Unsparing look at regional realities which reflect a national sin.
h/t State Representative The Rev. Steve Hickey & link to South Dakota Magazine
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
In through the out door
From Morning Prayer today (Shrove Tuesday),
God brings his people out from slavery to the world, the flesh and the devil and into new citizenship in his kingdom.
Let us pray for all Christians, everywhere, as they make the Lenten journey from whatever enslaves them to the incredible freedom announced by Christ's empty tomb.
"He brought us out from there in order to bring us in..." Deuteronomy 6:23
God brings his people out from slavery to the world, the flesh and the devil and into new citizenship in his kingdom.
Let us pray for all Christians, everywhere, as they make the Lenten journey from whatever enslaves them to the incredible freedom announced by Christ's empty tomb.
"Save your people and bless your inheritance; shepherd them and carry them for ever." Psalm 28:11
"It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings." Hebrews 2:10
Monday, March 7, 2011
My Lenten Discipline
A friend nudged me on Facebook, wondering if I'd blogged my Lenten discipline. Well, no, I hadn't, so here goes:
Parish ministry, the second job that provides big health coverage, our kid's autism and whatever all else keeps me busy but, more than that, exceedingly run down of late. I just don't feel like doing much of anything when I get a moment to rest.
So, my discipline is to take my wife out at least once per week. Just hasn't been happening. And it is the kind of thing that needs to happen:
Because I have taken on this discipline, it is a challenge to the evil one's lingering influence in my life. So expect me to get hassled and sabotaged. So pray for me in this discipline and for it to bear good fruit in our marriage.
Parish ministry, the second job that provides big health coverage, our kid's autism and whatever all else keeps me busy but, more than that, exceedingly run down of late. I just don't feel like doing much of anything when I get a moment to rest.
So, my discipline is to take my wife out at least once per week. Just hasn't been happening. And it is the kind of thing that needs to happen:
"...husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself..." Ephesians 5:28-33
Because I have taken on this discipline, it is a challenge to the evil one's lingering influence in my life. So expect me to get hassled and sabotaged. So pray for me in this discipline and for it to bear good fruit in our marriage.
Costly Grace: Lenten Reflections from the Diocese of South Dakota
Costly Grace: Lenten Reflections from the Diocese of South Dakota
Daily reflections on the Bible lessons, by people around the Diocese.
Daily reflections on the Bible lessons, by people around the Diocese.
A dramatic presentation: why church "dialogue" keeps ending relationships
The Underground Pewster does a nice job showing why church "dialogues," "listening processes" and other such events with predetermined participation and outcomes actually wind up hardening differences and pushing people apart. Not that anybody seems to care:
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