There are lots of reports of the mainline church’s decline in recent decades. And there are actually new reports, about the decline of evangelical and conservative churches as well. But while the facts and figures may be grim, Presbyterian minister (PCUSA) and writer MaryAnn McKibben Dana...
Mark 16:5-6a
posted by DJL
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed.” Mark’s using a code. Or maybe it’d be better to call it a signal. It’s for us as much as for the women. To catch it,...
Holy Easter, Batman
posted by DJL
I honestly don’t think I’m sharing this to make fun of anyone but, to be frank, I can’t tell for sure. 🙂 I found the following advertisement so funny, and yet when I went to the church’s website (complete with promo video) I found their desire to retell the Easter...
Mark 16:1-4
posted by DJL
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the...
Daily Bread
posted by DJL
So here’s the deal: I started writing Lenten Devotions for two reasons. First, reading Lenten devotions, often around the supper table, was an important part of my faith formation growing up and I realize that fewer and fewer congregations are able to offer them to their folks. So I...
Seven Stanzas At Easter: A Poem for Sunday
posted by DJL
I’ve always had something of an ambivalent attitude towards John Updike. I’ve known his work for ages – he grew up in Shillington, PA, just a stone’s throw or so from where I grew up. He was raised a Lutheran, an upbringing that he seemed to struggle with as well as be marked by. I’ve loved his short stories as much as anything I’ve ever read, but sometimes been less than taken by even his celebrated novels. I don’t know why – perhaps they were too “earthy” for this kid. But it’s precisely the “earthiness” of “Seven Stanzas at Easter” that I love about...
Easter
posted by DJL
Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us a little child one of us, flesh and blood to share in our humanity For God so loved the world ALL: That all might have eternal life. Blest are you, Lord Jesus who came to us as carpenter and yet in whose creative hands a world was fashioned For God...
40. Mark 15:47
posted by DJL
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid. We began our devotions on the Passion of our Lord by noticing the dramatic note on which Mark begins his story, comparing it to the classic scary-story opening: “It was a dark and stormy night….” On this end of the...
Good Friday – What Does it Mean?
posted by DJL
When you think about it, it’s an incredibly odd name: Good Friday. This is, after all, the day on which Jesus was crucified, nailed to a wooden cross until he died. It is the day nearly two thousand years later on which we remember his suffering. It is the day we read the story of his trial, sentencing, crucifixion, and death. It is the day we hear of how all of his companions and friends either betrayed, denied, or abandoned him. How can this day be good? Because, we confess, that in and through Jesus’ life and death God acted in a unique way to save the world. For this reason, and for this reason only, do we make bold to call this...
39. Mark 15:42-46
posted by DJL
When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate...
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