Month: July 2018
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Notes – Romans 2 1-12
The Uniform Series text we are studying for Sunday, August 5 is Romans 2:1-12; here are a few notes on the text: FIRST IMPRESSIONS: That we [readers; members of the audience] are doing “the very same things” seems like something most people would dispute. At least initially. Which things? BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: This text is […]
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Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
We were confident we understood the meaning of the Luke 14:15-23 text: “it’s about salvation, everyone is invited, some people turn it down, and eventually it will be too late.” It means some other things, too, like that if someone takes the trouble to make a party, you should take the trouble to attend; and […]
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Luke 14 15-24
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, July 29 is Luke 14:15-24, “the parable of the great banquet”; here are some questions we might or might not want to consider in class: When the story begins, all we know is that “someone” is giving a big dinner. As the story unfolds, we learn that this “someone” […]
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Wise Up
Is this the Bible warning us not to listen to “yes men”? Or, “alternative facts”? Maybe. The story is in 2 Chronicles 18 (and 1 Kings 22). King Jehoshaphat of Judah (one of the “good kings”) says “That’s not the way a king should talk! Let’s hear what he has to say” (New Living Translation). […]
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Revelations, on Revelation
Elaine Pagels. Revelations: Visions, Prophecy, & Politics in the Book of Revelation. New York: Penguin, 2012. [An installment of the “Read Me” Project] Revelations by Elaine Pagels made its way to the “Read Me” shelf because learning something more about the Bible, church history and early church politics always sounds like a good thing. If […]
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Notes – Luke 14 15-24
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, July 29 is Luke 14:15-24, “the parable of the great banquet.” Here are some notes on that text: FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Who are these “straight men” in Luke? Last week it was “someone” who asked Jesus “Lord, will only a few be saved?” This week, “[o]ne of the dinner guests” […]
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How Low Can God Go?
When my daughter was little, I thought I had hit on a way to explain why we could not see God. Because of course she wanted to see God. She wanted to see everything. “God is too big to see.” The way the air is too big to see. God is everywhere. God is everywhere? […]
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Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In class this morning, we had just started identifying themes we wanted to talk about in relation to Luke 13:22-30 when one of the members mentioned something about Jesus saying to sit down at the end of the table, so you would be invited to take a better seat (Luke 14, next chapter), and I […]
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Luke 13 22-30
Here are a few questions about Luke 13:22-30, the study text for Sunday, July 22, that we may or may not want to consider in class: The text begins with Jesus going through towns and villages on his way to Jerusalem and someone asking him “Lord, will only a few be saved?” (v23) What do […]
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How I Would Study for the PC(USA) Bible Content Exam (Part Two)
In Part 1 of this post, I shared a Thirty Day Bible Content Review Plan for a “fast and focused” reading/reviewing of the whole Bible, along with some reasons for it. Here in Part 2 are my thoughts on how I would use that plan to study for the PC(USA) Bible Content Exam. I have […]
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How I Would Study for the PC(USA) Bible Content Exam (Part One)
The PC(USA) Bible Content Exam is coming up. This has been on my mind a lot, for some reason. So, to get it off my mind, I tried to think seriously about what I would do if I had to take the BCE in August – that is, a little over 30 days from now. […]
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I Passed the Bible Content Exam and You Can, Too (or, What to Say to Someone Who Has a Lot to Read)
The Bible Content Exam(*) is coming up. (*)Aside for those who don’t speak Presbyterian: The Bible Content Exam is one of the required ordination examinations for would-be ministers in the PC(USA). The denomination gives it twice a year, on the Friday before Labor Day in the Fall and the first Friday of February in the […]
Matters of Interpretation 