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Category Archives: Bible
Grapes Grow In the Ruins
Grapes grow in the ruins of the great city. The poor tend the vines. Their trust in God is a royal robe; the earth they sit on a throne. They crush the grapes to make the wine of new life. … Continue reading
Give Us a New Word
Give us a new word, a message to teach, raise, save, cleanse and make us well. We love old words on the page; we chew on them like bits of bread in the mouth. Our ears need new words too, … Continue reading
If I May Speak Privately, God
If I may speak privately, God, I want to ask you something. You offer abundance: a river of pure joy flows on by, a stream clear as glass. Why then do we end up in a muddy cistern, a deep … Continue reading
I Write Complaints in Ink
This is the seventh day in following a practice I learned from Elmer Ewing, who writes at My Meditations on the Daily Lectionary. I like this way of reading and reflecting on scripture and will likely continue it. I write … Continue reading
You Give Me Trees and Rain
You give me trees and rain, bread for my mouth, a scroll to read, a wise wife to love. I am blessed. Then why am I a man of little love? Why do tears of gratitude not fall down my … Continue reading
Hungry For a Harvest of Love
Hungry for a harvest of love, a few workers bend their backs in a fertile field, under a clear sky. You who make plants grow in the dirt, put breath in their lungs, strength in their limbs, and hire more … Continue reading
Kinetic Sculptor
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and the cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Exiles From Our Homeland
Exiles from our homeland, brought down low, we walk across the desert, eyes open to the wide horizon. The Lord walks with us, shelters our spirits, and gives cool water to drink from the hidden well of the Spirit. Lectionary … Continue reading
Turn to us, Lord
Turn to us, Lord, and look with favor on us. Light the spark of your Spirit in us to kindle faith and make us well. Let the sun dawn deep in our hearts, and joy drip out of our … Continue reading
You Bring Our Plans to Nothing
You bring our plans to nothing and let all our wine spill on the ground because we do not humble our hearts and wait for those who lag behind. Lectionary Readings Psalm 89.1-18; 147.1-11; 1; 33 2 Kings 22.14-23.3 … Continue reading
We Lie Prone On the Ground
Elmer Ewing, a retired Cornell University professor, writes a blog called My Meditations on the Daily Lectionary. There are seven readings each day in this lectionary: four from the Psalms, one more from the Hebrew Bible, and two from the … Continue reading
Common English Bible
A new translation of the Bible is coming out this summer. Digital versions of the Common English Bible are available now, with print editions coming out this month. The CEB is a fresh translation of the scriptures, unlike the NRSV … Continue reading
The Anointing at Bethany
While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the … Continue reading
The Sheep and the Goats
Readings in The One Year Bible today include the well known parable of the sheep and the goats, an arresting image of the last judgment (Matthew 25:31-46) where the king divides the nations as a shepherd separates the sheep and … Continue reading
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How I Picture the Birth of Jesus
Our traditional picture of the Christmas story, reinforced by countless Christmas pageants, has Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem after dark. They try to stay in an inn, but there is no room, and they seek shelter in a stable … Continue reading
The Bible Is Like a Dirt Road
The US has fewer and fewer dirt roads: Nationwide, unpaved roads have been cut nearly in half since 1960, according to the Federal Highway Administration. That’s quite an achievement, but a task still not complete. In 2008, the US had … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Engineering, Nature
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Under the Sun
Ecclesiastes is on my mind. Life feels discouraging lately, in church and in society. The economy is in a hard place. Long time business owners are closing their doors. Unused factory buildings have weeds growing in the parking lot. Houses … Continue reading
The Ten Commandments
Recently I’ve been sitting in with the Sisters Class, one of our adult Sunday school offerings. I am a lone brother in a group of good women. We’re reading The Heart of Christianity by Marcus Borg, a religion professor at … Continue reading
Calvin On the Authority of Scripture
Calvin ridicules the notion that scripture’s authority rests on the church, the Roman Catholic position. Instead, he locates the authority of the Bible in the ‘internal testimony of the Spirit.’ We feel there the precise power of divinity showing its … Continue reading
The Purpose of the Bible
Two conversations about the Bible led Ryan Dueck to offer his perspective on scripture. Do I “believe” in the Bible? No, I don’t. I believe in the God that the Bible points us toward. I don’t feel compelled to use … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, Jesus
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