No. Jesus Was not Killed by the "Religious People"
Thinking Faith
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4y ago
The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God. John 5:15-18 I have seen many memes during Lent and Holy Week reminding us that Jesus was killed by the “religious people,” and I know that they are well inte ..read more
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Rev. Lowery's Benediction
Thinking Faith
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4y ago
Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery Delivering the Benediction at the Inauguration of President Barack ObamaLet justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream. Amos 5:24 When I started writing “Thinking Faith” in January of 2009, the first post I wrote was about the Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery’s benediction at the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Rev. Lowery’s death yesterday at the age of 98 called to mind his benediction and the reaction to it. Halford Luccock, who taught preaching at Yale Divinity School for many years once called the history of Methodist preachers an ..read more
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Greed Is Not Good: The Tragic Results of a FalseTheology
Thinking Faith
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4y ago
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory“No one can serve two masters; for a servant will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Matthew 6:24 One hundred and nine years ago yesterday, March 25, 1911, just a few minutes before closing time on a Saturday, a fire started, probably in a trash bin, at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, located on the eighth, ninth and tenth floors of a Manhattan factory building.   There were 146 victims in all, 129 of them women. Most were young immigrants. In a famous scene in the 1987 mov ..read more
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This Is What Exile Feels Like
Thinking Faith
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4y ago
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:28-31 After a week of posting pictures that put a happy face on “Sheltering in Place,” a frien ..read more
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United Methodist Schism and the Global Pandemic
Thinking Faith
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4y ago
God has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. II Corinthians 3:6 Sky McCracken has one of the best names ever. Obviously, he should have been an astronaut or an astronomer, but apparently he is a pastor. He is not an in-person acquaintance nor is he a virtual “friend,” but he is an online acauaintance and a colleague.  (Of course, I don’t really know that, but I believe it to be true.)  My sense is that we have markedly different theological perspectives, but I very much appreciate his thoughtful ..read more
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Cancelling Church
Thinking Faith
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4y ago
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Psalm 100:1-2 We have decided to cancel our worship services for the next two Sundays, March 15 and March 22. We will decide later what happens after that. Public health leaders are telling us that we are on the cusp of a dramatic increase in the spread of COVID-19. Although the virus is new, we do know several things about it: It is easily transmitted.  The number of cases has been growing exponentially. People can have the virus and be contagious long before they s ..read more
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Was Mary a Virgin? Does It Matter?
Thinking Faith
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5y ago
Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. Luke 1:34-35 A Facebook friend posted a column by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof titled, “Was Mary a Virgin? Does It Matter?” In the column, Kristof reports a question and answer session with the popular Evangelical writer Philip Yancey. We might argue about the first question, but there can be no doubt about the second. The answe ..read more
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Bob Cousy and the Medal of Freedom
Thinking Faith
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5y ago
 Bob Cousy chokes back tears as he speaks of his late wife Missy.  In spite of everything, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5 Ok, it’s a stretch to call it heartbreak. It’s not really suffering. But it is painful just the same. And in spite of Paul’s promise it is hard for me to see how this leads to hope. Although I will keep looking. I know ..read more
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This Is What Fascism Looks Like
Thinking Faith
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5y ago
The crowd chants "Send her back!" at a rally on Wednesday nightWoe to you who call evil good and good evil,  who put darkness for light and light for darkness,  who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20 In his speech at the opening of the National Museum of African American History in 2016, former President George W. Bush said, "A great nation does not hide its history. It faces its flaws, and corrects them."  "This museum tells the truth,” he observed, “that a country founded on the promise of liberty held millions in chains, that the price of our union was America's origin ..read more
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Casting the Vision
Thinking Faith
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5y ago
I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; I will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint.  Then the LORD answered me and said:  Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie.  If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. Habakkuk 2:1-3 Several years ago in a sermon at Annual Conference the late Bishop Dale White talked about the lonely task of the pastor, whose job it is to ..read more
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