Is that Idiom Right?
We all use idioms, mostly unconsciously. There are a number that bother me that are in common usage, such as “I could care less” which developed from the more logical “I couldn’t care less.” But idioms often aren’t about logic. They’re about what people actually say, and what other people understand by what they say….
Proper B20 – Gutting another Passage
There are times when I understand why we select verses to read in the Lectionary, and there are times when I don’t. In this case, I don’t. We have James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a. I don’t see adequate reason not to read 3:13 – 4:10 as a whole, and if I were to preach/teach on this passage I would…
Kitten vs Doberman
Enjoy!
Another Gutted Reading – Psalm 89
I’m looking at the readings for Proper 25A, and again I notice a large chunk of the Psalm removed from the reading, Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17, so 7-12 is left out. Now sometimes I see good reason for taking part of a Psalm, because one does need to keep the readings reasonable in length. As it is, many congregations…
Comparing a Three and Four Year Lectionary
Will Humes, a Methodist pastor in Pennsylvania, is proposing a four year lectionary. Two major benefits he sees for this lectionary is that it would give the gospel of John a bigger place in the lectionary, and also inclusion of more wisdom literature. I have already briefly commented on this. What I’m planning to do…
Notes Elsewhere on Advent 2C
I have written a couple of articles this week for my Participatory Bible Study Blog that relate to the week’s lectionary passages. 1) Translating Philippians 1:9-11 comparing three translations of the passage and discussing the difficulties of getting a clear English rendering and 2) The Mosaic Bible and the Lectionary – Update discussing the use of…
All Saints Day – Cycle B
Believe it or not, I do regularly read the weekly lectionary passages. Finding time to write about them is another matter. This week I’m going to start by providng some links to previous discussions of lectionary passages. First, I have a write-up on Isaiah 26 which discusses the structure of the entire chapter. I think it’s…
Getting Seriously Committed (Pr 16B – Gospel)
The gospel for this week comes again from John 6:56-69. We have five of these in a row. John 6 is an interesting chapter because in it Jesus drives to the heart of his message in speaking especially to his disciples, and many of them can’t handle it. They leave. I have discussed the gritty, earthy metaphors…
Letting Wisdom Define Fear of the Lord
Ref: Psalm 111:10 – Proper 15B The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Those who practice it have good inteligence. We’ve all heard that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, as stated in this passage and many others. It’s a pretty basic Christian concept. A few days ago, I…