Tag: jesus
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Rejecting Infallibilism as a Hermeneutic
Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21 – 7/30/2026 The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. Psalm 145:14 (NRSVue) I often think about how I used to read the Bible, back when I was part of a culture and church community that believed that a literal interpretation of scripture was infallibly…
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Wisdom, Public or Secret?
Proverbs 1:1-7, 20-33 – 7/29/2026 Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice. Proverbs 1:20 (NRSVue) Wisdom, knowledge of how to live well, is often thought of as some kind of elusive esoteric knowledge, attainable only after long initiation, arduous study and experience, and old age. It may be true…
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Where Is Our Salvation?
Psalm 119:121-128 – 7/28/2026 My eyes fail from watching for your salvation and for the fulfillment of your righteous promise. Psalm 119:123 (NRSVue) How long, Oh Lord, will the wicked prevail while the oppressed go hungry and unhoused? How long will oppressors and greedy, selfish men rule? When will the people be set free from…
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We Know Nothing
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 – 7/26/2026 – The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost “Have you understood all [these parables about the kingdom of heaven]?” They answered, “Yes.” Matthew 13:51 (NRSVue) I laughed as I finished reading the Gospel for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost. Jesus finishes telling a few brief, enigmatic parables about the kingdom of heaven…
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God Still Speaks (In Silence)
1 Kings 19:9-18 – 7/25/2026 – The Feast of James, the Apostle “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was…
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Grief in the Face of Evil
Psalm 119:129-136 – 7/24/2026 My eyes shed streams of tears because your law is not kept. Psalm 119:136 Why does evil upset us? Why should it upset us? What role does moral indignation or moral sorrow play in the good life? In the life of a Christian? It is certainly not on God’s behalf that…
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Paul Can Be an Asshole
1 Corinthians 4:14-20 – 7/23/2026 I am not writing this to make you ashamed but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I fathered you through the gospel. I appeal to you, then, be imitators…
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Women in the Church
John 20:1-2, 11-18 – 7/22/2026 – The Feast of Mary Magdalene, the Apostle Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord.” John 20:18 (NRSVue) Of the many things that alienated me from the life of the church was a church community that did not allow women to lead. The Calvinist-Baptist,…
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Where is God’s Judgment Now?
Zephaniah 3:1-13 – 7/21/2026 The officials within [the city] are roaring lions; its judges are evening wolves that leave nothing until the morning. Zephaniah 3:3 (NRSVue) In this prophecy of judgment, Zephaniah condemns Jerusalem for the evil within it. Receiving special attention is that it has become a city of oppressors, with officials and judges…
Dionysus on a Bike 