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It’s Time to Repent!

This past Monday, the body of President George H. W. Bush was flown to Washington, D.C., to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol to allow a nation to bid him farewell. Regardless of one’s politics, this week was a time for all of us to remember a life that was dedicated to service and to the welfare of this country. It was an incredible sight to see so many of our government leaders come together…

What Do These Signs Mean?

Two weeks ago, we read from Chapter 13 of Mark’s Gospel where Jesus foretold the destruction of the Temple. In response to his teaching, the disciples had asked Jesus to tell them when this would happen and what signs they should watch for so that they would know when the end was coming. It was a great question and one they should have asked. They were hopping for some specifics so they would…

Signs

My family had such an incredible Thanksgiving break with LOTS of tree decorating, eating, playing games, snuggling, watching Christmas movies, snowball fighting, cooking, baking, eating more — It was awesome!

This week’s scripture is all about watching for signs — signs of Jesus on Earth. When I think of Jesus, I think of love. I saw so many examples of love on Earth this weekend.…

A Week of Giving

The dichotomy of Thanksgiving week makes me cringe, but also laugh with the irony: we are given the excuse to do nothing but cook, eat, and be with those we love as we give thanks Thursday, and then jump right into the Christmas shopping craze. I think it’s brilliant that Tuesday of next week is now called Giving Tuesday, to encourage us to give to those less fortunate before we spend all…

A Promised Future

When we ended our Gospel reading last week, Jesus and the disciples were sitting in the Temple watching people giving their money to the treasury in the Temple. There were people watching, and specifically, Jesus called out the generosity displayed by the poor widow who had given all she had, two copper coins. And as we begin our reading today, Jesus and the disciples are leaving the Temple and…

The Best is Yet to Come

It has been a busy couple of weeks around Salem. This past Sunday, we voted to sell our sanctuary and Luther Hall to Narthex and then lease it back. And then this coming Sunday is Commitment Sunday here at Salem. I know for some of you this is all very exciting; yet, for others, this is all very disturbing. So maybe we need to once again take a deep breath and try to listen to what God might…

Enough is Enough

“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces…” (Mark 12:8). It sounds to me like Jesus is condemning the Jewish system, doesn’t it? But, if we are going to really understand the profound analysis Jesus is offering here, we must move beyond some of our prejudices. As Christians, we must recognize the prejudices that many…

Social justice: spiritual practice

Mark 12:38-44 Common English Bible (CEB)

As he was teaching, he said, “Watch out for the legal experts. They like to walk around in long robes. They want to be greeted with honor in the markets. They long for places of honor in the synagogues and at banquets. They are the ones who cheat widows out of their homes, and to show off…

Comfort on All Saints Day

I have several dear friends who have lost loved ones in the last few weeks: two are grieving their mothers, and one is a widow at age 47. I scrambled to do what I could to console them, but words are hard to come by with such loss.

I tend to go from my own experience when trying to ease grief, and my greatest comfort when I lost my dad was the memories people shared of how he touched their…

It's Not Fake News!

I want to begin by saying that what I am about to say is not what I originally planned for today. Oh, I will talk about the Fake News of this world, as promised, but I have altered my words from what I planned because of the horrific actions of this past week. First of all, our week began with the news that certain political figures and journalists who had different ideologies from our president…

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