Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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The Curse of the Tongue
The Curse of the Tongue Story Lectionary 3 July 2016 God Gives Moses Signs to Prove God’s Power Including Healing of Leprosy (Exodus 4) I Am the Lord Who Heals You (Exodus 15) Priestly Rituals for Examining and Pronouncing Diseases of the Skin (Leviticus 13 and 14) Miriam and Aaron…
The Five Relationship Rules
The Five Relationship Rules Lectionary 3 July 2016 7th Sunday After Pentecost 2 Kings 5:1-14 Psalm 30 Galatians 6:1-6, 7-16 Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 Text to Life Summer is wedding season. Add together the months of June, July, and August, and what do you get? They equal a perfect storm of…
Unspoken Metaphors –Preaching Tip for 3 July 2016
Unspoken Metaphors may be as powerful as spoken ones. Think of the “hand signals” we use in our culture. One finger up means wait a minute. Two hands together –I’ll pray for you. In Catholicism a four-way hand signal signs the cross. Don’t be afraid of unspoken metaphors! They can…
Pastor’s Prayer –for 3 July 2016
“O that we may all receive of Christ’s fullness, grace upon grace; grace to pardon our sins, and subdue our iniquities; to justify our persons and to sanctify our souls; and to complete that holy change, that renewal of our hearts, whereby we may be transformed into that blessed image wherein thou didst create us.”
–John Wesley
The Nightingale
The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
a Novel
If sales of books about World War II are any indication, the war remains a subject of interest to a great many people even though it officially ended more than seventy years ago. The popularity of the book The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah ( St. Martin Press, 2015) supports this idea. As of June 19, 2016, The Nightingale, a story of two French sisters and their very different responses to World War II, has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for Hardcover Fiction for sixty-six weeks. The only book that has been on the Best Seller List for Fiction longer is All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, which has been on the list for 109 weeks, and is also a novel about World War II. read more…
The Myth of Normal
The Myth of Normal: Hear! Hear!
Epigenetics: Fathers can pass anxiety and depression to their children genetically, study finds
Undercover Atheists: The Internet has spawned a generation of secret unbelief. read more…
Amplification
The earth echoes with sound – from the silent reverberation of air waves, to the crashing of the ocean waves on a rocky shore. Waves ebb and flow. They respond to other waves and are affected by solid and moving elements that stand in their way. Some things amplify the waves, other things redirect the waves, and still other things work with the waves to create something entirely new.
The videos this week include two different creations that amplify and transform moving water into music. The artists in these two locations, on different sides of the planet, have created natural vehicles for amplifying the ocean waves. The waves do what waves do: according to the circulation of the moon and the timing of the tides, they move against the shore. When they move against the shore in these two locations, they flow through pipes, crevasses, and tunnels, making unique music! read more…
Contemplating God
A rabbi was sitting in contemplation when a young student asked him what he was doing: “Contemplating God.” The young scholar ridiculed him and said, “Show me God. When I have seen God, then I will believe what I have seen.” The old rabbi said nothing, and the young scholar…
Take Off the Training Wheels
Take Off the Training Wheels Lectionary 26 June 2016 6th Sunday After Pentecost 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 Galatians 5:1, 13-25 Luke 9:51-62 Text to Life It is a huge moment in everyone’s life. But since it usually happens at about the age of five or six, it…
Born of the Spirit
Born of the Spirit Story Lectionary 26 June 2016 Lord of Womb and Water, Birth and Rebirth (Exodus 15 and 17) Moses and the Healing Snake (Numbers 21) Psalm 90: The Lord of Birth and Rebirth Psalm 104: Lord of Water and Creation Psalm 139: The Womb of the Lord…