Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Knitted Together from the Womb
Knitted Together from the Womb Story Lectionary 4 February 2018 The Boy Isaac is Saved from the Fire (Genesis 22:1-19) Baby Moses is Saved from Death by a Basket Sent Down River (Exodus 2:1-10) The Boy Samuel is Called by God (1 Samuel 3:1-18) The Boy David Slays Goliath (1…
Touchdowns in Eternity
Touchdowns in Eternity Lectionary 4 February 2018 5th Sunday After the Epiphany Isaiah 40:21-31 Psalm 147:1-11, 20c 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 Mark 1:29-39 Text to Life Welcome to “cheat day”! After feasting in November at Thanksgiving, binging all December on traditional Christmas goodies, festive dinners, and those boxes of decadent delights…
Artists and Their Thoughts – Oscar Peterson
It’s the group sound that’s important, even when you’re playing a solo. You not only have to know your own instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That’s jazz.
— Oscar Peterson
Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson walked the talk. His list of collaborators is long and illustrious: Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Roy Eldridge, Lester Young, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, not to mention his longtime trio-mates Ray Brown and Herb Ellis (who was later succeeded by Ed Thigpin).
Peterson’s career as a piano soloist began in 1940, when at the age of 14, he won the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s national music competition. In 1949 Peterson met impresario Norman Granz, the founder of Verve Records. His connection with Granz led to a series of recordings with two other musicians and the Oscar Peterson Trio was born. For the majority of his career, the Trio was the mainstay of his artistic life. read more…
Use Your Windows
Is your church an original building with stained glass? Don’t forget that many of our Christian metaphors are forever engraved in the art of our stained glass windows. Help people identify those images and metaphors with scripture. Help people connect them in their traditions to the stories of Jesus. The…
Pastor’s Prayer for 4 February 2018
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.
(Wesley’s Covenant Prayer as used in the Book of Offices of the British Methodist Church, 1936).
Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
By Chip and Dan Heath
Published 2010
ISBN: 9780385528757
–Review by Douglas Balzer
Insightful, Switch gives us a deeper understanding of how critically important the change process is for building any church, community or culture. By far, it is one of the best books I have in 2017. The notes I have taken from this particular book are extensive, and I plan to use the content in direct application within the context I am working.
So, change. It is something we live with daily. In fact, our world is radically changing in significant ways that are catching people off guard all the time. Consider the scope and rate of change these days, as recently as the 1960’s, almost fifty percent of all workers in the industrialized countries were involved in manufacturing or helping to manufacture products. Now, however, as few as one-sixth of the workforce is involved in the traditional manufacturing roles of producing products. Over two-thirds of the U.S . employees work in the services sector, and information has become our most important resource. The lives of people have changed. Many without realizing the significant transitions while others cannot help but see clearly the transformation of every aspect of societies around the globe. Much of the conflict and strife that is seen throughout the world is due to changes being more than societies are able to adapt too. I don’t want to go too far into this rabbit hole, but suffice it to say the change has affected every society, church, community, and culture. For many, it is hard to accept let alone adapt. read more…
Heart of a Pelican
Heart of a Pelican Story Lectionary 28 January 2018 Jesus’ Begins the Final Months Before His Death The Money Given for Atonement by All of the Jews (Exodus 30:11-16) Solomon Collects 666 Talents of Gold Per Year for the Wealth of His Temple (1 Kings 10) As Solomon is Crowned…
Pencil, Ink, and Stone
Pencil, Ink, and Stone Lectionary 28 January 2018 4th Sunday After Epiphany Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Psalm 111 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Mark 1:21-28 Text to Life Once upon a time, in the dim and distant past of paper and print, there was a big step in schoolwork that every kid had to…
Free Speech
OUR BEST HOPE FOR CIVIL DISCOURSE ONLINE IS ON … REDDIT
Summary: Had my desire for revenge made a Mengele of me? Worse still, was I trying to pass off my personal revenge fantasy as high-minded and rational, inspired by Google searches I dignified as “scientific data”? And so I signed on to Change My View, a section of Reddit where people post opinions and ask to have them changed. read more…
Artists and Their Thoughts 2
To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.
—Leonard Bernstein
This well-known quote by American-born composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein usually elicits laughter; partly because of its wittiness, but mostly because it hits very close to the truth. As a composer, Bernstein probably experienced the intensity of a deadline. I am sure that he constantly felt the pressure of the never-enough-time orchestral rehearsal schedule. But this quote belies a recognition that there is something about greatness that is out of our control. Great things often appear when there is a combination of planning and serendipity. Kingdom reality happens when our actions meets the Spirit’s breath. A miracle is miraculous because there’s “not enough.” Not enough time, not enough energy, not enough money, not enough people. read more…