Revised Common Lectionary Page for 18 December 2011 (Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year B) 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16  • Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26   • Romans 16:25-27   • Luke 1:26-38 Once again, I’ll be preaching this text…

Revised Common Lectionary Page for 11 December 2011 (Third Sunday of Advent, Year B) Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11  •  Psalm 126 or Luke 1:46b-55  •  1 Thessalonians 5:16-24   •  John 1:6-8, 19-28   If the small number of history…

Revised Common Lectionary Page for 4 December 2011 (Second Sunday of Advent, Year B) Isaiah 40:1-11  •  Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13  •  2 Peter 3:8-15a   •  Mark 1:1-8 Over the years, since I discovered in 1996 that…

Revised Common Lectionary Readings for 27 November 2011 (First Sunday of Advent, Year B) Isaiah 64:1-9  • Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19  • 1 Corinthians 1:3-9  • Mark 13:24-37 The new Church year is upon…

Revised Common Lectionary Page for 20 November 2011 (23rd Sunday after Pentecost, Year A) Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 and Psalm 100  • Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 and Psalm 95:1-7a  • Ephesians 1:15-23  • Matthew 25:31-46…

General Introduction – Welcome to November, from October – Michial’s one-man war on portmanteaux – Buy our mugs! (I mean energy, not internet—we record early in the morning) – Listener…

Revised Common Lectionary Page for 6 November 2011 (21st Sunday after Pentecost, Year A) Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 and Psalm 78:1-7  •  Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16 or Amos 5:18-24 andWisdom of Solomon 6:17-20 or Psalm 70  •  1 Thessalonians 4:13-18  •  Matthew 25:1-13 I…

Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to Our Faith by Matthew Lee Anderson 231 pp. $14.99.  Bethany House. The preface to Matthew Anderson’s book is subtitled, “In Which I Clear…

Revised Common Lectionary Page for 30 October 2011 (20th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A) Joshua 3:7-17 and Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37  • Micah 3:5-12 and Psalm 43  • 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13  • Matthew 23:1-12…

    Revised Common Lectionary Page for 23 October 2011 (19th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A) Deuteronomy 34:1-12 and Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17  •  Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18 and Psalm 1  •  1 Thessalonians 2:1-8  •  Matthew 22:34-46   Perhaps teaching Dostoevsky…

Revised Common Lectionary Page for 16 October 2011 (18th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A) Exodus 33:12-23 and Psalm 99  • Isaiah 45:1-7 and Psalm 96:1-9, (10-13)  • 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10  • Matthew 22:15-22   To say that the Old Testament…

Here’s a question for our readers: in your experiences in congregational and college settings, how have your teachers handled the variant endings of the book of Mark?  (Or were you…

Think by John Piper, free on christianaudio I know I’ve heard buzz about John Piper (some good and some bad), but I’ve not actually read him, so this offer interests…

Exodus 32:1-14 and Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23  • Isaiah 25:1-9 and Psalm 23  • Philippians 4:1-9  • Matthew 22:1-14 I love when my favorite texts come up in the lectionary rotation, largely because they…

The Devil Wears Nada: Satan Exposed! by Tripp York 164 pp.  Cascade Books, $19.00   I’ve said and written this before, and I still believe it’s true: if you want…