Have you ever burned with envy? You’re not alone. Envy is, as we saw in the previous post, considered to be the central fact of American Life. In our Advent series, Longings, this second week we are looking at envy through the lens of ancient poem, Psalm 73. So far we have seen the author,Continue reading “How envy rots our insides – Second Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 2”
Monthly Archives: December 2019
The central fact of American life – Second Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 1
What is the central fact of American Life? Please don’t Google it. Just think about the first word that comes to your mind. Did you think of words like: freedom, liberty, money, politics, consumerism, individualism or shopping? There are many words both good and bad that define our American experience. I recently read an answerContinue reading “The central fact of American life – Second Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 1”
The only way to truly fulfill your longings – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 5
Have you ever thoughts that you be so happy if you hit the lottery? I have. I have dreamed of how I would spend the money. It sounds so freeing. I would be free from debt. My kids would have no college debt. I get excited just typing it. Many of us can feel thatContinue reading “The only way to truly fulfill your longings – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 5”
How Christian freedom should not lead Christians to behave badly – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 4
Have you ever heard Christians say that if churches or Christian institutions don’t have rules and regulations, people will go off the rails leading to anarchy? So if we want to be good Christians, they say, then we should be making new rules, like the ones in the previous post: no wearing lipstick or smokingContinue reading “How Christian freedom should not lead Christians to behave badly – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 4”
Finding our way through the muddy waters of law and grace – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 3
Do Christians have Christian laws we are supposed to follow in order to be right in God’s eyes? Can you think of any? This is a tricky subject because Christians are called to live a certain way, so how is that different from following the Old Testament Law? We’re about to discover that this wasContinue reading “Finding our way through the muddy waters of law and grace – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 3”
Peer pressure and our longings – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 2
Have you ever been swayed by what other people think, even though you don’t really agree with them? Have you ever been influenced to act contrary to your beliefs because you feel pressure from others? Often we say that teenagers succumb to peer pressure, but the reality is that adults of all ages are justContinue reading “Peer pressure and our longings – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 2”
Why did the US death rate jump sharply in recent years? – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 1
If you could say in one word what you want more of in life, what would that be? What this question gets at is longing. This Advent, we are talking about longing. Advent is a season of longing. Ancient Christians created the season of Advent as a four week long preparatory time for the greatContinue reading “Why did the US death rate jump sharply in recent years? – First Sunday of Advent 2019, Part 1”
Engaging Scripture 