We Determine How Strictly We Are Judged
So much of our society trains us to focus on ourselves, on our rights, and to judge others as respecters or offenders of those rights. This past weekend, in Bend, some alleged social media posts from the shooter who took the life of two innocents revealed this to the extreme. Remembering wrongs others commit against […]
Preserving in Peace Thy Rulers and Cities
In preparing the hymnography for the next couple days’ services to celebrate the Church New Year on September 1st, the prayers for God’s blessing on the beginning of this next year immediately took my mind to the accursed events this past weekend here in Bend. It is perfect timing to be asking for God’s blessing […]
How to Pray after the Shooting in Bend
It is important that we pray, but hard to know what or how to pray, especially in such difficult circumstances. The following prayers are intended to give us a way to pray both for the peaceful repose of those who died, and also for those effected by this dreadful event. If you do not have […]
We Need Only a Mustard-Seed-Sized Faith
Jesus rebuked even his own disciples: Why could we not cast him out? His answer: Because of your unbelief. If the Apostles were unbelievers, who is a believer? Yet, Christ does not cast them out or reject them, but rebukes them to their benefit, that they might be nourished and perfected.
What Psalter Is in Your Prayer Book
I do not know who else out there struggles with this one, but wouldn’t it be a beautiful world to have the same version of the psalms used in our personal prayer books, as with the many psalms read in church, and as with the innumerable uses of psalms throughout the services? Such consistency would, […]