Tag: name
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Unplanned Joy
“The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you will name him Jesus.”—Luke 1:30-31 (NRSV) I was thinking about Mary as I read this passage and her journey after she found out she…
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Can God Get A Witness?
Deuteronomy 9:25–9:29; Titus 2:1–15 wit·ness: One who can give a firsthand account of something seen, heard, or experienced. Deuteronomy is, in effect, the “Last Will and Testament of Moses”. Moses provides a contrasting snapshot of the Israelite witness and the Mosaic witness. The Israelite witness was unimpressive at best, worth destroying(?) at worse. What was…
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Good Gone Bad
Mark 12:1–17; Matthew 10:5–7; Matthew 17:24–27 Within the context of Jesus‘ earthly ministry, the primacy of the remnants of the Israelites cannot be denied. Jesus calls them the “lost sheep”. Their place is significant to God, for they are even called by God’s name (2 Chronicles 7:14). The tragedy of it all is that while…
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Rooftop Shenanigans
Jeremiah 17:9–11; Luke 12:1–12 If you have a smartphone, you are probably aware of this little program installed on it, which is supposedly an assistant. “Hello, Google, Siri, Bixby, Alexa.” This program can be helpful. Yet, there is often weirdness associated with it. There have been plenty of experiences where Facebook suddenly shows stuff in…
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Are You There Yet?
Romans 7:15-20; Philippians 3:12–21; 1 John 1:6–2:6 If you’ve ever been on a long trip, whether as a parent or a child, “Are we there yet,” is a common question. So common that some people can time when the next time the question will be asked. The “are we there yet” question is an event-…
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Graveside Dancing
Psalm 30; Hosea 13:4–14 Yesterday was the birthday of my stepfather. He passed away years ago. For whatever reason, this year his birthday hit me kind of hard. He and I had our good moments. We had our bad moments. Just like any parent-child relationship. I was his only child. At his burial, the priest…
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Evangel
Luke 1:68–80; Ephesians 4:7–16 Many years ago, there was campaign against man-caused forest fires. The campaign “starred” a little bear cub that, while burned, survived a man-caused forest fire. The tagline for the campaign was, “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.” From a strict understanding, of course, it’s not just you that can prevent forest…
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Solitudinal Gift
Mark 6:30–46 The story of feeding 5000 people (or more, as many question if this 5000 was only counting the men, or everyone) is very impressive. Feeding the hungry is a good thing and should be celebrated. This story, though, is bookended by something that we often skip over so we can get to “the…
