2 Corinthians 6:17 does not sit well with me. Yes, it's Saint Paul, but it doesn't mean I have to agree with everything Paul writes. This verse is part of a longer segment that consists primarily of quotes and allusions to Old Testament passages. This verse 17, for example, comes mostly from Isaiah 52:11, which itself …
A bible verse to end all bible verses
It's two Bible verses actually, the culmination of the 8th chapter of Paul's Letter to the Romans, a chapter truly worth reading for its extraordinary content and meaning for today. This chapter 8 of Romans, has provided me over the years with more to enrich my faith than any other chapter in the letters of Paul. …
Do you live by love, or by fear?
It seems that my Logos bible software is no longer putting up slides with daily Bible verses, so I have to look elsewhere for illustrated Bible verses. I'm not artistic, so I can't create my own Bible slides. Today I choose to reflect on 1 John 4:18 φόβος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ, ἀλλ’ ἡ τελεία …
Matters of Language
At last Sunday's Matins I was shocked by the language in the Doxastikon of the Praises. The text refers to the Resurrection Gospel that was read earlier in the Matins service and which described the encounter of Mary Magdalene with the resurrected Jesus. Here is a translation of the Doxastikon: Verily, the fervid tears of …
When God is rejected
God's love for the world entailed also a love for the nations. The Bible does not shy away from the political overtones of God's ways. But God's desire for the nations has always - without exception - been disappointed. Yes, disappointed - from the very beginning. God's desire was that his people would be "a …
Thorn in the Flesh
Today we are again in Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. In our passage today he is in self-reflexive mode, but here he boasts that he has been granted visions and revelations, even vision of Paradise. And not even a vision, but an actual transfer to Paradise - whether in the body or out of …
Be Generous
One of my regular readers was inspired by my last sermon to post this on his blog. He is a very creative blogger. I recommend his very fine website.
The Blessing of Abundance
I was struck by one phrase in the Epistle reading from 2 Corinthians 9:6-11. Τοῦτο δέ, ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως φειδομένως καὶ θερίσει, καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἐπʼ εὐλογίαις ἐπʼ εὐλογίαις καὶ θερίσει. That opening phrase, Τοῦτο δέ, is a call to attention: So now, this…this, pay attention, very important teaching about to follow. "He who sows sparingly …
Who are you on Golgotha?
On this Sunday after the Elevation of the Cross, this is a Holy Friday sermon. Something very important is missing from all our icons and depictions of the Crucifixion of Christ.... There is no text version of this sermon, only the audio:
Lights of God rise in the darkness
Over a hundred years ago (in 1915, to be precise) the great German theologian wrote the following, in an essay called "The Righteousness of God": What is the use of all the preaching, baptising, confirming, bell-ringing, and organ-playing, of all the religious moods and modes, the counsels of 'applied religion'....the efforts to enliven church singing, …
Ancient Answers 