August 2009
You are browsing the archive for August 2009.
Sexual Attraction and Divinity
Two of the lectionary passages today, at least if you go with the United Methodist selections, involve romance and sexual attraction. One, of course, is Song of Songs 2:8-13 and the other is Psalm 45, which has a foreign princess marrying the king of Israel. The second involves romance at least as far as an [...]
When the Glory of God Shows Up
Scripture: 1 Kings 8:10-11 (Proper 16B) I like to say that God is present everywhere, and that the difference between one time and another is much more with our awareness of God’s presence than it is with any action on God’s part. But if we believe scripture, there are times when God’s presence is especially [...]
Getting Seriously Committed (Pr 16B – Gospel)
The gospel for this week comes again from John 6:56-69. We have five of these in a row. John 6 is an interesting chapter because in it Jesus drives to the heart of his message in speaking especially to his disciples, and many of them can’t handle it. They leave. I have discussed the gritty, [...]
Grace and Wisdom (Lectionary Proper 15B)
References: 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-15; Psalm 111; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58 For three of these passages it is quite easy to find a common theme – wisdom. If you go a step further, all of those passages talk about wisdom in action. For the remaining passage, the gospel, one may be tempted to preach a [...]
Letting Wisdom Define Fear of the Lord
Ref: Psalm 111:10 – Proper 15B The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Those who practice it have good inteligence. We’ve all heard that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, as stated in this passage and many others. It’s a pretty basic Christian concept. A few days ago, [...]
Added RefTagger
I have just added the RefTagger module to this site. It seems like a valuable adjunct to a site that has as many Bible references as this one. I have set the default version to TNIV. I may change that from time to time just to keep people thinking!
Why did God give Solomon Riches?
See 1 Kings 3:3-14 (Proper 15B) Why does God choose to give Solomon riches and make him great after Solomon asks for wisdom? God is pleased with Solomon’s request and grants it, yet he also grants him everything else he might desire. The result, as we read further into the story, is that Solomon turns [...]
Jesus Responds to Offense and Resistance
For Proper 15B the gospel reading is John 6:51-58, which continues from the previous reading. In that reading, Jesus barely got started with the gritty physical metaphors, and the people were offended and resistant. This theme of offense will surface many times in portion of John in which Jesus is addressing the crowd in general. [...]
What Would YOU Ask God to Do?
I want to focus on just one line of text. In 1 Kings 3:5, God tells Solomon to ask God what God should give Solomon. It’s a simple enough question. Most of us remember the answer. Solomon wants wisdom. God decides to give him wisdom and lots of riches as well. As I reflect on [...]
Truth and Neighbors (Ephesians 4:25-5:2)
Ephesians is such a great epistle, but I want to just mention one verse: So then put aside what is false and let each one speak the truth to his neighbor, because we are members of one another. — Ephesians 4:25 The polite lie is a common means of keeping tempers cool. We do it [...]