Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Godspeed
Godspeed, documentary featuring Matt Canlis, Eugene Peterson, and N.T. Wright
Not rated
—Review by Ashley Linne
Godspeed is a short documentary that quietly and beautifully shifts the paradigm of church. Set in Scotland, it follows Matt, a pastor, and his story of finding freedom through his parish. This film illustrates living slowly, doing life outside of walls, the crucial necessity of relationship, and the eternal value of seemingly simple practices like walking through the neighborhood. Eugene Petersen and N.T. Wright are featured alongside Matt and other memorable characters from the parishes of Pitlochry and Methlick.
This film spoke deeply to my heart. I want what this film illuminates: a slow-paced life, one lived in closeness with those around me, knowing my neighbors and being known. I want to live in the art of “slowing down to catch up with God,” as Matt poignantly says.
The film is about 30 minutes long. I highly recommend it and you can watch it right now while it’s available online: https://www.livegodspeed.org/watchgodspeed.
The Sound of Joy
The Sound of Joy Story Lectionary 21 May 2017 Jesus Commissions His Disciples Sarah Laughed but Became the Mother of Her People (Genesis 17 and 18) Psalm 23: God Will be with You Even Through the Valleys Psalm 121: God Will be with You and Keep You Always Psalm 125:…
The Spice of Life
The Secret History of the World’s Priciest Spice
Summary: “Saffron has a long and colorful history. You may be surprised by how it is made.”
Read more at: https://goo.gl/qZhdSX
Digitally mined from: www.nationalgeographic.com
Don’t toss those old spices you never use. Make blends you can use on everything.
read more…
Easter #5
This week’s Easter Psalm is number 31, which reminds us of God’s stability: the Lord is a rock of refuge and a strong fortress. Martin Luther based his “mighty fortress” hymn on Psalm 46, but the themes in Psalm 31 echo and remind us of Luther’s composition. Written in about 1530, the hymn caught the imagination and voices of the early reformation across Europe, and was translated into English as early as 1539. In 1723, J. S. Bach incorporated the tune and lyric into his cantata for Reformation Day. Playlist #111 features works that include (but maybe disguise!) this familiar tune. Can you find it? read more…
Resign or Re-Sign
Resign or Re-Sign Lectionary 21 May 2017 6th Sunday of Easter Heritage Sunday Acts 17:22-31 Psalm 66:8-20 1 Peter 3:13-22 John 14:15-21 Text to Life Hacking. Phishing. Identity theft. Nigerian royalty offering you millions of dollars if you give them your personal information over the internet. Just last week there…
Look for What is Missing –Preaching Tip for 21 May 2017
Look for what is missing. What is the author of the scriptures NOT saying? What is assumed to be known at the time the scriptures were written? What metaphors are implied but not overtly in print? What metaphors would Jesus’ audience have been familiar? To whom is Jesus speaking? That…
Pastor’s Prayer for 21 May 2017
I am no longer my own, but thine.Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.Put me to doing, put me to suffering.Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,exalted for thee or brought low for thee.Let me be full, let me be empty.Let me have all things, let me have nothing.I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
–John Wesley (The Covenant Prayer)
The View from the Cheap Seats
The View from the Cheap Seats
By Neil Gaiman
–Review by Paula Jones
Neil Gaiman’s writing can be a lot like coffee. You have to develop a taste for both, but in doing so, both will eventually grow into a craving. When first introduced to his work, I was only mildly impressed, but because my daughter and niece both adore him, I continued to read. These days, I anticipate his new publications with eagerness, so much so that I purchased The View from the Cheap Seats (TVFTCS) the day it debuted.
Gaiman is known far-and-wide for the fantasy novels and graphic novels for which he has received 67 prestigious writing awards. In 2010, he became the first author ever to win both the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medal for the same work (The Graveyard Book). That said, TVFTCS, being 100% non-fiction, is not his typical fare. Considering that Gaiman began his career as a journalist, this is obviously not his first foray into non-fiction. In the years since those early days as a reporter, he has since written numerous forwards to republished science fiction classics, countless keynote addresses for various writer and reader conferences, multiple eulogies for other writers, and even several introductions to albums. TVFTCS is a compilation of many of these short addresses and essays. read more…
The Emotional Spectrum
Seneca on Grief and the Key to Resilience in the Face of Loss: An Extraordinary Letter to His Mother
Summary: “Grief, when it comes, is nothing like we expect it to be, “Joan Didion observed in her classic meditation on loss. Abraham Lincoln, in his moving letter of consolation to a grief-stricken young woman, wrote of how time transmutes grief into “a sad sweet feeling in your heart.” But what, exactly, is the mechanism of that transmutation and how do we master it before it masters us when grief descends in one of its unforeseeable guises?” read more…
Easter #4
The 23rd Psalm is the familiarity of promises that we can sink into. The dark valley is never the end of the story, for a table awaits, along with the goodness and mercy that calls us to life everlasting. Our Easter journey this week leads us beside still waters and through enemy territory. But our future is secure because He is Risen. He is risen indeed! Hallelujah. read more…