Category Archives: Miscellaneous
Exegesis and hermeneutics
If I could send one message back in time to my younger self, entering seminary immediately after graduating college, I would advise that new seminary student to cultivate a relationship with one member of the seminary faculty and to be mentored by him. Knowing what I know today, two members of the faculty stand out as men that I wish had guided me during my student days. Both men are (and were then) very intelligent, bold in their theology without contradicting the faith of the Church—very Christian, very Biblical, very Lutheran, and very solid academically.
I was assigned a counselor from the faculty. He was one of the professors about whom my pastor had warned me: having gone straight from student to instructor, he had not spent time in the parish. Now, forty years later, he was continuing to lecture in the classroom, quite probably delivering the same lectures he…
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Wednesday Word: “Fear vs Love”
Good morning all and Welcome back to the Wednesday Word. Today’s word is two words actually. Love and Fear. So much of our lives, both In Christ and just in a Natural World, are “ruled”, if I may use that word, by these words.
The Psalmist and the writer of Proverbs both tell us that “Fear of God is the beginning of…” both Knowledge and Wisdom. In the OT sense, to Fear God is to Obey Him… or suffer the consequences, as the Israelites did time and time again when God “gave them over to destruction” or captivity to their enemies until such a time that they “put away their Idols and false gods…” and once again returned to their own “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”.
But…
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Genesis 22 is Messianic Typology
Establish the need: Does Genesis 22 point us towards Christ?
Purpose: We will consider how Genesis 22 anticipates the Messiah is Jesus.
- The threat to the Messianic line teaches us to have faith in God’s promises
- There are messianic typologies
- To appreciate how this chapter is a type pointing to Christ
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Unseen Things
I really enjoy my eyes, my ability to see nature in all her glory. I do live in the 9th circuit of hell, but the scenery is really beautiful, from snow capped mountains all the way to the ocean, from the rain forest to the prairies. It is just breathtaking, a visual feast 24/7.
Just the same, some of my favorite things are the things unseen. I have a window where you cannot really see any trees and it is so easy to look outside, see the still, calm air, only to open the front door and get hit by a blast of wind. I love the surprise of having totally misjudged the weather and allowed my lying eyes deceive me.
I really enjoy the warmth of the sun. That is something else that cannot be seen, it must be felt. It is so amazing how sunlight travels all through…
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I CAN’T UNDERSTAND IT!
I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.
Exodus chapter 20, verse 2; from the New Living Translation (NLT)
I can’t understand IT. I mean, REALLY don’t understand IT! Is there anyone out there who can help me? Now before you start referring me to therapists or psychiatrists, allow me to define IT! Why Is Religion More Important Than The Relationship? When Did That Happen? HOW Did That Happen? It only took me a half of cup of coffee when the Spirit planted that question in me. See, even the Spirit waits until I have that wonderful “living” water. And so, He and I talked a while about my question.
So, what is a “religion”? Well, according to Google, it’s “a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance”. If it’s indeed of supreme importance, how…
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Faith, reason, and politics in the Church
Creative tension between faith and reason has been part of philosophy and of religious thinking for many generations. Some thinkers demand that all propositions of faith be put to the test of reason and rejected if they fail that test. Others say that statements of faith rise above reason, that reason can be used to assemble clear understanding of the world and our place in it within the boundaries set by faith, but reason cannot judge those propositions upon which faith is founded. Few believers follow the stereotype of empty-headed followers who cling to faith but abandon reason. Many more people in the modern world cheat themselves by clinging to reason while abandoning the deeper truths known only by faith.
During the so-called Enlightenment, which followed the religious wars of the Reformation in Europe, some prominent philosophers and scientists advocated a life in which reason takes the lead and faith…
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2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Those verses say, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Doing death with people who are not strong Christians can be exceedingly difficult, nearly as difficult as “doing life” with them. Ha! Yes, I went there. I said it. Life is hard sometimes, and I simply have no comfort to offer, no reassurance to give, no encouragement to provide, without first bringing Jesus into the picture.
I can tell you Jesus loves you or I can make you coffee. Personally I think coffee IS a clear sign that Jesus loves us, but…
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Happy Fall
Happy fall! I do not mean the fall of mankind. Nor do I mean the complete collapse of Western civilization. I do not mean the plunge of our continuous economic decline. I am not speaking of those who seem to have fallen away from faith. Also, this post has nothing to do with tripping over yourself and falling down.
There are probably many more negatives related to that word “fall” that I have blissfully forgotten. What a dreadful word! You may notice I do not have a marvelous attitude towards fall. To me it signifies the end of the sun, the start of the cold, the death of the leaves. Bah humbug.
So I am exceedingly grateful for all the pumpkin spice revelers with their joys of hot soup and colorful leaves. You know these people, the ones who are all excited about sweater weather and the crisp fall air…
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YOU GOTTA BE EMPTIED BEFORE YOU CAN BE FILLED!
8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death.
Philippians chapter 3, verses 8 thru 10; from the New Living Translation (NLT)
In the beginning of the Koinonia (that’s what it was called before it was called “the church”), one of the bedrock beliefs was that in order to be saved, and in order to be filled with…
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Genesis 49:8-12 is Messianic Prophecy
Establish the need: Did you know that within Genesis 49:8-12 there is a prediction of the coming Messiah?
Purpose: We will consider how Genesis 49:8-12 anticipates the Messiah is Jesus.
- Clues from context of Pentateuch
- Clues from within Genesis 49:8-12
- Clues from the Aramaic Targum
- Clues from the Rabbis
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Women Never Get Enough Credit…
“Women never get enough credit for the things they didn’t do.” Bill Mahr.
Ha! This gave me a little chuckle. Bill Mahr was commenting on the movie “The Aeronauts,” which tells the tale of James Glaisher and Henry Coxwell who almost died after reaching more than 30,000 feet in a gas air balloon in the 1860’s.
The thing is, James and Henry were both men, but we’ve become very concerned that women are not being equally represented in history, so for the movie Henry had to become “Amelia,” and was played by a female.
Never mind that no female in her right mind would ever risk life and limb merely in an attempt to claim dominion over the whole atmosphere. It is not that women are incapable, it is that we are not complete idiots. All in good humor here, but women are not downright foolish in quite the same…
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WHAT ARE THEY TEACHING???
6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.
Romans chapter 8, verses 6-7; from the New Living Translation (NLT)
Recently I had a conversation with a fellow United Methodist clergy on Facebook. It was focused on a post this individual had made. It was surprisingly civil (up to this point)–still, I couldn’t help but think: What are they teaching now in United Methodist Seminaries? Here’s the screenshot of that comment:
This person compared understanding Scriptures to a 3-legged stool. The top is the Scriptures and the 3 legs are tradition, reason, and experience. Thus, without tradition, or reason, or experience, one cannot adequately understand Scripture. The primary (and often times “sole determining factor”) way…
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Sermon on the dishonest manager (Luke 16:1-9)
16He also said to the disciples,“There was a rich man who hada manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.2And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of yourmanagement, for you can no longer be manager.’3And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.4I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’5So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’6He said, ‘A hundred measuresof oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit…
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ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR THE STRUGGLES?
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 18; from the New Living Translation (NLT)
Well, I didn’t muse and write yesterday because we were packing up and cleaning up from our recent spiritual retreat on the beach at Pensacola. Then the drive home. A few stops for food, gas, and shopping–then unpacking when we arrived home. And though I usually take Saturday as a Sabbath from writing, this morning is different. As the Spirit and I were talking (for the uninformed it’s also known as prayer) He gave me this thought: Are You Thankful For The Struggles?
So many are in some type of struggle–myself included. Shocker Alert: We all have struggles! For some of you, I didn’t have to say that. Maybe you are struggling with some type of addiction (and surely you know…
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Dealing with Bullies
Purpose: This session we will cover four points concerning the subject of bullies and dealing with bullies.
- Realize your child will face bullies
- What parents must do
- Wrong responses of a child to bullying
- Right responses of a child to bullying
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You’re So Dumb…
I just want to address the notion that, “you’re so dumb, you deserve everything you get.” I understand the frustration and I even share it sometimes. It’s can be just maddening and make you want to throw up your hands. “You can’t fix stupid.”
However, the implication behind that statement is that, if you are intelligent, you deserve good things. It is like salvation by IQ points, rather than salvation by the blood of Jesus. We are allegedly saved by the power of our own reason and the ingenuity of our own intelligence. Dumb people are not, they are doomed and deserve everything they get.
There’s an old saying I rather like that isn’t theologically sound at all, but I like it because it is snarky and true, “there is a special god for children, fools, and drunks.” People have been observing for centuries that alas, the dumb do not…
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Replacing the Big Bang
In this post I’ll build off my previous post where I asked the question, “Did the Big Bang Really Happen?”
I’ve been a longtime critic of the Big Bang theory. It’s bad science. Although the theory wasn’t initially welcomed (it sounded too much like biblical creation), some would argue it became accepted based on observable evidence. It was science. Cosmologists made predictions that were later confirmed. However, not everything was as rosy as it appeared. There have always been fudge factors built into the theory that were never substantiated. Dark matter and dark energy, for instance, were inferred, but all experiments to identify these hypothetical entities failed.
This post focuses on a debate featuring a theoretical physicist, a particle physicist and philosopher of science as they discuss the theory in some detail, and what they said should be eye-opening, particularly for those who think the Big Bang is settled science.
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– God is Still on the Throne –
Proverbs 21:1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases”
Revelation 5:13, “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever”
__________
I would like to share with you today another old hymn that many of you have probably never heard of. That was written by Kittie Louise Jennett Suffield or Mrs. Frederick W. Suffield. She was born September 16, 1884, in New York City. She was a very talented musician and singer. After marrying Fred Suffield, she and her husband were traveling evangelist, and sometimes worked with George Beverly Shea. She died in Los Angeles, California on October 23, 1972…
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Always Walk On The Sunny Side of the Street…
Good news! The way things are going, the last one out of California won’t even have to turn out the lights.
The 5th jab is now available. I can hardly wait to NOT get my fifth mandated experimental substance injection that does a lot of things to the human body, but preventing covid 19 is not one of them.
My state will now lift its emergency powers act on October 31 since that is their favorite high holy day. It’s only taken us 3 years to, “flatten the curve,” which is a bit longer than the two weeks they promised us.
I have a carefully concealed spare tire to use as reserve in case of food shortages. Gas prices are so high, we get to just carry our tires about our waist these days. No, I do not have a permit for my concealed carry. “Tire,” people, “tire.” I spent…
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798: My Plantation, My Choice
I skinned my cat last night.
I have always been told that there are a million different ways to skin a cat, but based on my experience last night I can’t imagine that any of them are easy. She howled with pain on the first incision, and scratched out at me. I had to tie down her limbs in order to continue the operation, but after about an hours worth of work the cat had been skinned. A lot of the fight was out of her by that point in time. I could see her little heart beating in her chest, and the eyes in her skinless head followed me plaintively around the room. A couple hours later she stopped breathing.
I am well aware of the naysayers out there who will criticize me for skinning my cat. Many of them, having read my description of the incident, will criticize…
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clydeherrin 