Daily Office Reading – NT ( 1 John 2:18-29 ) When I was growing up, one of the things that seemed to be on everyone’s mind was this notion of the Antichrist, since, according to some big names, the rapture was supposed to happen sometime during the 80’s. People were looking for every sign to…
Love ’em all, let God sort ’em out
Daily Office Readings – NT ( Romans 13:1-14 ) This passage today starts out with calling people to obey the authority of government, because God has ordained it; if people rebel against the ruling authority, then they can be found to be rebeling against God, since he has put into place those who are in…
In The World, But Not of It?
Daily Office Readings – NT ( Romans 12:1-8 ) The first few verses in this passage in Romans are often cited when people want to encourage others to focus on the good things, and to avoid the bad. In my experience, churches that focus on holiness tend to emphasize this passage, and, often, include the…
Respect My Authority…
Daily Office Readings – NT ( Hebrews 13:17-25 ) I’ve been involved in various Christian churches since birth. At one point in my life, I belonged to a particular denomination that closely resembled the Catholic/Anglican/Episcopal traditions, but wasn’t related to any of them. They were a blend of the charismatic, the evangelical and the liturgical,…
I’m Not Going
Daily Office Gospel ( John 7:1-13 ) A few things jumped out at me in today’s reading. One was that Jesus’ brothers told him to go to Judea and do miracles there where people could see him. That first bit about his brothers gets into a theological argument that has nothing to do with Jesus’…
Living Bread
Daily Office Readings – Gospel ( John 6:41-51 ) Today’s passage in the Gospel is one of those readings that features quite a bit in our understanding of the Eucharist because Jesus equates his body with the bread from heaven, with the living bread, with the bread that gives eternal life. These few verses are…
By Faith
Daily Office Readings – NT ( Hebrews 11:1-12 ) As I read through the New Testament reading for today, the same two words kept jumping out at me: “by faith,” “by faith,” “by faith,” kind of like the steady beating of a drum. (Or a hammer on my thick skull, perhaps…) The other thing that…
Faith In Action?
Daily Office Readings Gospel ( John 4:43-54 ) Every now and again I hear people talking about “putting faith into action.” It is generally when they are talking about going out to do some sort of service project, because we tend to equate a defined set of rules to live by with Faith. Sure, there’s…
In Vino Veritas
Daily Office Readings – Gospel (John 2:1-12) Today’s gospel reading is about the wedding in Cana. I’ve always marveled at this bit of scripture. First, when younger, that Jesus turned water into wine. Then, as I got older, and I started drinking wine myself, I became amazed at how much normal human behavior is found…
Forgetting What Lies Behind
I’ve been working my way through Paul Tillich’s collection of sermons in The Eternal Now, and came to the sermon entitled Forgetting and Being Forgotten. Tillich says the following: Forgetting is probably more difficult for a religious tradition than any other human heritage. But God is not only the beginning from which we came; He…