Category: Lent
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“Holy Curiosity” – Part 5 of 5 (Finally!), of Developing an “Opposable” Theology
Even the most absolute, clearest of truths can be understood in deeper, richer, more complex and applicable ways.
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“Thinking like a Mystic” – Part 4 of 5, of Developing an “Opposable” Theology
The mystics demonstrate a path that begins and ends with seeking God – God, not information about God – and accept the complexities, paradoxes, and inscrutable qualities of God merely as a mystery worthy of continuing pursuit.
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Look at Your Hands
We live our lives through our hands. We work with our hands. We prepare food with our hands. We do chores with our hands. We play with our hands. We write or type with our hands. We carry stuff with our hands. We can touch lovingly with our hands, or…
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Adding, Subtracting, Replacing, or Integrating?
Learning – via reading, watching instructional videos, taking a class, attending a lecture, by trial and error – is more than simply adding information to what you already know. Ideally, what you already know is improved, deepened, corrected, or enhanced by new, nuanced information or inspiration. We aren’t merely data…
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What (or Who) is Normal?
There’s not another you, or me, in the entire world. We have different DNA. We have different finger prints. We have different personalities, dispositions, temperaments, capabilities, tastes, struggles and varying strengths and weaknesses. We certainly have different life experiences. There’s never been another you or me in the history of…
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How’s the water?
We exist in God, and God in us. God is as close as the air we breath. Every step we take is on holy ground, as every step we take is with God. God is everywhere we go, and there’s nowhere God isn’t.
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Ashes, Water, and the Sign of the Cross
Ashes remind us of our mortality and dependence on God for life. The waters of baptism remind us of new birth, new life, and the promise of resurrection. The symbol of the cross reminds us that God entered our fragility, in Jesus, even unto death, and overcame it.
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Easter 2020 Sermon (short, chopped, mini version) – New Birth Into a Living Hope
If God can raise Jesus from the dead, God can handle coronavirus!
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2020 Easter Sermon – “New Birth into a Living Hope” (complete text)
If God can raise Jesus from the grave, God can handle coronavirus!
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“I will lift my eyes” – a Facebook Live sermon, based on Psalm 121, preached for The First United Methodist Church of Orlando, on March 29, 2020
Last Sunday morning, before worship, a First Church friend sent me a beautiful YouTube video of the University of British Columbia Choir, singing a choral arrangement of Psalm 121, called “I will lift my eyes,” that literally moved me to tears.