The Pastor's Desk
August 2017
September 3, 2017
We can almost see him shaking his head with a bit of a rueful smile, but an angry undertone in his voice. In similar fashion, Peter thinks Jesus is "duping" him when Jesus starts to explain that being Messiah means suffering and dying, and being a follower of the Messiah means taking up a cross and doing the same. Jeremiah tries to...
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August 27, 2017
It might be natural to wonder if Jesus, in giving him the keys to the kingdom, didn’t feel a bit like a parent giving a teenager the keys to the family car. But it was at the moment when God’s power and presence broke through everything else to raise up Peter’s great profession of faith in Christ as Messiah that Jesus chose to...
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August 20, 2017
In the psalms and other Hebrew scriptures, this kind of invocation is actually an invitation to God to act, to intervene in human lives in a manner that will cause everyone—not just the Chosen People—to give praise. Stated a bit more strongly, it is something of a “put up or shut up” challenge to God, the sort of strong...
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August 6, 2017
The first, a vision reported by the prophet Daniel, was well known to Jesus and his apostles. The vision account was written in quite mystical and figurative language. It is a vision of heaven, powerful and memorable. There are flames of fire, burning wheels, the Ancient One, and a Son of Man. Clearly, Daniel saw something. But was it a dream?...
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