The trouble with this viewpoint is that it seeks to benefit from faith without putting any work into it. It looks for safety, it looks for rescue and the salvation from eternal damnation, rather than a relationship with God. It is purely practical.
Lectionary Readings – 7th Sunday after Pentecost Since I grew up in northern Alaska, I have never spent much time farming, nor have I seen much in the way of wheat when it’s young. But from what I’ve been told is that when wheat is young, it looks very much like grass. More to the…
Daily Office Readings – Old Testament ( Joshua 2:1-14 ) Today the Old Testament passage was about the two spies that Joshua sent into Jericho and their interaction with the prostitute Rahab. I’ve read this story multiple times, and for whatever reason, today what jumped out at me was not the fact that Rahab was…
Daily Office Readings – Gospel ( Matthew 23:1-12 ) [Today’s entry is less of a full-fledged thought and more of a compilation of separate thoughts on different portions of the scripture, more in line with what I had originally expected from the Daily Office Reflections.] Do As I Say Once again, in today’s Gospel reading,…
Daily Office Readings – Gospel ( Luke 13:10-17 ) These past few weeks have seen a lot of protests concerning the persistent racism in this country. Those protesting have pointed out that the amount of racism hasn’t changed, but what has changed is that technology has helped to bring it to the light. One of…
Daily Office Readings – Gospel ( Matthew 19:23-30 ) Yesterday’s Gospel reading dealt with a rich young man who wanted to know what he needed to do in order to receive eternal life. When Jesus told the young man that he needed to sell all his possessions and follow him, the young man went away…
Daily Office Readings – Gospel ( Matthew 17:14-21 ) As I read through this morning’s Gospel reading, I was, of course, struck by Jesus rebuking his disciples. They had tried to cast out a demon, and they couldn’t get the demon to leave a boy who suffered from seizures and would fall into the fire…
Today’s Daily Office Readings – Gospel ( Matt. 16:21-28 ) “Get behind me Satan!” Peter doesn’t want Jesus to die, as is natural for someone who has become your teacher, friend and mentor. But instead of turning around and saying, “Thanks, Peter, that’s awfully kind of you,” he turns around and says, “Get behind me…
Lectionary Readings – 7th Sunday of Easter This past Thursday, we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension. Or at least we thought really hard about celebrating the day because it fell in the middle of work week, and so we thought it might be best to push it off until today. Ascension Day is a…
