“Put the apocalypse back into Advent” is a phrase that has been making the rounds of the internet for the last few years, a riff on the “kept Christ in Christmas,” no doubt. For many Christians it is a curious concept, what can the apocalypse possible have to do with […]
Christianity
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First reading and Psalm• 1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a• Psalm 42 and 43 Second reading• Galatians 3:23-29 Gospel• Luke 8:26-39
A reflection for Easter Sunday from Emil Brunner, Eternal Hope, (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1954). “But it is putting things the wrong way round to assert, as has been recently done, that the faith in the resurrection is ‘nothing other than faith in the Cross as a saving event’ (4). The […]
This is an entry in the “Acrostic Contemplations.” con•stan•cy – “the quality of being faithful and dependable.” “Constancy” is a word that I learned from and only ever hear in the Eucharistic prayer. As we offer to God the gifts of bread and wine that we have brought forward and […]
Today in the Church Calendar ((It is usually December 28th, this year, due to Christmas being on a Saturday, it has been moved to the 29th. TEC Lectionary)) we remember the slaughter of the Innocents by Herod (Matt. 2:13-18). There can never be justification or explanation sufficient for the death […]
The following is an excerpt from Beautiful and Terrible Things, chapter 8, “Raised Imperishable.” A recent comic by my friend Michael Jantze made me think again about how we refer to death. I may be pushing my exegesis of 1 Cor. 15:20, but I think there is significance in Paul’s […]
The Diocese of Lexington (KY) is offering a 5-week “Spiritual Exercise” formation class. The live Zoom sessions started last week, but you can view the videos for yourself at your own pace. Tonight (March 1, 2021) I will be leading a discussion of the importance of the study of the […]
The Gospel reading for today, November 18, 2020, is Luke 17:11-19. The following is an excerpt from my book Beautiful and Terrible Things and considers why this one leper turned back to Jesus. In Luke’s Gospel, just before Jesus says that, “in fact, the kingdom of God is among you,” […]
Elizabeth and I were so honored to be invited on Open To Hope’s Conversations: The Podcast. It was a wonderful chance to talk about Mack, grieving, and finding hope.
There are all kinds of pressures on the preacher, both from within and without, to be all kinds of other things and to speak all kinds of other words. To speak the truth with love is to run the risk always of speaking only the truths that people love to […]