September 14, 2009 – 6:48 am
“Where Have You Been?” James 3:1-12 September 13, 2009 Homecoming Sunday Mark Twain once said that “it is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” He probably shouldn’t have said that since it very likely offended someone. It is so easy to say [...]
By Mark
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Also posted in Christianity, Family, Friends, Politics, Vocation
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Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Blaise Pascal, Casting Crowns, Chaplain, Church, Colonel Jessup, Democrats, doctrine, dogma, fact, Frank Lloyd Wright, Gloria Steinem, gospel, James, Jesus, Mark Twain, monks, Police, Pontius Pilate, professor, Rabbi, Republicans, teacher, truth, Zen
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2 Corinthians 8:7-15 talks about grace in a little different way. We typically think about grace in terms of salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9). This passage tells of acts of grace and excelling in grace. I have long been compelled by the idea of receiving “grace upon grace” (John 1:16) so this idea of some excellent grace [...]
My sermon yesterday was from 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 and was about not receiving the grace of God in vain. That’s a curious phrase, “we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” Paul doesn’t seem to be saying that grace can be lost. What he is saying is that grace must [...]
Devotions at the Police Department are a new kind of thing for me. I mean, I’ve been doing devotions with the officers for years now but it’s always a different devotional experience. A little rougher; a little more in your face; a bit more basic. For example, a guy finds one of last Thursday’s passages [...]
I was invited to pray the invocation and benediction at a local high school’s baccalaureate service today. Ashleigh Denny, a teacher at Rivermill Academy asked me and of course, I said I would. Since I’ve never been to a baccalaureate service before and wasn’t entirely sure what such a service was and how to pray, [...]
The worldwide Church celebrated Maundy Thursday yesterday. It is a day that commemorates the last supper Jesus had with his disciples and the new commandment (mandatum novum, from which we get the now archaic word “Maundy”) he gave, to love one another. It is an occasion for Communion and Foot Washing in many churches. [...]
These are the Wordles of my sermons so far this year.
January 18, 2009 – 9:00 am
I’d really like to find these books. When I was in elementary school, I had a set (I think there were eight books) of hardcover, children’s Bible stories. The covers were different, bright colors (lime green, bright yellow, hot pink, et cetera) As I recall, the illustrations were Gustave Doré prints (perhaps in duotone). One [...]
December 15, 2008 – 9:12 am
The artwork on the cover of our church bulletin yesterday was “The Star of Bethlehem,” by Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898), perhaps my favorite of the Pre-Raphaelites. I meant to put a note in the bulletin as to who painted it but I always forget something. As much as I love Burne-Jones’ paintings and stained glass, it’s [...]
December 10, 2008 – 11:10 pm
When the Rymans first moved to North Carolina back in 1990, a woman my wife was speaking with said to her, “I call you blessed, darlin’.” We found it a curious statement but loved the way it sounded. To this day, the word “blessed” has remained a curiosity. In devotions at the police department this [...]