Clothe yourself with Love Col. 3:14

  THU Evening Prayer Reflection 021121 (2 Timothy 2:14-26) “Remind them of this, and warn them before God* that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth. Avoid profane chatter, for it will lead people into more and more impiety, and their talk will spread like gangrene . Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth by claiming that the resurrection has already taken place. They are upsetting the faith of some. But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this inscription: ‘ The Lord knows those who are his ’, and, ‘ Let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness .’   In a large house there are utensils not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for special use, some for ordinary. All who cleanse themselves of the...

  WED Evening Prayer Reflection 021021 (Mark 10: 13-16) “ People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them .” Mark 10: 13-16. I am fascinated by the way Jesus talks about the little ones. In this particular passage in Mark 10, Jesus is indeed talking about real children, the little ones literally but then he says that we should receive the Kingdom of God like a little child. There is something so innocent about children. They accept easily, and I think they can teach us a lot about faith. For example, children have confidence that anytime their parents can defeat...

  FRI Reflection 020521 (The Journey Of The Upright: The Case Of Cornelius) All that we know of Cornelius is contained in the Book of Acts (chapters 10 and 11). A centurion was a Roman army officer, theoretically in charge of a hundred men. Several centurions are mentioned in the New Testament (Matt 8:5 = Luke 7:2; Matt 27:54 = Luke 23:47; Acts 10:1; 22:25; 23:17,23; 22:23; 27:1), and they are consistently portrayed favorably.      Cornelius is called a God-fearer--that is to say, he was a monotheist, a Gentile who worshipped the One God. The Jews traditionally recognized that such Gentiles had a place in the Family of God, and they are mentioned along with the priests (House of Aaron), the Levites (House of Levi), and the Jews or Israelites (House of Israel) in Ps 115:9-13, Ps 118:2-4, and Ps 135:19-20. In New Testament times, an estimated ten per cent of the population of the Roman Empire consisted of God-fearers, Gentiles who recognized that the pagan b...