Tag: Right Relationships
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 13 [18]): The Epistles Passage – Mapping some slippery slopes with Paul
“I am speaking the truth in Christ–I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit– “ (Romans 9:1) Call me a skeptic of long running, but many times when someone tells me they are speaking the truth, I prick me ears up and discern whether they are really lying. Maybe it is…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 12 [17]): The Old Testament Passage – Lessons to be learned and legacies to be established
We pick up the story of Jacob when he had reached the ancestral home of his grandfather and his mother. His uncle Laban, now married himself and and with daughters, has agreed to employ Jacob to tend his flocks. But wants Jacob to earn more than just his room and board. Jacob has an idea…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 9 [14]) : The Psalm Passage – Being wooed to a new and different kind of love
“Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house, and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him; the people of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts, the richest of the people with all kinds of wealth. The princess is decked in…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 9 [14]) : The Gospel Passage – Living now, but acting as in the past
“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ “ (Matthew 11:16 – 17) To paraphrase, according to sense of the verses in The Message…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 8 [13]) : The Psalm Passages – Rescued from the shakes
“How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God! Give light…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 8 [13]) : The Epistle Passages – Paul discerns between law and grace
“Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin…
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Season after Pentecost (Proper 8 [13]) : The Old Testament Passages – In faith I say, “The Lord will Provide”
“After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” (Genesis 22:1) Trust me, beloved reader, when the Lord calls your name, you may as well answer. But do not doubt that answering the Lord will lead to things you never imagined! “He said, “Take your son, your…
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Seventh Sunday of Easter: The Epistle Passage – Holding close the words of the Apostle Peter in times of dispute
“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled…
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Sixth Sunday of Easter: The Gospel Passage – Following directions
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) What are Jesus’ commandments? For they are not the Ten Commandments – that is, not just the ten commandments. Jesus said he came to fulfill them, as if to mean that previously they had been done or kept incompletely – which is very true.…
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Fourth Sunday of Easter: The Substituted Old Testament Passage – Wonders & Signs being performed
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.” (Acts 2:42- 43) “Wonders and signs” – I dearly wish I knew what the writer of Acts meant by that. I (or you)…
A Simple Desire 