Tag: christianity

June 6, 2025

Good evening,

” Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.  He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.”  John 2:23-25

There are four Gospels. Four biographies of life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, and so much more. The early church ( around 375 AD ) selected these four stories as authoritative of the life of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour .They did not have concerns that these four different writers might focus on different aspects of the gospel story. Matthew and Luke tell different parts of the birth narrative, while Mark and John do not say anything at all about Bethlehem. All the gospels have slightly different resurrection stories. What does it mean for the church and its belief system that we have such a diverse set of stories ?

Matthew, Mark and Luke are similar. John is very different. When thinking about a story to guide me in my faith these next years, someone mentioned the Gospel of John because it is so different. In the text above John writes about the Passover. In the other three Gospels Jesus only goes to Jerusalem at the end of his life to celebrate Passover. In John he goes already in chapter 2. The Jesus we find in John tells no parables, but has seven sayings of ” I am “. This paints a diverse picture of Jesus. The above text says that Jesus does not trust humanity. What does that mean for us ?

In the church we are always trying to define what we believe in more narrow terms rather than having a wide expanse of belief. The gospels give us a way to include everyone. We should be committed to the church, and then discuss issues with the understanding that we are committed to each other. In the Anabaptist tradition we have been quick to leave each other behind, if we have a theological disagreement, rather than be in the right relationship with each other. We have to trust each other and the Spirit of the Gospels.

Salaam and strength for our journeys of life and faith

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

June 3, 2025′

Good afternoon,

About a week ago I invited you to think about a verse, story or a book from the Bible that might guide me in the next week, month or year. Three things have come to me:

Psalm 46     ” Be still and know that I am God. ” verse 10

Psalm 51    ‘ Create in me a clean heart, O God …’  verse 10′

John 13:4-5    ” So, he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that he poured water into a basin          and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him . “

The first two are about worship. I need to be in the presence of God. These two psalm readings have many songs related to them. The focus is about God, and God alone. I want to sing. Psalm 46, God is speaking through the writer, while Psalm 51 is the writer speaking to God. The passage from John is at the beginning of the final meal, the Last Supper, that Jesus has with his best friends. Only John records this act of service of footwashing done by Jesus. I still want to do acts of service, and be open for people to do acts of service for me. John 13-17 takes place during the Supper. It is the final words Jesus has for his friends. There is great trouble at the table. Judas is there. James and John want to be the best. And Peter does not want his feet washed.

The last time we had footwashing at Poole, there was only myself and one other man who washed feet. All the other men washed hands. More women washed their feet. I think it is dying out as a symbol of service. We are one of few denominations who have been doing it. What should we do ?

I will let you know next Monday of my selection.

The road of life and faith is filled with light and dark.

Praying for Gaza, for the mothers and fathers of the children. AMEN 

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

May 30, 2025,

Good afternoon,

” I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntchye to be of the same mind…

Philippines 4:2

We do not know anything about the two women mentioned above. There is nothing about them in the book of Acts about when Paul and Barnabas visit there in Philippi. But, Paul has heard that they have a problem with each other. We do not know the issue that seems to be bringing them into conflict. Is it about the nature of Jesus, or the organizing of the community of believers or about food, kosher or not ? We do not know. In today’s world, you should not write about this conflict between two people in public. The letter was meant to be read in public. This would be shameful and embarrassing today. Back then, the first century after the birth of Jesus, I do not know. Maybe this was how things were done.
Now you shame people on the internet. No face or responsibility. On the site, Threads, there is mostly slander and hateful speech. One person says something about a news item, and hundreds of thousands state their opinions. Many are Artificial Intelligence responses. No person in reality. But , here there is no plan for reconciliation or peace. It is all about letting your anger fly off into the abyss of social media. I read only about three responses and then I refused to go down the gopher hole. But it is so depressing .

What is this negative polarizing attitude and speech doing to our collective soul ? Or has this been the norm all along, and social media is highlighting it for all the world to see ? What can we do as the church or individuals ? I hope Euodia and Scyntchye resolved their problem. Glory be to God. May the reconciling words of Jesus always be our guide to relationships. 

May no more children be slaughtered in Gaza. AMEN . 

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? MPL 2025

May 23, 2025

We attended a gallery exhibition while we were in Amman, Jordan. It was photographs by Palestinian artist  Raeda Sa’adeh . She lives and works in Jerusalem. Her photographs were large, and of high resolution with everything in clear focus.  There were about ten pieces in the exhibition. The lighting was very bright, and there were large windows, and so you had to look at the photos from different angles to see the whole picture. Maybe this was by design. I tried to get a picture of them, but there was always too much shadow and reflection. Maybe, this was also by design. Artists are always creative.

So, I took some pictures. What do you think? Her photo is called the Narcissist. She is looking down into a reflection of herself. Try to find it. Shirley is now in the piece taking a picture. In the background is the reflection of the window of light. There are other smaller reflections in my picture. What do you see ? How does my photo change the picture and its meaning ?

For me, it is like a story of Jesus. There is always a lot going on. In a miracle story of a feeding of 5000 people, there is Jesus, the disciples, the people being fed, the food, the weather, and the people outside of the picture. In the story of the crucifixion, in all the Gospels, there is so much to report. As you think of the death of Jesus, what picture do you get ? The cross, Peter, Mary, the whip or the crown of thorns ? How would you draw Jesus on the cross ? Faith is so rich and complex, never the same, each and every day. A new picture of Jesus and salvation to reflect on, and act upon in the glorious creation.

AMEN Praying for the guns, the bombs and the death to stop in Gaza.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? 

MPL 2025

May 21, 2025

Good afternoon,

” For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who does it, but it is sin living in me that does it. Romans 7:19-20

I was given a book to read by a friend. The title is ” The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks “. Tissue was taken from Henrietta’s body in 1951. She died of cervical cancer soon after. Scientists had been trying to grow cells outside the body for years, and when they tried to grow Henrietta’s, the cells kept growing and growing. They have been used ever since, in all kinds of medical tests and treatments. There are  billions of her cells all over the world. They are known as HeLa cells. The first doctors never got consent from her family to harvest the tissue from her body. The Lacks family was African-American, and never compensated. Racism was part of the story. There were good people acting badly all over the story.

In the book, there is this story told. Dr. Alexis Carrel invented the heart bypass surgical technique ( I was saved by this in 2007 ). He won the Nobel Prize for this work in 1912 . He was the first to suture together a piece of human tissue and a chicken heart. People thought that this would lead to immortality for all people.  But Carrel did not want immortality for everyone. He wanted… ” to preserve what he saw as the superior white race , which he saw as being polluted by less intelligent and inferior stock, namely the poor, the uneducated and non-white… He would later praise Hitler for his energetic measures he took in that direction.” ( page 59 )

I think we are all infected with this thing called sin. We want to do good, but sometimes we just can’t stop ourselves from doing bad things. The sin of the brokennes gets in the way. Sometimes we say, ” the devil made me do it “, but I believe that is a sinful attitude in itself. We could go down the rabbit hole of theological conspiracy, and try to find where sin entered the world and our lives.  Paul is being so honest here about his own shortcomings or sin. We need to believe in the graciousness of God, so our sin will be smashed to smithereens, and we can get on with changing the world for the better.

GAZA.

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? 

MPL 2025

May 20 , 2025

Good afternoon,” There are moments, and it is only a matter of five or six seconds, when you feel the presence of the eternal harmony…a terrible thing is the frightful clearness with which it manifests itself and the rapture with which it fills you. If this state would last more than five seconds the soul could not endure it and would have to disappear. During these five seconds I live a whole existence, and for that I would give my whole life and not think I was paying too dearly. ”   Fyodor Dostoevsky  ( 1821-1881 ) One of my top ten books is Crime and Punishment, by Dostoevsky. It was one of the books that I read that I learned about and reflected on the sin in my life. The book is about a murder by Raskolnikov. Dostoevsky was a Russian writer who was a Christian, so it is not s a surprise that I learned about sin and salvation from him. He is a great storyteller, as well as a theologian. He continues to be read all over the world. Eugene Petersen ( who translated the Bible into the The Message ) read him as a devotional writer. Peterson would put an hour a week in his day book to be intentional about reading Dostoevsky in prayer.
Do you meet God in spurts of four, five or six seconds or do you have mountain top experiences last a day or two or longer ? Moses met God in a burning bush and on a mountain. Elijah met God not in the fire or in the wind or in a earthquake, but in the silence. The Old Testament says no one who has met God and has lived ! Jesus went away to be in silence with God. God met Jesus in the form of a dove. Jesus spoke to God while on the cross . Where have you met God, and was it in passing or was it a whole afternoon ? What was it like, and how do you describe it ?

” I know a man in Christ about fourteen years ago (whether he was in the body I cannot tell, or whether he was out of the body I cannot tell, God knows) who was taken up into the third heaven. And I know the same man (whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell, God knows), how he was taken up into Paradise and heard words not to be spoken which no man can utter. ”  Second Corinthians 12:2-4This is strange talk by Paul referring to himself in the third person. When we meet God, we talk about it personally. Why do you think he chose to write it in this way ? Is it too dangerous to talk about our experience with God ?
I hope and trust you meet or met God today, in Spirit and in Truth. Praying for Gaza . AMEN

Fred

black and white shadows

crush humanity’s freedom

am I complicit ? 

MPL 2025