SACRED SAGAS
"A long story of heroic achievement"
Perhaps a rather presumptuous title, but, life takes courage to live and is, therefore, a sort of heroic achievement. I write about the story, the long story of my life that includes a few heroic achievements, but mostly ordinary ones.
Psalms and Prayer. Teach us to pray: The Psalms as Necessary Training Ground. The psalms are necessary to the life of prayer. The essay highlights some of the most meaningful lessons I learned about prayer--what I can and should bring into the presence of God. The lessons are rooted in personal experience and include the lesson of not dressing in my best when I pray.
Worship and Discipleship: My story about worship. Not only is worship what we, creatures of God are expected to do. it is also the heart of how we're being formed into the image of the one we worship. Click on the link in the drop down menu under 'sacred sagas' and read all about it.
They have no wine: a meditation on Jesus' first sign (John 2:1-11); changing water to wine; seeing beyond the problematic miracle of water to wine to the symbolic meaning for us today.
Help my unbelief: a meditation on Mark's lengthy version of the story of the father whose son had 'a spirit that kept him from speaking and hearing' (Mark 9:14-29). The story is pivotal in our understanding of what Jesus came to do. It assures us of his control over all things, including our issues today. It's story about the struggle with unbelief, a struggle most of us can identify with, and what Jesus said we should do about it.
Off with your shoes, please. A theologian once claimed that, when reflection on the Trinity was holy ground and shoes were to come off. In this brief article I reflect on my favorite quotes about the Trinity and admit the mystery that underscores the greatness of the God and Father of Jesus Christ.
Binding the Strong Man (Mark 3:2-35). Jesus said, “… whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” Many of us have struggled with these words and wondered whether we've committed the unforgivable sin. We need a better understanding of the context of Jesus' saying and about to whom Jesus spoke. There is danger that we today could commit the unpardonable sin, but we need to know what Jesus was referring to. I've tried to address that in this article.
Come, everything is ready (Luke 14:12-24). The parable of a great banquet is often told to guilt and scare people into the kingdom. However, Luke's version, which never comes up in the Revision Common Lectionary, doesn't do that. Jesus' story begins, 'Someone gave a great dinner and invited many.' It's very vagueness forces us to ask, 'Are we that 'someone'? It seems to me that's the point of the parable. It calls us to make the same transformation (think conversion) the 'someone' in the parable made by inviting and welcoming the 'poor, the cripple, the blind, the lame' (think 'asylum seekers, homeless, beggars, alcoholics, prostitutes, illegal aliens, etc., anyone we'd rather avoid.
The Messiah we want is a meditation on John 1:29-34. Crowds flocked around John the Baptizer thinking, hoping he was Messiah. Each one had their own idea of what to expect from a messiah, just as we do today as well. This essay is a reflection on what we want in a messiah and a challenge to admit we might be wrong, we might be right.
Praying in Ugly Times. When the coronavirus became a global pandemic, friends suggested reading Psalm 91, a wonderful psalm of hope and encouragement. I read it and grew a little cynical as I imagined people who'd already lost a love one reading 'he will deliver you from the deadly pestilence.' My essay is an encouragement to be free to pray, honestly and truly our pain and sorrow. I followed this with "Unprecedented prayers for unprecedented times" (Unprecedented), an an introduction to 22 daily devotions for the unprecedented times caused by the covid-19 pandemic. The devotions can be found under read your Bible/unprecedented prayers.
Smallbones Saga. Each year I write my story for the year and post it for you to get to know me and how I live. Smallbones Saga 2019 and SA Adventures 2020 are available.
Worship and Discipleship: My story about worship. Not only is worship what we, creatures of God are expected to do. it is also the heart of how we're being formed into the image of the one we worship. Click on the link in the drop down menu under 'sacred sagas' and read all about it.
They have no wine: a meditation on Jesus' first sign (John 2:1-11); changing water to wine; seeing beyond the problematic miracle of water to wine to the symbolic meaning for us today.
Help my unbelief: a meditation on Mark's lengthy version of the story of the father whose son had 'a spirit that kept him from speaking and hearing' (Mark 9:14-29). The story is pivotal in our understanding of what Jesus came to do. It assures us of his control over all things, including our issues today. It's story about the struggle with unbelief, a struggle most of us can identify with, and what Jesus said we should do about it.
Off with your shoes, please. A theologian once claimed that, when reflection on the Trinity was holy ground and shoes were to come off. In this brief article I reflect on my favorite quotes about the Trinity and admit the mystery that underscores the greatness of the God and Father of Jesus Christ.
Binding the Strong Man (Mark 3:2-35). Jesus said, “… whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” Many of us have struggled with these words and wondered whether we've committed the unforgivable sin. We need a better understanding of the context of Jesus' saying and about to whom Jesus spoke. There is danger that we today could commit the unpardonable sin, but we need to know what Jesus was referring to. I've tried to address that in this article.
Come, everything is ready (Luke 14:12-24). The parable of a great banquet is often told to guilt and scare people into the kingdom. However, Luke's version, which never comes up in the Revision Common Lectionary, doesn't do that. Jesus' story begins, 'Someone gave a great dinner and invited many.' It's very vagueness forces us to ask, 'Are we that 'someone'? It seems to me that's the point of the parable. It calls us to make the same transformation (think conversion) the 'someone' in the parable made by inviting and welcoming the 'poor, the cripple, the blind, the lame' (think 'asylum seekers, homeless, beggars, alcoholics, prostitutes, illegal aliens, etc., anyone we'd rather avoid.
The Messiah we want is a meditation on John 1:29-34. Crowds flocked around John the Baptizer thinking, hoping he was Messiah. Each one had their own idea of what to expect from a messiah, just as we do today as well. This essay is a reflection on what we want in a messiah and a challenge to admit we might be wrong, we might be right.
Praying in Ugly Times. When the coronavirus became a global pandemic, friends suggested reading Psalm 91, a wonderful psalm of hope and encouragement. I read it and grew a little cynical as I imagined people who'd already lost a love one reading 'he will deliver you from the deadly pestilence.' My essay is an encouragement to be free to pray, honestly and truly our pain and sorrow. I followed this with "Unprecedented prayers for unprecedented times" (Unprecedented), an an introduction to 22 daily devotions for the unprecedented times caused by the covid-19 pandemic. The devotions can be found under read your Bible/unprecedented prayers.
Smallbones Saga. Each year I write my story for the year and post it for you to get to know me and how I live. Smallbones Saga 2019 and SA Adventures 2020 are available.
