Christmas Blessings!


May God bless you with God's presence and may you and your family experience God's Peace and Joy this Christmas season.
Painting by HeQui

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A Funeral Sermon on John 14

Once more I have had the unpleasant experience of having to listen to a "pastor" expound on the John 14 text in a way which focuses exclusively on "what we get when we get to heaven." Central to this position is the insistence that "you better believe in Jesus - have a personal relationship with Jesus" or else you won't be getting one of those nice mansions." This is not the Gospel and it is not what this text is saying. In fact I find this approach to funeral sermons to be reprehensible as it subjects vulnerable and grieving men and women to a manipulative religious diatribe which is totally irrelevant to the occasion - the loss of a loved one. Not only that, but I have experienced also the dishonesty of evangelical "pastors" enlisting the deceased in their manipulation (e.g. Mildred believed in Jesus so you all should be like Mildred and believe in Jesus). This is NOT the Gospel. This is manipulation and it is irresponsible. So, for al...
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Reflections on the text: Genesis 33:1-11

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Please note - I am replacing the Lectionary text appointed for Proper 14 with this text. This text is the climax of the narrative we have been hearing for the previous 3 weeks.  I will say that I think it odd that this text was not included in the series of texts appointed this summer.  Leaving the story and jumping to the Joseph cycle over this climactic story is kind of like following Captain Ahab on his quest for Moby Dick and then jumping to a new story just about the time that they lower the whaling boats.  So, here is the climax of the story:  Genesis 33:1-11 Confrontation! As morning breaks Jacob moves from his campsite and there he sees his brother approaching with 400 (armed?) men.   After the experiences of the previous night his fear and foreboding seems to have been replaced with a sense of inevitability.   He spent the night wrestling with an unknown and unknowable assailant and in the morning he has determined that in this assailant he h...
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