Category: Worship
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Learning the Language
In his book Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, Tim Keller amplifies a point made by Eugene Peterson, …our prayers should arise out of immersion in the Scripture. We should “plunge ourselves into the sea” of God’s language, the Bible. We should listen, study, think, reflect, and ponder the Scriptures until there is an…
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Nonessential Funding
Daily Bible reading crashed into my news feeds today. So I’ll throw the mess at you and see what sticks. Here’s Steven Greenhut’s piece from “Tax Day“: It’s mind-boggling to think about how little we actually get for all that cash, especially here in California where the state government measures success by how much money…
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“The Lazarus Narrative”
On the Fifth Sunday in Lent, many Christians will hear the report of Jesus raising Lazarus from the grave. It is recorded in Chapter 11 of the Gospel of John, linked here rather than paste here a long text over which you’ll likely skip and skim. …Did you read or play it? You really should.…
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Non-Hoops March Madness
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea make a noise and all that is therein. Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it; then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the LORD. (Psalm 96:11-12, New Coverdale Version) We are in the annual tug…
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Yes, There’s Evil
Yes, there’s evil. No, I’m not going to pelt you with a Walt Whitman-esque litany of all the ugly stuff, real, imagined or concocted for extra views & clicks, that you see every time your eyes veer screenward. The screen grab above came from an email I received from the Social Security Administration. I’m old…
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In Him We Might
Last night I prayed Psalm 106, which included Remember me, O LORD, according to the favor that you show to your people; O visit me with your salvation, That I may see the felicity of your chosen, and rejoice in the gladness of your people, and give thanks with your inheritance.(verses 4-5) After almost four…
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Christmas in September
Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. (Luke 13:24) I work on Sundays and can’t get to services, but I do listen to recorded sermons when I’m able. I’ve been blessed by preachers opening up these hard verses. “Agonizing” to enter through…
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DC Serves up Bovine Wine
Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right! (Isaiah 5:22-23)… Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, “Bring,…
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Shaky
Not gonna write much this week and probably next. We have a family medical situation unfolding. I was scheduled to preach and celebrate a liturgy this coming Sunday but that’s scrubbed. I was working on a sermon from Hebrews 12:27-29, …the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that…
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Unbecoming
I watched the first season of Becoming Elizabeth on Starz. Well done, although the cruelty that is presented (necessary to the story as it conveys the events and the times) appeals less and less to me as I age. Maybe I’ve grown as a disciple of Jesus; maybe I’m just more sensitive to pain and…
Northern Plains Anglican 