Living Stones.

"and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house." 1 Peter 2:4 (NRSV)

We are the living stones of God's House.

And so, even if there is no church, no building, God's house will still exist in us.

[Scripture quotations (marked NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.  All rights reserved.]

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The Antidote.

Life.

Light.

Love.

Good.

Virtue.

Truth.

Honesty.

Non-Violence.

The Lamb.

Angels.

Heaven.

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Evil.

Death.

Darkness.

Hate.

Sin.

Vice.

Lies.

Corruption.

Violence.

The Beast.

The Devil.

 

Hell.

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Resurrection!

Three days after he was crucified Jesus was resurrected!

And this gives us hope that there is life after death.

Death is not the end.

Our souls are resurrected in spirit.

And we return to our maker.

To be enclosed in the Love of God.

That is Heaven.

Amen.

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Holy Week.

While I was home this Holy Week I looked up the activities of Jesus in that first Holy Week.

I was surprised by how different the Gospels were on the subject.

The three Synoptic Gospels have in common the cleansing of the Temple and the Parable of the Wicked Tenants.

Mark, the first Gospel written, has Jesus questioned by the Pharisees as they attempt to catch him out.  This is followed by some prophesies.

Matthew, written next, has a virulent confrontation with the Pharisees and predictions of dire judgement.

Luke omits the cursing of the fig tree, and concentrates on predictions for the future.

The Gospel of John has Jesus rejected by the people and records Jesus' esoteric teachings to his disciples: the New Commandment, the Way to the Father, and the True Vine.

And so the individual character of each Gospel is revealed.

We are at liberty to make of this what we will.

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(The image has been slightly modified.)

Christ Crucified.

The alliance between fundamentalist religion and multi-national corporations in our world is the equivalent of the alliance between the Romans and the Jewish religious authorities in Jesus' time.

And it was they who crucified Jesus.

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God is Real.

God is Real.

His Face is Mercy.

And His Heart is Love.

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