February 2016

  • Why Trouble the Teacher

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    Why Trouble the Teacher (Day 17 of A Simple Lent) Monday One of the most profound tools in the evangelist’s toolbox is the literary frame. It’s surprising, really when you think about it. You’re telling a pretty amazing story about a dude who can heal people and control the weather. The substance of the story…

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  • Turning to GOD

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    And still we say that GOD punishes and we treat one another with great cruelty because we believe that GOD is in the business of hating and punishing and driving the immigrant out of the community in spite of everything written in Scripture which bears that as a lie, which reveals how false a claim…

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  • How They Beg

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    How They Beg (Day 16 of A Simple Lent) Saturday After the craziness in the boat, in which the disciples forget rule #1 of discipleship: do what your rabbi does, we hit land and they find themselves in a graveyard with a crazy man. I’m not sure why I love this story, but I do. Maybe you…

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  • Don’t You Care That We’re Dying?

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    Don’t You Care That We’re Dying? (Day 15 of A Simple Lent) Friday In one sense, the idea that the disciples have that Jesus should at least be awake and aware of what’s happening is a pretty valid concern. The storm is raging and they’re scared out of their minds and here’s Jesus sleeping in the…

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  • All This Has Happened To Me!

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    All This Has Happened To Me! (Day 14 of A Simple Lent) The Jacob saga in Genesis is fascinating to me. Here is the grandson of Abraham, the blessed, receiver of the covenant, and he is a world-class jerk. Selfish. Thieving. Conniving. Not what you would think of as godly in any way. And certainly…

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  • Trembling to One Another

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    Trembling to One Another (Day 13 of A Simple Lent) People are funny. Sometimes “funny ha-ha”. Usually just “funny strange”. Either way, I laugh. There’s something telling in the Joseph story for today – about these brothers who go down to Egypt to get food to bring home to their father (Jacob) and they encounter…

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  • Truth

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    Truth (Day 12 of A Simple Lent) In a political campaign, it often seems like the biggest loser is sincerity and truth. It becomes easy for websites like FactCheck.org to parse every political statement or for confusions to blossom into controversies: such as fear of bias leading to a made up story of people chanting of…

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  • Am I to Come to You With a Stick?

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    Am I to Come to You With a Stick (Day 11 of A Simple Lent) As we get further into this letter to the church in Corinth, we are now starting to see what has Paul so mad. Not the specific stuff, that’s coming later. We’re getting the question of authority. As in the people are…

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