Monday, March 4th Today I begin commentating on passages of scripture assigned for the coming Sunday in Lent – in the cast the first Sunday in Lent. As Christians, who follow a Jewish Rabbi, our roots are in Judaism. Today’s reading comes from the book of Deuteronomy, the last book of what Jews call Torah. […]
A sermon preached on March 3rd, 2019 based upon Luke 9:28-36. This was the Sunday following the deeply disappointing pronouncements coming from the Special Session of the United Methodist Church. This week I realized a certain naiveté on my part. I did not expect the vote of the special session of the General Conference this […]
Sunday, March 3rd – 13th Email Today is the day Christians refer to as the “Sabbath” – the day of rest. In Genesis 1 after God creates human beings on the 6th day “in the image of God” and calling us and all of creation “very good”, on the seventh day God rested. Later in […]
Celebrating the First Century of Grace Agre’s Life Grace Agre was born on February 28, 1919 to Ben and Clara Salser in Racine, Ohio. The little town with a population of 500 at the time was situated on the Ohio River. (The population in 2010 was only 675.) Racine had fallen on hard times since […]
March 2nd — 12th Email One intention that would be worthwhile for all of us is to become a better listener. Listening is one of the most basic forms of love. Oftentimes when we are talking with someone our mind is elsewhere – perhaps on our “To Do” list. Sometimes in the course of a […]
March 1st — 11th Email Hard-heartedness is another form of bondage. Carrying around a steady stream of resentment and anger is a spiritual prison cell. That is part of the reason that Jesus commanded us as his followers to practice forgiveness – that we might step forth from the prison cell. It is a worthy […]
February 28th — 10th Email Some of us can be imprisoned by feelings of guilt that lurk at the edge of our consciousness. Once again, the key here is to bring what hides out on the edge of our mind into full consciousness. As we do we ask, “Is the guilt I’m feeling legitimate?” Sometimes […]
February 27th — 9th Email The same strategy for claiming freedom that I described in my last email in relation to feeling depressed can also be used with the oppression of anxiety and fear. In my own life, I’ve become aware of a tendency to live with a low level anxiety lurking just beyond the […]
The Special Conference of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church that was held in Saint Louis over the past three days has come to a close and the decisions made were very disappointing from our church’s point of view. Over 800 delegates from all over the world gathered for this Conference with the […]
February 26th — 8th Email It is very important to note the difference between “thoughts” and “feelings” and the relationship they have to one another. To a large extent we can’t control our feelings. Both happy and challenging emotions arise spontaneously in the course of our day. We have thoughts in relation to these feelings […]
