Tag Archives: Faith

Advent 1 A: Holy Dissatisfaction

The readings for the First Sunday of Advent are: Old Testament      Isaiah 2:1–5 Psalm                    Psalm 122 New Testament     Romans 13:11–14 Gospel                   Matthew 24:36–44 In his 1843 book, Fear and Trembling, the Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, criticized … Continue reading

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Breakfast Guest

Breakfast at Heatherhope is a reward for completion of morning chores, prayer-of-thanks time for the long chain of harvest to truck to mill to truck again to middleman to grocery to cereal bowl…and a time for coffee brain and deep … Continue reading

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Epiphany 6 C: Rooted for Rough Relations

The lessons for the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany are… Old Testament      Jeremiah 17:5–10 Psalm                    Psalm 1 New Testament     1 Corinthians 15:12–20 Gospel                   Luke 6:17–26 Do you like the use of consonance—the three “Rs” in the … Continue reading

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Easter 3 B: Ambiguity and the Sense and Sensibility of Faith

The Readings for the Third Sunday of Easter are: First Reading         Acts 3:12–19 Psalm                    Psalm 4 New Testament     1 John 3:1–7 Gospel                   Luke 24:36b–48 Ambiguity drives us to distraction. We want black and white answers to … Continue reading

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The Household Power Structure Changes!

Pictured here are Connie, with Sméagol the cat, and Nell the sheepdog. I’m John, taking the photo. In the life of Heatherhope Farm, over the 18 years of its existence, Sméagol has run things inside the house. He meows like … Continue reading

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Good Shepherd Sunday

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is, famously, Good Shepherd Sunday. The Gospel reading for this Sunday is John 10.1-10.   I was asked to provide a video from our sheep farm that would give a little insight as to what … Continue reading

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Watching Dogs in the Cold—Musings on the Widow’s Mite

This past Thursday through Sunday (November 1-4), Connie and I hosted our latest dog clinic, with Gordon Watt presiding as trainer and teacher. I’m certain some people driving by on Airport Road on Sunday, spotted our little crowd of people, … Continue reading

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Say “No” To Fear

Remember those, “No Fear,” decals that young, tough men used to put on their pick-ups? Let’s bring them back and retool them to read, “No to fear.” Talking with friends lately it is obvious that there is a great sadness … Continue reading

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Evangelism as Deprogramming

    Last night was a night of inspiration. Six motivated laypeople and I were discussing what good doctrine might teach us about current practices in our congregations, and the conversation turned to evangelism. We returned to two ideas we … Continue reading

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Jim Smith, Julie Cork, and Real Faith

A 26 year-old hipster comedian held forth on Comedy Central a couple of weeks ago. My wife and I laughed at him for a few minutes as he did his impressions of drunk young women and his friend who acted … Continue reading

Posted in Border Collies, Church, Faith, Farm Diary, Featured, John's Posts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments