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Recent Posts
- Children of Hope and Joy October 2, 2019
- To him they are alive August 25, 2019
- Carried into the story August 24, 2019
- A Restless God August 23, 2019
- The heart of the universe is calling our name August 23, 2019
- Always in the presence August 18, 2019
- Of rats and holiness August 16, 2019
December 2019 M T W T F S S « Oct 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Key Thoughts and Writings
About the Scriptures
Tag Archives: Word of God
Like those who lift infants
Sunday, I just wanted to crawl back into bed. I was haunted, Saturday, by the news of the shooting in El Paso, and woke, Sunday, to the news of the shooting in Dayton. It still weighs heavily on my heart – for the victims, for their families, for the shooter’s family, for the spiritual poverty of the nation, for the brokenness of the world. If I hadn’t already made a plan to attend a neighboring church, I wouldn’t have had the resolve to find a place to worship; I would have gone back to bed. Continue reading
Posted in Grief, Hope, The Word of God, Worship
Tagged Christian Faith, Colossians 3, Dayton Shooting, El Paso Shooting, Faithfulness of God, Garlic Festival Shooting, Grace, Grief, Healing, Hope, Hosea 11, Luke 12, Mercy, Parable of the Rich Fool, Psalm 107, Religion and Spirituality, Word of God, Worship
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The times in which we live…
Thoughts on the Late Bronze Age Collapse, and the enduring Word of God I am haunted by the series of events known as the Late Bronze Age Collapse. In the 12th century bce the great ancient cultures of the Mycenaeans … Continue reading
We see dimly
It’s hard to talk about Charlottesville. It’s also hard not to. Thoughts on Psalm 70 Be pleased, O God, to deliver me. …..O Lord, make haste to help me! 2 Let those be put to shame and confusion …..who seek … Continue reading
Posted in Psalms, Reflections on the Scriptures, The Word of God
Tagged Amos, Charlottesville, Compassion, David, Forgiveness, Hate, Hosea, Humility, Jeremiah, Love of neighbor, Mercy, Psalm 70, Psalms, Reading the Scriptures, Religion and Spirituality, Scripture, The prophets, Violence, Word of God
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Singing of a warrior God
So what shall we do with this psalm? We can pull out the nice verses and ignore the rest. We can “spiritualize” the enemy to refer to the devil and his minions. Or we can acknowledge that nobility and cruelty sometimes live together in us – and give thanks that this word is fulfilled in Jesus, who laid down the sword and took up compassion, who laid down his life to reconcile those who were enemies, who grants us his spirit and conquers with love. Continue reading
Posted in Psalms, Reflections on the Scriptures
Tagged Christianity, Enemies, Jesus, Love, Love your enemy, Power, Religion and Spirituality, Scripture, Word of God
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Some things are right with the world
Christmas does not mean that all is right with the world. That is clearly not the case. Humanity has a long way to go before swords are beaten into plowshares and a special needs teen isn’t abused and tormented by angry young people because of his vulnerability and race. But something is right with the world. Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Christmas, Worship
Tagged Christmas, Fruits of the Spirit, Holy Spirit, Hope, Kindness, Peace, Word of God, Worship
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God with us
The prophetic word grows ever deeper as the ages pass. And the promise is seen to be more than God’s peace for one moment of time; the promise becomes God’s ultimate peace. Continue reading
The Big Story
Those of us who are not rooted in the scriptures often find them strange. Even the word “God” is hard for some of us. But our confession as a Christian community is that there is a heartbeat at the center of all things, a spirit, a breath, pushing and pulling the world towards justice and mercy and goodness and life. Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Grief, Hope, Sermons, The Word of God
Tagged Bible, Christian Faith, Christianity, Cross and Resurrection of Jesus, Death, Death of Jesus, funeral, God, God's Love, Incarnation, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Life, New Creation, Reign of God, Resurrection, Scripture, Word of God
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Is not my word like fire?
The preacher last Sunday talked about Jesus as the bread of life – though he didn’t entirely explain what he meant by Jesus as the bread of life. He went from talking about signs to talking about bread to talking … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Preaching, The Word of God, Worship
Tagged Call of God, Discipleship, Faithfulness of God, Grace, New birth, New Creation, Preaching, Presence of God, Tradition, Word of God, Worship
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The words of my mouth
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14) Pastors know these words. I cannot speak for all traditions, nor for all pastors … Continue reading
Posted in Preaching, Worship
Tagged Altar, Christianity, John Huss, Law and Gospel, Luther, Lutheran pastors, Lutherans, Pastors, Prayer, Psalm 19, Psalms, Pulpit, Word and Sacrament, Word of God, Worship
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Traveling to Zarephath
The word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 1 Kings 17:8 All our thoughts have been on the … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Reflections on the Scriptures
Tagged 1 Kings 17, Bible, Christianity, Courage, Elijah, Faith, Trust, Widow of Zarephath, Word of God
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