Last Sunday we read the parable of the sower. As I mentioned in my sermon, this parable is Jesus’s response to the question of why more Judeans weren’t becoming Christians. To them, it seemed like there were too many Gentiles.
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The Gospel and the Outsider
It Looks Like Losing
Yesterday, we celebrated one of the major feast days of the Church, the Transfiguration of Christ. Behold Christ’s Transfiguration In this feast, we see Jesus ascend Mt. Tabor and shine as brilliantly as the sun. Surrounding him are the Prophets
Read moreLoving Jesus More
Sunday of All Saints This Sunday’s Gospel reading is a hard pill to swallow. Jesus says that if you don’t acknowledge him in your life, then he will not acknowledge you before God’s throne! He also says that we need
Read moreDoes God Strike Back?
The Orthodox Church has a Sunday called Judgment Sunday, and you may think to yourself, “Wow, that’s a harsh name!” And, with such a severe name, you wonder, “What’s the Good News of salvation found here?” The gospel passage is
Read moreThe Foreign Leper
Dealing with stress is something we all deal with at some point in our lives. And the more we think about it, the worse it seems to get.
Read moreDiving Into Life
Learning to Swim I learned to swim at an early age. I remember, before I started taking official lessons, my father taught me the basics of swimming. He would hold me on my back and teach me to float. In
Read moreThe Superhero vs. The Crucified
Today is Thomas Sunday, the day we remember how Thomas wanted to put his finger in the marks made in Jesus’ hands by the nails and his side by the spear. He wanted to confirm that this man, the crucified
Read moreThe Murderous Easter Bunny!
On Facebook today, there was some Medieval click bait. Trapped by my own curiosity, I click on the link to find photos of Medieval manuscripts. In these photos, the “Easter Bunny” was murdering people. “Wow!” I thought to myself. Finally,
Read moreAbandoned by God?
Abandonment. This is probably one of our greatest fears. As children, we don’t want to be abandoned by our parents. As adults, we fear that we’ll be abandoned by our spouses or our friends. And, in our old age, we
Read moreHaving the End in Sight
This past week we’ve seen the fallout of yet another school shooting. Everyone agrees that they must end. But how? Many people are advocating for stricter gun laws. Others think teachers should be armed. And some believe we need to
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