Tag: separate

  • How to Come Back

    How to Come Back

    1 Corinthians 11:17–33 It’s almost over it seems. The time of being masked and constrained nears its end. On the other hand, already another strain of COVID is showing up, but the reality is that we, as an entire world, are at our limits. It seems great that we’re almost there, except that we really…

  • Loving Presence

    Loving Presence

    Psalm 20; Exodus 25:1–22; 1 Corinthians 2:1–10 “…so that I am present among them.” (Exodus 25:8) It seems like a strange statement to us as Christians. Our theology talks about God’s omnipresence (God is everywhere), so a tent doesn’t really change that. The tent was, however, the place set aside for meeting God. As part…

  • Divided Unity

    Divided Unity

    Psalm 33:12–22; Job 37:1–13; 1 Corinthians 15:50–57 God’s might and power cannot be denied. God’s glory is present in Creation. A majority of people surveyed stated that they are closest (or most aware of) God when they are in “nature” (or non-humanity altered environments). As Elihu says (the person speaking in Job), God’s power is…

  • Writings Valued

    Writings Valued

    Psalm 47; Exodus 24:15–18; Revelation 1:9–18 Holy scriptures have always been important. Note that the “s” wasn’t capitalized. This isn’t just the Holy Scriptures we define as the Bible (the 66 books of the Old and New Testament). This could include many things. The Apocrypha, for example, is a collection of books of Jewish origin…

  • Open Invite

    Open Invite

    Acts 8:26–40; Psalm 22:25–31; 1 John 4:7–21; John 15:1–8 In many respects, the story of the Ethiopian is one of my favorites. It, along with the Samaritan woman, reflects the love and grace of God. Yesterday, in Amos 9:7, Cushite was used as a disparaging term toward the Israelites infidelity to God. A Cushite is…

  • End of Ends

    End of Ends

    Psalm 4; Daniel 9:1–19; 1 John 2:18–25 Eschatology. It is a fabulous theological word. It means the study of the End Times. You can watch plenty of End Times theology on TV. It usually involves zombies, nuclear weapons, or (my personal favorite) large reptilian creatures that like to stomp cities. Less the actual Eschatological part,…

  • God’s Earthly Love

    God’s Earthly Love

    Psalm 118:1–2, 14–24; Song of Solomon 3:1–11 If there ever was a book of the Bible that was inappropriate for younger audiences it would be the Song of Solomon (or the Song of Songs). In some traditions, the Song of Solomon is not permitted to be read until adulthood. That should tell you something, indeed.…

  • In All Things

    Revelation 2:12–17 A conversation that I have had many times, and you may, too, is why are there so many denominations? Aren’t we all one? Don’t we all believe the same thing? There are some things that are common among Christian denominations: God “the Father”, Jesus Christ (God “the Son”), the Holy Spirit, the Trinity…