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A belief or believing?
Belief isn’t the same thing as a belief. A belief is a concept. It also happens to be a concept that we may trust is true. Belief is an act. Perhaps it is that act of trusting in the truth of a concept we refer to as a belief. But it doesn’t have to be.…
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This Tuesday of Holy Week
Jesus’s confrontation at the Temple challenges us to see past their questions of authority, but the reason for the questioning. Jesus ducks their questions because they are questioning the authority of God. On Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem in a parody of authority. And after the crowds died down, he took a quick look inside…
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Gospel
I first really heard the gospel in school. I was in an undergrad Bible class on Paul; the kind of distributive requirement that seemed like a natural fit for me. English major; PK (priest’s kid). The professor was an Orthodox bishop, Makarios. And his thick Indian accent meant that we had to really listen. Listen…
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Choosing GOD means looking funny
The sort of liberation Jesus offers comes with a helping of crazy. Proper 5B | Mark 3:20-35, 1 Samuel 8:4-20 Mistaking GOD for a demon This morning we truly begin the season after Pentecost. Unlike the other seasons of Advent, Christmas, the season after the Epiphany, Lent, and Easter, this season does not have an…
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The Love Apocalypse (Eating Scripture)
Eating Mark 13:1-8 This week, we tackle a gospel we don’t know what to make of, a type of literature we don’t understand, and a meaning for 21st Century American Christians that is consistent with Jesus’s teaching in under 4 minutes. What a workout! This means there isn’t as much time to deal with what…
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Dude, Stop Being Satan! (Eating Scripture)
In this week’s piece, we explore the nature of Mark 8:27-38, the story with that great line: “get behind me, Satan!” Ouch! Peter got burned! The big thing about this story is that it is that turning point. The point where everything really does change because its game day. Yesterday was practice, today we play. If we dwell…
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Deliver us from the presumption of pardon and not renewal
a Homily for Proper 11B Text: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 [Sunday I preached without a script. This is an approximation of what I preached.] Sabbath Coming back from vacation, it is appropriate to get this gospel pericope about rest. Or lack there of it. It was just two weeks ago when we covered the story of…
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The Unsatisfactory Ending
a Sermon for the Great Vigil of Easter Text: Mark 16:1-8 The Down Ending This may seem strange to you, but this gospel reading is by far my favorite text in Scripture. I absolutely love it. Let’s read the last two verses again: But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead…