We live in a time when we are bombarded with information. With that comes the competition of who might yell the loudest for our attention. Coupled with that is a demand for our attention, which may be the most recent piece of information. Often the first casualty of an event is the headline that gets written by the next news cycle. Translation: if it is not in front of us right now, it is not happening or perhaps never happened.Here then is the…
"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that openly profess his name." (Hebrews 13:15)What does this mean for me, exactly — this “let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise?” I have taken it as a sacred challenge. But it is not a challenge that I face alone. The scripture says “Through Jesus” I have the capacity to speak praise and live a praise-full life, professing the name of Jesus openly…
How can I escape your Spirit? Or flee your Presence? If I ascend to the heavens, You are there: if I make my bed with the dead, behold, You are there, too! If I fly on the morning’s wings, and find the ends of the sea, You will guide me and your right hand will cradle me. If I were to say, “if only the darkness could cover me, and the light about me could be like the night.”—even the darkness would not…
Lent is an appropriate time for reflection and self examination and there is no better place to ground our thinking than with the Psalms. This is a book that is actually made up of several books and inside each we can find songs that reflect many ways of describing our relationship with our God. There about nine major types of Psalms and most contain more than one manner of expression. For Lent however, I wish to focus on the Penitential, the Laments and…
Hallelujah!Praise God in His sanctuary.Praise Him in His mighty heavens.Praise Him for His powerful acts;praise Him for His abundant greatness.Praise Him with trumpet blast;praise Him with harp and lyre.Praise Him with tambourine and dance;praise Him with flute and strings.Praise Him with resounding cymbals;praise Him with clashing cymbals.Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.Hallelujah!(Psalm 150)This Sunday marks a turning point in the church year. It is Transfiguration Sunday, and Wednesday will be Ash Wednesday. Typically services perform some kind of ceremony to "bury the…
(Written ca 1637) “Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” Jeremiah 33:11In less than two weeks we will be celebrating a Thanksgiving, as we say, like no other that most of us have celebrated in our lifetimes. In these days the cases of Covid-19 seem to be rising relentlessly as hospitalization increase and families continue to lose precious loved ones. We are being greatly encouraged not to gather in large family gatherings…
When in trouble, call out to me; when I save you, sing my praise” (Ps. 50:15) Anne Lamott calls, “Help,” the first great prayer. She identifies Help, Thanks and Wow as the simple prayers people need to endure the challenging parts of life. These are the prayers, she suggests, that lead us through trouble toward healing and transformation. I try… to ask God for help in my life, in our nation, in the world; to thank God for what is good; to feel…
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)Several years ago, I went to a training at St Luke’s about dealing with stressful situations and providing healing care. One concept discussed was the difference between stating a situation is serious verses important. When one states that a situation is serious, you have limited the use of humor or lightheartedness. When one tries to bring humor into a situation that is deemed serious, your humorous attempt…
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