Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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The Spirit’s Algorithm
The Spirit’s Algorithm Lectionary 3 June 2018 2nd Sunday After Pentecost 1 Samuel 3:1-20 Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 2 Corinthians 4:5-12 Mark 2:23-3:6 Text to Life Every day you write “algorithms.” You heard me right. Let me say it again just so you don’t think you’re mishearing me or I’m talking…
12 Rules for Life
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos
By Jordon B Peterson
ISBN: 978-0-345-81602-3
–Review by Douglas Balzer
For several years now I have been following Jordan B Peterson, Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto Canada, and supplementing my personal studies in psychology through his publication Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief. Personally, I have found his thesis provocative as he explores the depths of what it means to be a human being. He has been difficult for people to define as they are trying to label him by fitting him into some authoritarian category unsuccessfully. He has become a polarizing personality for many people. It is part of the reason I like him. My interest has been to study his semiotics in the application of archetypes throughout the biblical narrative. For me whenever a person is subject to the level of media scrutiny that Peterson has been my curiosity is heightened. Each of us has to judge for ourselves.
They say life is a journey and navigating it is a constant struggle. If there is anything life guarantees is there will be more difficulties around each corner, but there will also be beauty and joy to be found in the journey. This is Life! So, how can we navigate it successfully? You may or may not like the answers but Jordan B Peterson, in his book 12 Rules for Living: An Antidote to Chaos, shares ways to keep improving your life and staying truthful, so you will be able to enjoy the satisfaction of making progress every day as you keep striving to be a better human being. read more…
The Squall –Preaching Tip for 4 June 2018
The metaphor of wind continues throughout Pentecost….. but this is not just breath but can also be “chaos.” The idea of the storm, the squall, the perfect storm, unfathomable gusts, noise, and indistinguishable language sums up our experience of God, whom we can’t comprehend but can only attempt to describe.…
Pastor’s Prayer for 4 June 2018
The Father is my hope. The Son is my refuge. The Holy Spirit is my protector. Glory to the holy and undivided Trinity, now and for ever. Let us praise the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; let us bless and exault God above all for ever! Almighty and everlasting God, to whom we owe the grace of professing the true faith, grant that while acknowledging the glory of the eternal Trinity and adoring its unity, we may through your majestic power be confirmed in this faith and defended against all adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
–Prayer to the Blessed Trinity
Trinity Sunday
The dance is a common translation of the trinitarian image “perichoresis.” This week, in honour of Trinity Sunday, the playlist features a three-step dance, the waltz.
The waltz is a wonderful metaphor for the interaction of the holy three-in-one. It originated as a country peasant dance – rustic and spontaneous – an outpouring of the joy of the end of the week and the celebration of community. Over time, the dance took on a more formal structure, developing a tempo, interchange, and connection between the dancers in relation to each other. read more…
Religion in USAmerica
Most Americans believe, but not always in the God of the Bible
Read more at: https://goo.gl/sbdQax
Digitally mine from: www.religionnews.com
EXPECTING PEOPLE TO CONFORM IS NOT LOVE
Summary: “Over the course of my life, I’ve developed a mold in my head for the ideal way to live. I often think I know better than others, with opinions about how they should act, what job they should have, etc. When someone doesn’t fit into this mold, I’ve disassociated with them or tried to cram them into it. Subconsciously, I’ve thought of these people as “uglies”—a term from the YouTube dystopian short film by David Armsby called Being Pretty.” read more…
The Wind and the Flame of Love
The Wind and the Flame of Love Lectionary 27 May 2018 Trinity Sunday Isaiah 6:1-8 Psalm 29 Romans 8:12-17 John 3:1-17 Text to Life Did you ever have a “secret language” you spoke as a child? Do you remember your “pig Latin”? Close siblings, especially twins, are known for inventing…
Scroll Bread and Honey
Scroll Bread and Honey Story Lectionary 27 May 2018 Jesus’ Baptism and the Beginning of His Ministry and Mission Those Who Walked with God in the First Covenant (Genesis 5) God’s Plague of Locusts Upon the Egyptians (Exodus 10) God’s Abundance for Those Who Turn to Him (Deuteronomy 28) Psalm…
Pentecost 2
If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.
John 14: 15-18 read more…
The Contextual Locust –Preaching Tip for 27 May 2018
The scriptures have many, many references to locusts. You can be sure, they have multiple meanings. Metaphors are contextual. Sometimes, a metaphor can mean one thing in one context, and in another context, something entirely different. This is why one cannot simply talk about metaphors in terms of “typology” or…