Toff that I am PBS Masterpiece has been on my DVR list for a long time. So having something like Downton Abbey come along was something new. I now had someone else watching with me. I had to endure a gentle ribbing from the Parson’s Wife for my Soap Opera and Chick-Flick attachment. I’m . . . → Read More: Grace and the Television
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Biblical Texts:Mark 1:8-15, Gen 22:1-18, James 1:12-18 Full Drafft of Sermon The first Sunday in Lent. All the texts are about testing or temptation. And If you are listening it is hard to read the testing of Abraham and then read James right after it. There would seem to be a contradiction, and its . . . → Read More: Temptation…the terrible feeling of aloneness The headline of this WSJ article…In Vitro a Fertile Niche for Lenders Julie Barth’s prayers were answered when a doctor in Crystal Lake, Ill., told her in vitro fertilization might get her pregnant. But he didn’t stop there, referring her to a “fertility finance” company that lent her $5,000 at an interest rate of 7.99% . . . → Read More: Financing Little Johnny…when does Rumplestilskin show up? 1) Lest anyone thinks I might have been harsh in my Ash Wednesday sermon drawing analogies with the national debt and the plague of locusts in Joel. (Joel said that God was at the front of that plague. The plague was a mirror to the spiritual state of the people. Is our debt a mirror?) . . . → Read More: Paragraphs to Make You Think Text: Joel 2:12-19 Joel is one of the 12 short little books at the end of the Old Testament. 12 so called minor prophets. And we don’t really know when he wrote. The best guess is that he is early. He is the 2nd of the 12 short prophets which are thought to be . . . → Read More: Ash Wednesday Meditation Biblical Text: Mark 9:1-10 Full Text of Sermon We create fancy ways of talking about the reality of suffering – like the theology of the cross. If you think words are a bloodless way, there are less attractive ways. Like gated communities, or social darwinism or government programs that can make us feel like . . . → Read More: The Christ must include the Cross – Mountain to Mountain Parson’s wife and kids are out of the house for the week leaving after church today. That gives me way to much time to get into trouble (instead of using the time keeping the kids out of trouble). First comment of trouble: Rick Santorum is too theologically literate to be elected president. And the . . . → Read More: More Moral Dumbfounding Today, we finished up our Zoo Animals theme at the preschool. We had a great couple of weeks learning about our ferocious friends! We painted stripes on zebras, finger painted spots on giraffes, and sang Raffi’s “Going to the Zoo.” The children especially liked playing with their own “zoo” in the sand table and singing . . . → Read More: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! Our organist, Dennis Hein, passed away this week from cancer. He was 64. The service is Saturday at 11 AM. I’ve always had trouble turning off my brain. It is a cliche now, but a computer keeps cycling those giga-hertz even when 99% of them are spent running a screen saver and idling. When there . . . → Read More: Slight Momentary Diversions What is needed in our churches is not more education but more embodied practices that can shape our affections and behavior along with our attitudes. The virtues I focus on in Unclean involve the practices of welcome and hospitality, what Miroslav Volf calls “the will to embrace.” That is from this interview with Dr. Beck . . . → Read More: Sentence to Ponder |
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