Tag Archives: Bible

January 4, 2014 · 6:27 pm

A Story of Two Groups of “Wise Men”

Well, I’m going to go WAAAY out of character for me, and out on a church calendar limb. Tomorrow is Sunday, 5 January, 2014, the last Sunday in Christmas this year. So I am going to race ahead and post about Epiphany. “Sin Boldly”; to half-quote Martin Luther.

So why jump ahead two days as if I were impatient for them to be gone? Well, perhaps I am in mid-revelation, and revelation is sort of what the word “epiphany” means. Or perhaps I am receiving my Christmas gift, which also marks it as OK as a Christmas post (now I feel better!). I understand that in many places in the world, in many parts of the Church, Gifts are not exchanged on Christmas, in remembrance of the Gift of the Incarnation, but on Twelfth-Night, Epiphany (“…my true love gave to me, …”) in remembrance of the gifts of the Magi, given TO the incarnate Son of the most High. I sort of like that, in that it puts the focus a little more where I think it belongs, on me giving to God as I seek to serve Him in all people, in recognition of my baptismal vow.

Well, rambling over, on with the point. In Matthew’s account of the Gospel, Chapter 2, he says of the “wise men” (or Magi): Continue reading →

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December 27, 2013 · 2:19 pm

Karma and Exodus (borrowed from The Pews of Hope)

I edit another blog, partly written by me, but intended as a vehicle for expression and conversation for the laypeople of my church, Hope Episcopal Church (Houston).  It is called “The Pews of Hope” http://thepewsofhope.wordpress.com/ 
 
I wrote the following piece last May, in reaction to an incident in our Sunday eve Bible study, which I did not think we handled particularly well

That site doesn’t get a lot of traffic yet, and thus not a lot of comments. I would particularly welcome some other thoughts, so I thought I would place it over here as well.
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Last Sunday afternoon, May 26, our Bible Study group was reading in Exodus. We read the Ten Commandments, and we continued with laws relating to a variety of subjects, most of which our legal system would call tort law – or how to deal “with what is fair?” when one person has, intentionally or accidentally, caused harm to another. Continue reading →

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April 3, 2013 · 4:00 pm

“’I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have…’”

Today, I am going to offer a guest post – a daily devotional from the Rev. Reid Morgan, Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in La Porte, Texas.

It is on a subject I feel considerable conviction and leading about, learning from my betters on the subject; particularly my former wife, Stephanie, for whom this point lies very close to the center of the way Jesus interacted with people in the time of His incarnation. She is very, very good at following His example.
I offer Fr. Reid’s essay without further comment, except for my gratitude.
Continue reading →

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November 18, 2012 · 12:50 pm

The Widow’s Mite: another view

One of the things I like about the branch of the Church into which God has placed me is the use of a defined Lectionary, or schedule of scripture readings to be used throughout the year. One of the reasons I like this is that it is another way of removing the preacher from the throne, while leaving him in the pulpit: His (and her) task is to explain, expound and apply the Bible, not to cherry-pick the verses that fit his particular slant. But, like anything derived by humans to keep us out of trouble, “the rules” sometimes provide their own slant on the text. I believe that this may have happened the last two Sundays. Continue reading →

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November 7, 2012 · 10:06 pm

Why Should Christians Study?

Last weekend I had the very great joy of participating on the leadership team of a retreat weekend. The purpose of this “little course in Christianity” was to give people a taste of an intentional walk with God in Community. Particularly, it teaches a path embracing worship (or piety), study, and action.

One of my functions was to talk about the role of study in Christian life. I thought I would like to share my address on that subject here. Continue reading →

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September 18, 2012 · 10:02 am

“For I know the plans I have for you…”

“In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.’ “

Isaiah 19:19-25

This passage from the prophet Isaiah came up this morning. It raises so many thoughts relative to the news of the day that one’s mind flies from one idea to the next, trying to capture it all. But among all the thoughts of great prophetic deeds done thousands of miles away, there is one thought supremely close at hand.  I want to stick with that. Continue reading →

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September 3, 2012 · 1:09 pm

On the Redeemer and the Exodus, through Psalm 105 (with thanks to Lisa Tenney)

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!

Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!

Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually!

Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!

The beginning of Psalm 105

 This morning, the daily reading app (at YouVersion.com, of which I am quite fond, btw) on my phone served to me Psalm 105 which starts with this marvelous call to praise God.

I read it in the context of reading a post from another long-time member of Houston’s Church of the Redeemer (Episcopal) Lisa Tenney. Her thoughts were a joy to hear; and as I began to read this Psalm of praise and exhortation to   praise God for His mighty acts, I could not help but put the two together.

Continue reading →

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July 15, 2012 · 7:13 pm

A Visiting Preacher, Esau, and looking forward to Romans

This morning, we had a guest preacher, the Rev. John Newton, Canon for Life-Long Spiritual Formation for the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. He preached mainly from the Epistle reading for the day, from first chapter of Ephesians. He started in what I thought  was headed for a standard corporate-church theme of God’s blessings (“we need to realize that God has already blessed us, yadda, yadda, yadda …”)  Yes, he went there, and I can’t totally fault him for that; he has an excuse in that the point is correct.

But then he went somewhere more interesting. Continue reading →

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July 4, 2012 · 12:11 pm

On Questions and Mirrors, Truth and Images

“Would it possible to be tempted, in such a way that we miss God’s desire for us, by being part of a church that is almost perfect?”

As an answer to the question, I will suggest that part of the reason for the story of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament is to answer a related question. It is one I have sometimes heard from skeptics. It goes something like this:

“If God is real, why doesn’t he just “show up” and prove himself? Then people would believe in him! Instead, all we get are some writings in a book (and those kind of hard to understand), and the word of people like you who tell us just to ‘have faith and trust him.’
I’m sorry, but if he is real, and expects to be acknowledged, he needs to say so, directly. Then we would all see the truth, and could all believe. Until then…”

I think there is some merit to the question. Continue reading →

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June 29, 2012 · 11:19 pm

Thinking about Dirt

Over the last several weeks I have run into what is often called “The Parable of the Sower” from the Gospel According to Mark (It’s also in Matthew and Luke, but this month, it always seemed to come up in Mark). If you ever had any exposure at all to stories from the Bible, you probably remember this one; on its simplest level, it tells of a man sowing seed, somewhat randomly. The seed falls on four different kinds of dirt, and the story explores what happens to that seed in each. The link to the story is here: Mark 4:2-9. But what does it all mean? And why did Jesus say it that way at all? Well, as our good fortune would have it, Jesus’ followers asked those questions too, and He told them. We can read it right there in Mark. No need for fancy interpretation, “…move along, nothing to see here, it’s all been explained….”
However some of us can’t leave well enough alone. Here’s my addition… Continue reading →

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