The Katy Prairie
It’s a free country. I can do what I want with “my land,” right? Well, maybe. Consider Katy, Texas.
Originally, the vast expanse of land northwest of Houston was filled with native prairie grasses. The Buffalo Bayou runs through the area and on into Houston to become the major fresh water source for Galveston Bay. It is two blocks from my sister’s house which has been flooded twice in three years by statistical “500-year storms.”
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Who do you say that Jesus is?
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Public Prayer
Whenever I am asked to pray in public, in a non-church setting, whether it is opening the Maryland Senate (three times), mealtime grace at a secular event such as Rotary meetings, or praying with a high school football team before a game, I always have alongside me in my imagination, two friends. One is Jewish and the other is an atheist. In my mind, they are listening to my prayer as members of the public who might be there. I ask myself, “How would they here this prayer?” and “Would they feel included or excluded?”
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The gods We Worship
We prefer to think of ourselves as thoroughly modern people who are Christian, monotheists in belief. Yet how many of our waking hours are consumed thinking about money versus how much time do we spend each week praying or meditating on the God of the Hebrew and Christian bible?
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Relevance
Our daily office this morning gives us this insight into the very early church. (Acts 2:44-46) “44All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts.” That generation lived out their faith in a particular way. It obviously worked or we wouldn’t be here talking about this. But it led me to wonder how the ways in which we structure our lives, the world around us and our church help or hinder passing on the relevant matters of faith to future generations.
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Respect and Dignity
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Toxic Traditions
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The Lilies of the Field
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
They don’t toil, neither do they spin. Mt 6:28
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Church and Politics
I recognize that, taken together, these two subjects are about as welcome as talking about sex and income, but the faithful life cannot be lived outside of politics. Considering a recent academic study that revealed the third most common reason young people leave the church is because they “disagreed with the church’s position on political and social issues.” The disagreement on social and political issues happens with both conservative and liberal young people. Lest we think this is a modern phenomenon, consider two of the disciples of Jesus, Simon the Zealot and Matthew. Simon’s extended name, “the zealot” indicates that he was actively involved in the Jewish movement to overthrow the Roman government. Matthew, on the other hand, was a tax collector. Although he was Jewish, he made his living in collusion with the Roman occupiers. I seriously doubt if Matthew and Simon ever agreed on anything politically, but we do know that the labored tirelessly together to build the church.
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Rivers in the Badlands
“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands. Isaiah 43:18-19 (The Message)
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