we're honest, we often go through the day totally unaware of how the Lord is keeping us under his protective care. We can manage most of the daily stuff put before us. Yet, all it takes is an illness, a near-miss car accident, the death of someone we know, or money problems to shake us up and cause us to realize how fragile life is and how quickly we can find ourselves in a helpless situation. The Lord is your keeper, whether you realize it or not. Psalm 121 is calling us to see that the Lord who made heaven and earth, who made you, is intimately involved in caring and providing for you. How can you be certain? He promised! The Lord put his name on you when he washed you with his Word in the waters of your Baptism. There you were adopted into the family of God. Your life was joined to Jesus, who promised to be with you all of the days of your life to the end of the age. He is keeping you! The Lord will keep you. That means you have a future. God promises it. He will keep you from all evil, so what have you to fear? “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). You have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who is keeping you and your inheritance of eternal life safe and secure (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in today and all the days unto eternity! Knowing you are being kept by the one who made you and all things, that means you are free to live each day without fear or doubt. Even if it seems the world and the entire universe are going up in smoke, remember, “Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words will not.” His word and his promises are yours. The Lord is your keeper.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)Author: Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 14, 2025Today's Reading: Matthew 26:36-56Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 29:1-19; Revelation 14:1-20; Matthew 26:36-56“Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?'” (Matthew 26:53-54) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Jesus is praying, the disciples are sleeping, and Judas is coming, leading a great crowd carrying clubs and swords. It's happening; the hour is at hand. It feels like a climactic scene from a Hollywood movie, heading to a final confrontation between the good guys and the bad. Jesus is not caught by surprise. He is in Gethsemane, praying fervently to his Father. He knows what is about to happen, and it is troubling his soul. Jesus prays, “Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me.” Yet, Jesus knows this is his mission; this is why he was born; this is his destiny, so he continues to pray, “Not as I will, but as you will.” The great crowd finally arrives with swords in hand. Peter draws his sword and draws first blood, cutting off the ear of the High Priest's servant. Jesus charges Peter to put down his sword and says, “Do you not realize I can ask my Father and at once he will send more than twelve legions of angels?” 60,000 angels! Yes, that's what we want, don't we? A cosmic battle between good and evil. Jesus with his sleepy disciples against a huge sword-wielding crowd, but now with an army of angels coming down to wipe all those bad guys out. That would make for a great movie, but it is not part of the script. The Scriptures must be fulfilled. God has a different ending in mind. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. That's how the scene plays out, and all is going according to plan. Fast forward to a Roman cross outside of Jerusalem on a dark Friday. Jesus might have been betrayed, arrested, tried, and crucified by sinners, but it is for sinners that Jesus traveled the road to his cross. He carried their sins, your sins, and the sins of the entire world and nailed them to the tree. The one who knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of God. This is the Father's will. This is what Jesus willingly endured, so that your life might have a beautiful climactic ending. Dressed in the robe of Christ's salvation, you are welcomed into the glories of heaven by the angelic hosts of heaven and into the open arms of God your Father. Now that's a movie worth seeing.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.“From heaven's shining regions to greet me gladly come Your blessed angel legions to bid me welcome home.” (674:2)Author: Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

Send us a textIn this enlightening conversation, Lowell Johnson shares his transformative journey from a career in hospitality to profound spiritual experiences, particularly at Mount Shasta. He discusses his encounters with Mount Shasta's Hidden Civilization, light beings, the significance of Telos and the Lemurians, and the imminent shift towards a new earth. The dialogue emphasizes the importance of higher dimensions, the role of younger generations in spiritual awakening, and the existence of inner earth cities. Lowell's insights offer hope and validation for those on a similar path of discovery and connection with the universe.Lowell's journey reflects a deep connection to spirituality and nature.Mount Shasta serves as a powerful energetic vortex for transformation.Experiences with light beings can lead to profound personal insights.The Lemurians are real beings with a mission to assist humanity.The shift towards a new earth is imminent and involves collective awakening.Younger generations are naturally more attuned to spiritual truths.Inner earth cities exist and are home to advanced beings.The veil between dimensions is thinning, allowing for greater contact.Validation of spiritual experiences is crucial for personal growth.The future holds promise for humanity as we evolve together.

November 13, 2025Today's Reading: Catechism: Table of Duties - To ParentsDaily Lectionary: Jeremiah 26:1-19; Revelation 13:1-18; Matthew 26:20-35“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.Thank God for our parents. Without them, we wouldn't be here. It pleased God to continue his work of creation by giving you life through a mom and a dad. God continues to care, provide, and protect us through the parents he gives us. This is at least God's design and intention for the family, to see one another as a gift and to share life together in love. This is the heart of the Fourth Commandment, where God instructs children to honor their father and mother. In his Small Catechism, Luther explains that rather than despising and angering our parents, children should honor, serve, obey, love, and cherish them. To see our parents as a gift from God causes hearts to cherish and love them. Love can't help but bear the fruit of willful service and obedience. Looking at one another through the lens of a God-given gift makes all the difference. There is no “Commandment” for parents, though, is there? Yes, there are several places in Scripture where parents are instructed in how to raise and treat their children. Although the particular guidelines may differ, the lens prescription is still the same; see your children as a gift from God. When parents see their child as a gift from the hand of God, they see their role in a whole new light. Dads and moms become a portrait to their children of their heavenly Father, mirroring God's gracious love, his sacrificial care, tireless provision, and tender guidance and protection. This is the hands-on way of raising children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. The thing about parents is that they are sinners, too. I've never met a parent who doesn't have regrets or who hasn't wished they could do some things over. Parents need forgiveness, too, just like children. This is perhaps the most profound way a parent can teach their children the faith when a parent is on the receiving end of God's forgiving grace. God loves to give gifts. He gave his most precious gift, his very own Son, to die for the sins of the world, and “the world” includes parents. God has given parents the gift of a family to love and to care for. Sharing life together in Christ makes all the difference.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.“I the Lord will be your Father, Savior, Comforter, and Brother. Go, My children; I will keep you and give you peace.” (922:4)Author: Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

November 12, 2025Today's Reading: Matthew 26:1-19Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 25:1-18; Matthew 26:1-19“You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” (Matthew 26:2)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.The hour has come; the time is at hand. The Son of Man is hours away from his cross. Jesus knew this, yet his disciples refused to believe it. The Scriptures pointed to this, and this is the reason Jesus was born: to die that he might save his people from their sins. News spread that Jesus was approaching Jerusalem, and the reception couldn't be more opposite, as opposite as faith and unbelief. When the chief priests and the elders of the people get wind that Jesus was coming near the city, guess what kind of welcome they are planning for him? They gather in the palace of Caiaphas, the High Priest, to plan how to secretly arrest Jesus and kill him. Isaiah's words about God's Messiah indeed are true: “He was despised and rejected by men.”  And yet God would use their scheming to accomplish his plan to save the world. Jesus stops in Bethany, two miles outside Jerusalem, at the house of Simon. While Jesus is reclining at the table, a woman pours expensive ointment on his head. The disciples become irate, thinking that is a waste of money, but Jesus has a different response: " What she has done is a beautiful thing to me.” He goes on to say, “She has done it to prepare me for burial.” The “Annointed One” has been anointed! The Passover Lamb is ready for the slaughter. “My time is at hand,” Jesus said. He would not be deterred. He knew what lay ahead of him over the upcoming hours, and yet Christ suffered for you. He endured the cross and bore your sins upon the tree that “you might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:21-24). Still to this day, Jesus, the Lamb of God, is rejected. Yet, the world's unbelief does not nullify what Christ accomplished on his cross. Jesus bore the iniquities of us all. So let us not be deterred to proclaim the Good News of Jesus, who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. There is no sin Jesus' blood did not cover. There is no sinner left out whom Christ did not die for. This is the awesome wonder of Christ's cross.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.“See, the Lamb, so long expected, Comes with pardon down from heav'n. Let us haste, with tears of sorrow, One and all, to be forgiv'n.” (345:3)Author: Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

From the publisher:“There Is Life on the Planet Mars” ―New York Times, December 9, 1906This New York Times headline was no joke. In the early 1900s, many Americans actually believed we had discovered intelligent life on Mars, as best-selling science writer David Baron chronicles in The Martians, his truly bizarre tale of a nation swept up in Mars mania.At the center of Baron's historical drama is Percival Lowell, the Boston Brahmin and Harvard scion, who observed “canals” etched into the surface of Mars. Lowell devised a grand theory that the red planet was home to a utopian society that had built gargantuan ditches to funnel precious meltwater from the polar icecaps to desert farms and oasis cities. The public fell in love with the ambitious amateur astronomer who shared his findings in speeches and wildly popular books.While at first people treated the Martians whimsically—Martians headlining Broadway shows, biologists speculating whether they were winged or gilled—the discussion quickly became serious. Inventor Nikola Tesla announced he had received radio signals from Mars; Alexander Graham Bell agreed there was “no escape from the conviction” that intelligent beings inhabited the planet. Martian excitement reached its zenith when Lowell financed an expedition to photograph Mars from Chile's Atacama Desert, resulting in what newspapers hailed as proof of the Martian canals' existence.Triumph quickly yielded to tragedy. Those wild claims and highly speculative photographs emboldened Lowell's critics, whose withering attacks gathered steam and eventually wrecked the man and his theory—but not the fervor he had started. Although Lowell would die discredited and delusional in 1916, the Mars frenzy spurred a nascent literary genre called science fiction, and the world's sense of its place in the universe would never be the same.Today, the red planet maintains its grip on the public's imagination. Many see Mars as civilization's destiny—the first step toward our becoming an interplanetary species—but, as David Baron demonstrates, this tendency to project our hopes onto the world next door is hardly new. The Martians is a scintillating and necessary reminder that while we look to Mars for answers, what we often find are mirrors of ourselves.David Baron's website is https://davidbaronauthor.com/ Information on his book can be found at https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324090663He is on social media at https://x.com/dhbaron?lang=enAxelbankHistory.com is designed by https://www.ellieclairedesigns.com/Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at https://twitter.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://instagram.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://facebook.com/axelbankhistory

November 11, 2025Today's Reading: 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, 13-17Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 23:21-40; Matthew 25:31-46“To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:14)In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.God has made a decision for you. Do you realize that? God has made a choice for you and has called you to Himself. Do you slow down to stop and take time to think about that? You are a miracle of God's divine grace. God came to you through his Word and by his Spirit. He spoke to you, and you listened. He called you, and you came. He gave you a promise, and you believed. God chose to set his love on you; you are a miracle of God's saving grace. Not by the Law did God call you, but through His gospel. What does that mean? It means His decision for you is not based on your performance but upon His promise. God's decision for you is not conditional but unconditional. God didn't call you and say, “Come here, I've got a deal for you. I'll wipe the slate of your sin clean, I'll raise you from the dead, and I'll give you a permanent place in my incredible kingdom if you…” Nope! The law works that way, but not the gospel. You have been called by the gospel. You are a walking miracle of God's grace. God chose you in Christ. That means it has pleased him to give you everything Jesus won for you through his life, death, and resurrection as pure gift. No conditions. No checklist. No performance test. It's all yours in Jesus: complete forgiveness, God fully pleased with you, a life where he is working his good works through you, and everlasting life in his eternal kingdom. That's the decision God made for you. That's what Jesus accomplished for you. You have been called to simply receive it by faith – trusting in God's wonderful promises to you, and even your faith is His miraculous gift. God still calls you every day. When you wake up and open your eyes to a new day, God is calling you to rise and embrace the day, walking in His promises. He is at work in you and is keeping you in the very faith He has given you, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ! All gift; all for you. You are a miracle of God's amazing grace.In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)Author: Rev. Darrin Sheek, pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church Anaheim, CA.Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Richard Heinz, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lowell, IN.This new devotional resource by Carl Fickenscher walks you through each week's readings, revealing thematic connections and helping you better understand what is to come in worship each Sunday.

Bobby and Meghan talk with Brian Smith and Ed Uszynski about how families can keep faith central in the world of youth sports. They discuss what inspired Away Game, how parents can manage emotions and expectations, and practical ways to support kids without sideline coaching. Hear real stories of transformation as parents shift from performance-driven mindsets to gospel-centered parenting that brings spiritual health and joy, both on and off the field. Get the Book Here.Download a FREE Parenting Athletes Guide at Empoweredhomes.org.About the Authors As two dads who've seen both the challenges and beauty of youth sports, Brian and Ed offer relatable wisdom to help parents guide their children spiritually in every season. Brian Smith is the author of several books, including The Christian Athlete, and has been on staff with Athletes in Action since 2008. A graduate of Wake Forest University, Brian has a master's degree in Theology and Sports Studies through Baylor University. Brian lives in Lowell, Michigan, with his wife and three kids and writes regularly at the christianathlete.com. Ed Uszynski is an author, speaker, and sports minister with over three decades' experience discipling college and professional athletes. He's written articles, essays, and training manuals at the intersection of faith and sport and is the lead strategist for Content Mercenaries. He has two theological degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a PhD in American Culture Studies from Bowling Green State University. He and his wife Amy have four children and live in Xenia, Ohio.About Empowered Homes Who we are? The primary purpose of Empowered Homes is to connect church and home by equipping families, leaders and ministries to grow in the areas of marriage, parenting, personal growth. discipleship strategy, family ministry, and leadership development. We value the family as the first institution designed by God for spiritual formation, relationships, and reflecting His image. We seek to ensure that every element of church life supports and equips that essential role. What we do? Empowered Homes Ministry provides practical, gospel-based resources to connect church and home. The majority of our resources are offered online through our website empoweredhomes.org. We also partner with churches and ministries to provide conferences, equipping events & ministry coaching.Empowered Homes Podcast Show us some Love! Do you appreciate The Empowered Homes Podcast? Like, subscribe, comment, share. Every bit of your engagement helps us be open-handed in sharing resources to grow strong families, leaders and ministries. Thanks for your help in Empowering Homes for the gospel! FB : https://www.facebook.com/EmpoweredHomesResources Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/empoweredhomesresources/ Youtube: ...

If there is a common thread between the greatest rock climbing achievements of the last few decades, it's that cinematographer Brett Lowell was probably filming it. In high school, Brett found himself pulled into the world of climbing creativity and has never looked back.   Watch Climbing Gold on YouTube Thanks to our sponsors The North Face Check out Summit Series at thenorthface.com  LMNT  Get your free LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase at www.drinklmnt.com/climbinggold. Try the new LMNT Sparkling — a bold, 16-ounce can of sparkling electrolyte water. AG1 Go to DrinkAG1.com/climbinggold to get a FREE frother with your first purchase of AGZ  Turtlebox Take your music anywhere turtleboxaudio.com Music by:  Brendan O'Connell   •   Tracks provided with permission from the artists or Track Club