First Day

In Part 2 we will take a brief look at the Hebrew and Greek source material for the Old and New Testaments.

This is the first part of a class on Bible interpretation and translations. 

When the crowd hears John the Baptist warn that God was about ready to cut everyone off, "that the ax was at the root," they do what many of us do: They panic and try to find out what they need to do to stave off their imminent demise. Note that instead of saying, "Nothing," like Jesus does to Nicodemus who asks the Lord what he can do, John begins to tell the people how they can begin to repent.

I take a brief look at Mark 8 and Jesus' rebuke of Peter. Sorry if it's a bit rambling, but sometimes you just gotta say it.

I'm doing my best to start back on a committed publication schedule, and I think that Christ the King/Reign of Christ Sunday is a good week to start. I hope that you find this episode a blessing.

31 October 2020 As he was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this, the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God when Abiathar...

Bildad’s Second Speech. 1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: 2 When will you put an end to words?      Reflect, and then we can have discussion.  3 Why are we accounted like beasts,      equal to them in your sight?  4 You who tear yourself in your anger—      shall the earth be neglected on your account      or the rock be moved out of its place?  5 Truly, the light of the wicked is extin...

My spirit is broken, my days finished, my burial is at hand. (Job 17:1) With COVID, politics, the economy, civic unrest, and uncertainly even in Christ’s Church, Job would surely find many kindred spirits in today’s world. Perhaps this bleak outlook contributes to our tendency to overreact. See yesterday’s podcast for more on that. So why not bring a gun to a knife fight if we’ve got nothing to lo...

I have three quick questions: When was the last time someone got you angry, really hot under the collar? Or when was the last time a situation nearly got the best of you—or did it get the best of you—and why do you think this happened? And lastly: Were your reactions justified? If our readings today are about anything, I think it is safe to assume that they are about how we tend to react to others...

I will show you, if you listen to me; what I have seen, I will tell. (Job 15:17) If there is, perhaps, a kernel of truth in what we find in Eliphaz’s second speech, this may be it; although its presence by no means straightens-out its generally skewed picture of Job nor its judgementalism. Nevertheless, there is something to be learned from verse seventeen, something that we members of God’s famil...

It has been said that there are two certainties in life: death and taxes. But I’d like you to consider for right now that at some point—maybe involving death and or taxes—you will feel overwhelmed at some point in your life—perhaps at many points. I guess this is why Job’s story still entertains our thoughts and stirs our spirits to this day. Usually it’s his patience that gets all the attention,...

Job 12:5-6 The undisturbed esteem my downfall a disgrace such as awaits unsteady feet; yet the tents of robbers are prosperous, and those who provoke God are secure, whom God has in his power. This is from Job’s reply to his friend Zophar’s first speech in Job chapter eleven—when the hero is told to go and make himself worthy so that he may be able to hope in relief from God. How does that express...

For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Jesus Christ. But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not...

Do we as disciples want what Jesus wanted? Do our churches, faith communities, and traditions share God's desires for others, for the world, and for ourselves? Join us as we begin our search for the answers.

It takes time to live into our new identity in Christ Jesus. Patience, Grasshopper.

This is a brief episode to start the podcast going again in this extraordinary time. Are we going to allow what has happened change our priorities, or are we just taking back up the status quo?

If a sacrament is an ordinary action or substance through which the grace of God flows to those that are in need, those that are hurting, then by living as a disciple our very lives become sacramental. As we live the life that Jesus describes in Luke 6, we bring blessing, and the power of God's Spirit and grace flows through us.

We continue our look into Luke 6 and Jesus' description of the life of a disciple.

The life that leads to blessings is a life that is predicated upon reacting to those who hate you in the same way that Jesus does. The disciple doesn't seek to have it his or her way but instead is willing to consider other's needs as more important. The disciple will be blessed by giving freely to those who would take; disciples will be mocked and rejected by others when they choose to respond in...

The signs of blessings are not what we expect in our world today.

The beginning of our journey into discipleship begins when we decide to share in God's desire for all the world to be reconciled in Jesus Christ; it is when we decide to love rather than to be right. The disciple can be content because discipleship is about living, about being a blessing to those who are hurting.

Are we living as disciples of Christ or are we merely churchgoers? Christian teaching is necessary, but it cannot be the only source of spiritual truth in the believer's life. There are times that Christian teaching doesn't quite match up with Jesus' teaching and times when belief is not being put into action, perhaps because what Jesus describes as the expected life of his followers may be too un...

There is no way that any one person can navigate this thing called life successfully alone: Cooperation and mutual concern are demands. When we start to see ourselves as part of a whole, serving a purpose far greater than any one we would devise on our own, perhaps we will start to be able to experience the fullness of God's blessing.

The dry, barren times in our lives can very well be the best times to see God doing amazing things. In these time, if we would but look up from our routine, we might catch a glimpse of the burning bush and hear God's invitation to be a part of something wonderful.

God desires that none should perish and, also, promises that there will come a day when all people and nations will seek to live righteous and holy lives. Do we share in God's desire and are we prepared to help make this day come to pass?