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In the Boat
a Homily for Proper 7B – Text: Mark 4: 35-41 Getting to the boat Andrew and Simon were fishing in the Sea of Galilee. They were casting nets into the water. As fishermen, this was their work. A stranger approaches them and says: “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” This strange…
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Is He Leaving?
A video reflection on this Sunday’s gospel: John 17:6-19.
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Common Humanity
a homily for Good Friday Text: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” [This was my reflection for Word 4 in our eccumenical Good Friday service using the last 7 words format.] Perhaps no line in scripture is more troubling than this. It is the single audible cry in Mark (and Matthew): “My…
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The Daywalkers
a Sermon for Lent 4B Text: John 3:14-21 this is loving the world? There are three reactions people have to this part of Scripture: [from least likely to most likely] 3) Not this one again! 2) Oh! That’s what John 3:16 says! 1) Huh? The third chapter of John begins this way: Now there was…
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Belief v. Action
In church circles there is a lot of exercise around the idea that there is dichotomous relationship between our beliefs and our actions. This is particularly evident between the groups Phyllis Tickle refers to as the Social Justice Christians (ie. the Mainliners) and the Conservative Christians (conservative evangelicals and Southern Baptists). In this paradigm, one…
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Don’t like change? You’ll love this!
[I have written several pieces on change and encourage you to find links to them here.] There is something startling about a Christian that doesn’t like change. We have come to see our faith traditions as monolithic and unchanging. We look back through our lives and we such static behavior coming from Christianity. We are used to…
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When GOD doesn’t provide
If you say the phrase “God will provide” in the Downs house, you’ll likely get your mouth taped shut. Not by me, but by my wife: she’s the pragmatist. “God doesn’t pay the electric bill!” she’ll retort. Since I was let go, we’ve been facing this very issue; trusting in GOD while trying to understand…