Maundy Thursday 2007
Lectionary readings for Maundy Thursday, 2007
Category: Scripture
Fools in High Places
There is an evil I have seen under the sun…
Fools are put in many high positions,
while the rich occupy the low ones.
–Ecclesiastes 10:5-6
Life Lessons the Hardwood Way
I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift,
or the battle to the strong.
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
–Ecclesiastes 9:11
Ash Wednesday 2007
Lectionary readings for Ash Wednesday 2007:
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21… Read the rest
Prophecy or Hex?
A few days ago on this blog, JRB issued his chilling jeremiad vis a vis the haughty Gators:
Very often in the course of human history, as Ecclesiastes teaches, the wicked are elevated while the righteous are made to suffer. We see in scripture that God favors the oppressed while Satan tempts the evil with dominance over others and the promise of great riches and temporal prestige.
We learned in the enlightenment that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Behold the University of Florida Gators. Dread the day of your judgment.
I don’t know about you, but I’m going to try to stay on JRB’s good side.… Read the rest
Keyboard Koping
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Matthew 6:27
A patient of mine is suffering from depression and anxiety. He’s trying out a new medication and is seeing a psychologist to learn strategies for coping with the stresses and messes of daily living. I saw him recently and asked him how he was doing.
“Much better, Doc, thanks for asking,” he replied. “Whenever my mind starts to get too full, I just hit the ‘Delete’ button.”
Note to self: Give that a whirl. If that doesn’t work, hit “Esc.”
The Breach is Joined
I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.
-Eric Liddell, Chariots of Fire
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
–Colossians 3:17
I Am Not a Prude. Am I?
I am not a prude. Nor am I a teetotaler. Not even close. I believe God made the body– “and it was good.” I would have made a horrible Gnostic.
Still, some of this made me blush (be sure to watch the video clips and Joe Beam’s interview with MSNBC’s Lester Holt–who, by the way, attends the Manhattan Church of Christ).
A necessary and overdue corrective to the church’s longstanding “bury thy head in the sand” approach to human sexuality or just a little too much information, thank you very much?
Like a lot of things, I guess, it depends on who you talk to.… Read the rest
Getting the Speck Out
It’s always a good day at work when you can get one of these bad boys out of someone’s eye.
When I run, I feel His wrath. But when I remove a metallic corneal foreign body (rust ring and all) with one swipe of a 25G needle and leave only a 1mm epithelial divot, I feel His pleasure.
Androcles has nothing on me.
… Read the restHow can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Loose Connections of My Own
I’m starting to get all worked up about the upcoming college football season. Crisp fall air, golden brown leaves crunching underfoot, and college football on TV from Thursday through Saturday make for an intoxicating brew. I graduated from a college with only a moderately successful football team and have never experienced an honest-to-goodness campus “Game Day,” so I don’t have as much ego and money tied up in all this as some people do. But as a Virginia expatriate who has lived 17 years in Alabama, I wish to announce that I have finally chosen a side: I do hereby officially declare that I am always, and ever will be, pulling for the Crimson Tide.… Read the rest