Mark tells no back stories: no theological images like John, no genealogy like Matthew, and no birth narrative like Luke. Mark begins with John the Baptist. Jesus was about 30 years old, the age when many men got married, when he decided to travel to the Judean wilderness to hear John the Baptist preach. John […]
Tag Archives: Jesus
One Saturday morning, 21 years ago, maybe in March, I was walking through the woods with my cousin, when Tom said, “I’m going to run a marathon for Nathan next January.” He waited and added “Disney is the flattest marathon in the country”. He did not ask, but I felt his invitation. When I said […]
Wednesday night, Gayle graciously allowed me to sit in on her final choir practice. She required that I actually sing and sit according to the seating chart; I did. The yellow laminated placeholder read “surprise guest”. You could feel love, community, and harmony filling the room; grace was palpable. Today, our community stands at the […]
Earlier in chapter one, Luke tells us that Elizabeth “was righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord,” but she and Zechariah were unable to have children and were getting on in years. Each year, Zechariah went to Herod’s temple to serve as a lay priest for several […]
I grew up in a different theological zip code than Belmont, as my childhood church served up occasional samples of hell-fire, with a dose of fear, and a pinch of guilt. We never canceled Wednesday children’s choir for Halloween. Instead, we hosted alternate fall festivals, carefully never saying “Halloween.” While dating Connie some 30 years […]
The Bible and Homosexuality A Way Forward Thoughts by Pastor Paul Purdue As United Methodists, “We believe the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments, reveals the Word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation. It is to be received through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for […]
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