Tonight on the Energion Publications Hangout on Air (via Google Hangouts on Air) I’ll just be the technical guy. The actual event will be Dr. Bob LaRochelle, author of Crossing the Street interviewing Dr. Bob Cornwall regarding his forthcoming book From Words of Woe to Unbelievable News, which provide sermons/meditations on alternative lectionary texts. When…
Many people regard the idea of trajectories in scripture as largely a method of avoiding “what the Bible clearly teaches.” I believe that there are clear trajectories in the teaching of scripture, and that in those cases one must be careful that one applies the correct principle to modern times. One such trajectory deals with…
The following quote struck me in Bruce Epperly’s Adventurous Lectionary for the week: When we say, at our congregations, “come and see” to seekers, we better have something to share that will change lives, our own and others. Jesus’ words call us to examine our ministries. People are looking for meaning; they are looking for…
I’m going to do something I almost never do on any of my blogs—re-post. But first a few comments. Hebrews 5:1-10 is the epistle lesson from this week’s lectionary. Hebrews has always held a special place in my heart (my study guide on it), because it is such beautiful prose bringing a very deep message. In…
Whenever this Psalm comes up, I have to link to my short story, written from the Canaanite point of view, A Killer of Kings. This story has now been included in a collection, A Living Psalter: Creative Reflections on the Psalms, edited by Geoffrey D. Lentz.
Will Humes has drawn up a four year lectionary, which he believes offers the chance to give the gospel of John its own place in worship, and also covers some passages we never see in our three year version. He’s looking for comment. My immediate comment is that I really like the basic idea. I’m…
I once met a woman who claimed that Jesus had come to her in her kitchen and spoken to her. The reaction of friends, neighbors, and even family to this story was fairly negative. She was regarded as a bit odd, and finally quit talking about it. It was only with some hesitation that she…
Well, I’m back again on one of my irregular forays into lectionary blogging. I hope visitors in the meantime have found value in the links to other people’s lectionary blogging found in my sidebar. It’s not hard to find a theme in this week’s lectionary texts, nor to imagine why those are the texts for…
It’s been about six weeks since my last post, and unfortunately that’s actually a fairly short gap for the way I’ve kept this blog up. But the two Old Testament passages this week (Jeremiah 31:27-34 and Psalm 19 or Psalm 119:94-107) as well as the epistle caught my attention. In the modern church we read these scriptures frequently…
While there is much violence in the Old Testament (and a certain amount in the New), the basic ideas of grace are still expressed regularly. Nowhere is this clearer, in my opinion, than in the appeal to salvation history in passages of judgment and of exhortation. The Old Testament passage and the Psalm for Proper…
