But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

INTRO: Thinking about tonight’s talk has been bugging me all week
If I had to identify a reason why . . .
 – probably because I think of love as other-centered
 – and love isn’t lazy
So I come up against my own self-centeredness and laziness
 – in all sincerity, I wish I could just say, “Follow Barbara for a week”
– you would see care for others and selfless service in action Continue reading →

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 
1 Corinthians 13:8-12 

INTRO: Documentary, “Lord, Save Us From Your Followers” – interviews with average North Americans
What became painfully obvious: 

1. No one wants to listen to Christians–that is, their condemnation, dogma, and arguments
2. People are deeply impressed by acts of love and kindness Continue reading →

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

INTRO: Those of us who started Reflexion were drawn together by a shared vision and passion

• Vision: That “spiritual journey” is a useful analogy to describe our life in Jesus
• Passon: Our desire to make continued progress in this journey, to move deeper into God and travel further in fulfilling his will Continue reading →

If I speak with tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 

INTRO: I was thinking about Christian fundamentalism a few days ago 

• It occurred to me that the pioneers got it wrong
  The fundamentals they emphasized were beliefs (doctrines)
   – but those are not what is fundamental to the Christian life Continue reading →

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18  

INTRO: In the rough grammar and elusive logic of Paul’s letters, we sometimes miss his other literary gifts
For example, here in 2 Corinthians, Paul develops his theme by loading chapters 3-5 with polarities
 – he demonstrates the way Christians are pulled in two directions
 – it is in this context they need to understand his calling, credentials, and service to them Continue reading →

Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” Mark 5:29-30

INTRO: What I want to do with this story is to:

1. Go through it once and point out what we typically look for
2. Then go back to it and focus on what we would typically overlook Continue reading →

I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. John 10:14-16  

INTRO: Do you know anything about caring for sheep? Continue reading →

The Phraisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away. Matthew 16:1-4 Continue reading →

Luke 19:1-10  

[And, behold,] He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; [and] he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. [And] Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. [And] he ran on ahead, climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. Continue reading →

Ezekiel 33:10-11

Now as for you Son of man, say to the house of Israel, “Thus you have spoken, saying, ‘Surely our transgresions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how then can we survive?’ Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn form his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?'”

INTRO: I always get frustrated when reading the few chapters of 1 Kings Continue reading →