This quote comes from Ecclesiastes which I have been working with (as I strive to finish my book by the August 1 deadline!). For the first time I noticed the rest of the verse. It is better to go to the house of mourningthan to go to the house of […]
Bible
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This past Sunday was “Good Shepherd Sunday,” so-called because of the reading from John 10. The entire chapter is full of sheep and shepherd imagery and, for many of us, it is a reminder of how far away from that agrarian experience we are. A colleague on Facebook asked, “So […]
This past Sunday our Gospel reading was Luke 6:17-26. After a short preamble, Jesus begins his “sermon on the plain.” 6:20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 “Blessed are you who are hungry […]
What does Jesus really mean when he says “whoever is not against us is for us”? This concept comes up in the Gospel reading for this past Sunday, Mark 9:38-40 (Proper 21, Yr. B), and in the parallel in Luke 9:49-50. (Matt. 12:30 and Luke 11:23 have a similar, yet […]
My good friend and fellow scholar and clergy member Dr. Richard Wright has started a new(ish) blog with Greek and Hebrew resources following the Lectionary, Plenum creaturis. Rick has provided notes on the Hebrew (Aramaic) and Greek texts assigned for the given week based upon the Revised Common Lectionary. It […]
Kudos to Jeremy Schipper of Temple U, a friend and colleague who is very deserving of being awarded a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship! As a Guggenheim Fellow, Schipper will be writing a book currently titled Demark Vesey’s Bible: Biblical Interpretation and the Trial that Changed a Nation. In 1822, Denmark Vesey, […]
Many of you know that last year I was the interim rector of an Episcopal parish going through transition. Requiring an interim is one of the better things that the Episcopal church does, and the thoughtful review and reflection process is another. This year I took up a new role […]
After tragedy has occurred to us, fallen upon us, how do we walk on, lacing up those painful shoes I talked about in my poor analogy? How do we carry on, day after day? We must begin by being open to and accepting the grace that is offered to us. I […]
In the human life a lot can happen in nine months. This past year I was the interim rector of St. Bartholomew’s in Nashville for exactly nine months and preached almost every Sunday. I have posted few of those sermons here, but I have compiled them all into one PDF […]
Recently (July 2017) there was a story about “ancient Canaanite DNA” disproves the Bible. For example, The Independent in the UK had this headline: “Bible says Canaanites were wiped out by Israelites but scientists just found their descendants living in Lebanon.” Except, of course, that the Bible says no such thing. This comes up […]