Tag: Bible
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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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All Outta Context
Last Sunday many churches heard Luke’s report of Jesus’ appearance on the first night after he rose from the dead. Jesus was, indeed, revealed in breaking bread. But he criticized and lectured those he greeted before they got to the table. The picture above is a redacted version of a meme posted by a preacher…
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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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Staffing issues
I read Numbers 17 this morning. It’s short – go read it. What struck me was God’s purpose for Aaron’s staff: And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept as a sign for the rebels, that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” Lest.…
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Why Not Both/And?
“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled…
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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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…by his faith…
I imagined that decades of Holocaust documentaries, dramas, books and my own visits to Dachau and Yad Vashem had me innoculated against strong emotional reactions to presentations about the Shoah. I was wrong. Ken Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein present a jarring look at the Holocaust in a global and in particular American context.…
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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…
Northern Plains Anglican 