Initial Thoughts
Epiphany 3
January 22, 2012

Initial Thoughts
by David von Schlichten

Jonah: Who are our Ninevites? The Taliban? Terrorists? Al-Qaeda? A family member from whom we are estranged? How do we preach to such people without allowing ourselves to be harmed by them? How do we show mercy to people who want to blow us up?

Psalm 62: "God has spoken once; twice I have heard it." What does it mean to hear God twice? Is this line just a poetic way of emphasizing receptivity to God, or can one truly hear twice?

1 Corinthians 7:29-31: If you are married, act as if you are not, and so on. This passage is calling for urgency because "the present form of this world is passing away." But is it? We have been saying forever that the world is ending, but we are still here.

Or does "passing away" mean something different? In what ways does the present form of this world pass away, if not eschatologically? Or is the world passing away eschatologically? Are we always in the last days?

Mark 1: Drop your nets; follow Christ. What nets are we holding, and how do we drop them? How do we drop everything while still honoring our responsibilities to family, career, and so forth? When do we have to leave family, career, and so forth?

(from www.goodpreacher.com/blog/)