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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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With Our Lives, Together
a Homily for Proper 6B – Text: Mark 4:26-34 Two Teachings Some here have noticed that I ask questions. I like to tell the group there are no right answers. That this is not question and answer time, but question and response time. That I’m not looking for something specific, but I want to hear…
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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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Throw Your Process Off a Bridge
It has become clear that we are in an age in which process and system are colliding. Our institutions aren’t failing because they are institutions (and our government isn’t failing simply because it is government). They fail because the process is obstructing the system. What I mean by process and system are simply the difference…
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Outside the walls of the city
a homily for Epiphany 6B Text: Mark 1:40-45 Nudy Trees My daughter and I have this little game. We point out the nudy trees to one another. She shouts: “That tree’s nudy!” Then she squeals and says “there’s another one!” I do it too. Then I point…
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Oh, How We Need The Dream
A year and a half ago, I wrote a post about “the dream speech” by Martin Luther King, Jr. In it, I wrote the following: …I will share how I, living in the country transformed by this moment, still respond to Dr. King’s words. When Dr. King says, toward the opening of the famous “I…
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Telling Secrets: “…Another World Is Possible.”
Elizabeth Kaeton preached the quintessential Advent 4 sermon–about Occupy Wall Street. Amazing! This has me moved to see a simple idea. Head on over, read it, and then reflect over that picture of Bishop Packard for a moment. When you are done, come back and ask yourself the following question: What if, in the midst…
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The Bridegroom’s a Jerk; I Sure Hope God Isn’t
In this parable, (Matthew 25:1-13) with bridesmaids, waiting for the bridegroom, the easy reading is wrong. It doesn’t work. If we see this as being about…The Second Coming or Heaven after death or the perfect example of Christian community… Then God is an idiot. See, the easy reading makes us think two things: We need to prepare for…