This Sunday we have a chance to read the great Christ Hymn out of Philippians. It is an amazing hymn written early in Paul’s Christian walk before the time when he started to be influenced to turn back toward a more Christian/Jewish mesh of faith. Part of what is amazing about this passage, Philippians 2:1-11, … Read more
This Sunday we hear the story of the landowner who hired people to work in his vineyard throughout the day. At the end of the day, he paid each worker the same wage regardless of whether they worked all day or only two hours. Those that worked all day became angry because they expected to … Read more
Our lectionary over the past few weeks has been making sure that we know how important forgiveness is. And this Sunday’s readings are no exception. As I sat down to write this blog post, the one thought that would not leave me was how important it is to forgive ourselves first. We hear about forgiving … Read more
In this weekend’s readings, we have Jesus telling us how to resolve conflict in the church. It is not easy when people who claim to follow the Prince of Peace end up fighting with one another. Sometimes that conflict comes from people straying from the great commandments that Jesus gave us. And sometimes this conflict … Read more
I sound like a broken record most of the time. I preach about what our calling as Christians is and for many of you, it is a message that you are tired of hearing. But like the prophet Jeremiah in this Sunday’s first reading, I cannot be silent for the message burns in my soul. … Read more
This Weeks text focuses on the Keys of the Kingdom. Long used as a defense of the church hierarchy and the common persons defense of it, there are some radical ways of looking at this text from Matthew. Primarily around the building around the petras or “rock”. Long thought to be a clever play on … Read more
This Sunday’s readings have Jesus calling a woman asking for his help a dog. This seems so out of character for Jesus that many people choose to ignore the story altogether. But there is a good explanation for the entire exchange between Jesus, his disciples and the woman. Jesus’ conversation with his disciples show that … Read more
The last few weeks have been dark for me. My health has been very touch and go and my family continues to struggle financially, health-wise, and with attacks from very hateful “Christians”. I have struggled with the darkness that creeps up when you have CPTSD, depression, and anxiety. This Sunday’s readings are a reminder that … Read more
This Sunday we have the story of the sower who sowed good seed and the enemy who sowed weeds. It is a parable that Jesus used to tell of the Children of God and those of evil who will co-exist in the world until the end of their lives when they will separated and judged … Read more
This week we hear a familiar parable. This parable is the parable of the sower and the seed. And we hear about various ground types that seed can grow in. But to me the remarkable thing that people miss is the fact that all of the seeds that were planted grew! Regardless of where they … Read more