Sweet Spots
Ideas and messages from Len Sweet.
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Musical Personalities
Radio broadcasts have always facilitated imagination; among producers and hosts to be sure, but also, significantly, the listeners. From baseball games to symphony concerts and dramatic plays to breaking news, radio has an illustrious history as a catalyst for creativity.
In 2012-2013, the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) radio host Paolo Pietropaolo launched The Signature Series, featuring a different, short, provocative story each week. Pietropaolo told the story of a musical key signature by imaging what the music represented in a personality: Who is G minor? What does D major like to do in her spare time? Which is the friendliest key? read more…
Personality Tests
Uncovering The Secret History Of Myers-Briggs
Summary: From Fortune 500 businesses to church leadership seminars, the Myers-Briggs test is used to help people find their “personality type” as well as those of their co-workers. This test is supposed to help find personalities which work best together but is this a legitimate test? What is the history behind it? Should we be using it? read more…
Summer Festivals VI
This is our final week of summer festival music! We started with a Canadian jazz festival and we will end with a chamber music festival held in Canada: the Banff String Quartet Festival.
The Festival is an outcome of the wildly successful Banff String Quartet Competition, which started in 1983 to honor the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Banff Center. The competition takes place every three years (this week’s playlist includes music from the last competition, in 2016), and the Festival grew up in the years between the competition, in order continue the teaching and collaboration among the quartets. read more…
One Stone Faith
One Stone Faith Story Lectionary 10 September 2017 The Egyptians Do Not Heed Moses’ and Aaron’s Miracles (Exodus 7-11) The Story of David, Goliath, and Saul’s Vendetta (1 Samuel 16-19) The Story of Ahaziah’s Bid to Baalzebub in Samaria (2 Kings 1) Psalm 1: Do Not Follow the Wicked Psalm…
A Sermon to Take With You –Preaching Tip for 10 September 2017
If you want people to “take” your sermon with them when they leave worship, it helps to give them something tangible that reminds them of your message. Whether an experience or an object, it’s worth the investment to leave people with reminders and triggers.
Pastor’s Prayer for 10 September 2017
Hear me, Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; 3 have mercy on me, Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
4 Bring joy to your servant, Lord,
for I put my trust in you.
5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good,
abounding in love to all who call to you.
6 Hear my prayer, Lord;
listen to my cry for mercy.
7 When I am in distress, I call to you,
because you answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;
no deeds can compare with yours.
9 All the nations you have made
will come and worship before you, Lord;
they will bring glory to your name.
10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths,
from the realm of the dead.
14 Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God;
ruthless people are trying to kill me—
they have no regard for you.
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
show your strength in behalf of your servant;
save me, because I serve you
just as my mother did.
17 Give me a sign of your goodness,
that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
–David’s Prayer (Song 86)
The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor
The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor
–Review by Teri Hyrkas
“Why would Flannery O’Connor ruin her short stories by including gratuitous violence in them?” This was the question raised by a friend who heard that I had attended a week-long class at The Glen Workshop on O’Connor. It is a valid question, and one frequently asked about O’Connor’s work. It was also part of the reason I wanted to participate in the Glen’s offering called “Fun With Flannery.”
The class was taught by Dr. Karen Swallow Prior, Professor of English at Liberty University, and was a fascinating plunge into Flannery’s writing, with a special emphasis on her short stories. The primary book used for our topic was The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1971) which contains thirty-one of Flannery’s short stories, nine of which were discussed in the workshop. read more…
The Double Thank You Moment
The Double Thank You Moment Lectionary 10 September 2017 14th Sunday After Pentecost Exodus 12:1-14 Psalm 149 Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 18:15-20 Text to Life There are two types of people . . . always. I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again. There are two types of people in this…
Trust the Spirit
Wesley was an Oxford don, classically educated and an enlightenment aristocrat. But he was acutely aware of the democracy of the Spirit, and sought never to lose the common touch. In fact, early Methodist meetings were often led by lay preachers with very limited education. On one occasion, such a…
Summer Festivals V
The Moab Music Festival was founded in 1992 by New York based musicians, pianist/conductor Michael Barrett and violist Leslie Tomkins. On a rare vacation, the husband and wife team fell in love with the red rocks of Moab and were inspired to combine the magical landscape with the joys of music-making. “Starting a music festival seemed like the perfect way to make sure we would return again and again,” says Tomkins. Now in its 25th year of “music in concert with the landscape,” the award- winning Moab Music Festival is noted for its distinctive programming and unique concert experiences of chamber music, traditional, jazz, Latin, and the music of living composers. The 20 concerts of the 2017 season are held in a variety of indoor and outdoor venues around Moab, with the Festival’s signature events, the Grotto Concerts, taking place in a pristine wilderness grotto, which is 30 miles down the Colorado River. The stunning grotto is reached by jet boat, and the concert presenters bring in (and remove) everything needed, including a grand piano! The concert hikes include stunning views through the Moab desert. The combination of the music and the amazing location(s), creates a festival experience that is impossible to replicate. This week’s playlist includes selections from the opening weekend of the festival which starts this coming Friday. If you live in the area – go! I would love to join you. read more…