Matthew 14:16 Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”
On Sunday we listened to some parables of Jesus about the kingdom of heaven. Did you hear them? Here is an extension of a conversation we began on Sunday; listen again:
The kingdom of God is not something in the far future that is going suddenly to come down from heaven and settle on you and magically turn everything right. You yourselves are It. It’s in you and among you; you have to do It or It will never come.Beatrice Bruteau Source: The Holy Thursday Revolution
via inward/outward.
Parker Palmer (on Facebook) writes (7/25/14):
Exciting news for the legion of Carrie Newcomer fans out there! Carrie, my good friend and colleague, was recently profiled by Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, one of PBS’s finest programs.
STARTING TODAY and running thru the weekend, their piece on Carrie will appear at different times in different viewing areas. You can check out when and where to watch in your locale by going to http://tinyurl.com/lfkljwa.
Carrie is my favorite singer/songwriter not only because she’s a poet with a keen eye for the human condition, a superb musician with a golden voice, and a generous soul who donates her talents in support of all kinds of good causes. She’s also a steadfast believer in “the human possibility” who devotes most of her waking hours to creating art that awakens the better angels of our nature.
Here’s a music video of a song Carrie and I co-wrote, from her new album, “A Permeable Life.” I urge you to check out at http://tinyurl.com/k7pchpw.
If you don’t know Carrie’s music, take a iisten. Then you’ll know why Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly is a “must watch” this week!
P.S. Carrie’s Facebook page is at http://tinyurl.com/pht32jb, and her website is at http://tinyurl.com/7a6v47v.
Listen:
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Genesis 29:25 When morning came, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, “What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me?”
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1 Kings 3:5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night
What do you “see” and what do you hear the Spirit saying?
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Genesis 28:12 And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
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Matthew 13:24
Jesus put before the crowd another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field…
Jonathan Merritt of Religion News Service presented his interview of Rowan Williams recently. Among the items is this for our consideration and conversation:
RNS: You list the Bible as one of the essentials of “being Christian” but various people have diverse views about the Bible. Do you think every view of the Bible is equally “Christian” or is there some baseline?
RW: It’s always been true that Christians have had differences over reading the Bible. But it remains the text we have in common. And so long as one believes that the Bible is a gift from God and tells us what we need to know about God for our well-being here and hereafter, it’s still possible to think we have something seriously in common.
Things get difficult if you hold that the Bible is only a human product; but they also get difficult when the Bible is treated only as a set of timeless instructions from God, irrespective of the actual process by which the texts arose. The Bible needs to be read, prayerfully and discerningly, in the company of as many other believers as possible, so that we can learn some wisdom from each other as to what exactly God does want to tell us. Hearing the truth in Scripture means expecting the Holy Spirit to be at work both in the text and in the community that reads it.
via Rowan Williams’ four essentials for being ‘Christian’ | On Faith & Culture. with Jonathan Merritt
7/13
Matthew 13:1-3 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow.
Scroll down for Eight Van Gogh Sowers.
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Genesis 24:43-44 I am standing here by the spring of water; let the young woman who comes out to draw, to whom I shall say, “Please give me a little water from your jar to drink,” and who will say to me, “Drink, and I will draw for your camels also” –let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master’s son.’
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Zechariah 9:10
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey
Hear what the Spirit is saying 