To know not and
Be out for
More than self
Is to find
The prize most valued.
In humbleness be
Yet without the need to hold
Is the wealth
Of kings and pirates.
Folly the struggle
Lost between reason and wisdom
While unclaimed
Sighs the grace
Of love and sacrifice.
- D. A. Weesner
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
YaHoo!
A big thank you to all my followers on this blog, all one of you. YaHOO! I must add that you are my favorite follower at this point.
casinos and hooters
How long can a society exist with a main focus upon casinos and Hooters? I do not believe the essesnce of life is to identify and then consume the correct light beer. I do not belive the goal in life is to have sex with as many differnt parteners as possible, or even to have sex, for that matter. Real lives need a deeper refrence point. Honest living require a renewal of hope. I only find these needed things in unexpected places, like companionship, prayer and silence. How about you?
Notes for Sunday October 26, 2008
Read: Matthew 22 - 23
Our world clamors for a word by which we can live. Our world demands a thought, a sound bite, which offers the fullness of life in one digestible morsel. Over and over in my pastoral life persons have begged for the correct path, the best way, to travel for the next few days or weeks. My answer usually leaves folks under whelmed. And I feel much like Jesus must have felt when he told the rich young ruler to go and sell all his possessions and then come and follow. The path, the word, the thought to live by is simple, not complex. It is quite accessible and not some hidden secret code. There is no conspiracy theory leading us to a yet unknown conclusion.
Jesus was asked by some leaders of the church, who were trying to trap him, what he believed to be the greatest commandment. Jesus responded by offering back to them a saying known as the Shema. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and your entire mind.” Now that was the correct answer for those who would trap Jesus with words, however, this was the correct answer and so they were silenced.
Words, however important they might sound, were not what Jesus was offering for an answer. He was telling them that the actions the words attempt to describe are the real commandments. To speak with grace is one thing, to act gracefully is quite another. Which do you think God honors, our words or our actions? Or perhaps the better question, which honors God more? Can you see the subtle, but important difference? When we act with God in our hearts, we are moving just a little closer to home.
Worship Next Week
Scripture: Matthew 22:34-46
Sermon Title: “The Great Commandment”
Our world clamors for a word by which we can live. Our world demands a thought, a sound bite, which offers the fullness of life in one digestible morsel. Over and over in my pastoral life persons have begged for the correct path, the best way, to travel for the next few days or weeks. My answer usually leaves folks under whelmed. And I feel much like Jesus must have felt when he told the rich young ruler to go and sell all his possessions and then come and follow. The path, the word, the thought to live by is simple, not complex. It is quite accessible and not some hidden secret code. There is no conspiracy theory leading us to a yet unknown conclusion.
Jesus was asked by some leaders of the church, who were trying to trap him, what he believed to be the greatest commandment. Jesus responded by offering back to them a saying known as the Shema. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and your entire mind.” Now that was the correct answer for those who would trap Jesus with words, however, this was the correct answer and so they were silenced.
Words, however important they might sound, were not what Jesus was offering for an answer. He was telling them that the actions the words attempt to describe are the real commandments. To speak with grace is one thing, to act gracefully is quite another. Which do you think God honors, our words or our actions? Or perhaps the better question, which honors God more? Can you see the subtle, but important difference? When we act with God in our hearts, we are moving just a little closer to home.
Worship Next Week
Scripture: Matthew 22:34-46
Sermon Title: “The Great Commandment”
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Wisdom and Knowledge
Wisdom and knowledge two sides of the same coin. One will answer questions, the other will question answers. Now, which is which?
Thursday, October 02, 2008
It is Fall
I rate fall as one of my favorite seasons. It has color and crisp feeling frosty mornings. It comes right after summer and I tend to get bored with summer after a while. Green, green, green. How many green and growing days in a row can a guy take? I like my late summer tomato’s however. And the entire gardens produce. I will miss the smell of an early morning summer showers and the wonder of full summer sunsets. Yes, summer is good too, one of my favorites. Spring now there is a strange season. Mud everywhere and the weather is so unpredictable that I never know what to wear for sure. Spring has flowers shooting through the last snow, and an explosion of new life colors upon the bare landscape of grey dull winter. Spring is one of my favorite seasons. Winter is hard, cold, and basic. Survive or else. The snow can be so brutal and unforgiving. But have you ever noticed that when those cold hard storms come, they are also breathtakingly beautiful? I like to get cozy and rest during a winter storm. For sure, winter is also one of my favorite seasons. But this is fall; and did I tell you it is one of my favorite seasons?
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