Colossians

Colossians 3:13: Bearing With One Another as a Lenten Discipline

4 Comments / Colossians, Current Events, Lent, Spiritual Disciplines, Uncategorized / By /

A Facebook friend was fretting a bit that she had not yet decided what to give up for Lent. She brings up an interesting question. As a born and raised Catholic, my family of origin refrained from eating meat on Fridays. Nowadays, such a discipline is a daily and year-round practice among vegetarians, robbing the deprivation of its spiritual meaning. But being the consumer society we are, chances are pretty good that we are all eating, drinking, injecting, or inhaling something that threatens to get the upper hand in our lives. Something in this category would be a sharper focus […]

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Colossians 3:12: Chosen, Holy and Beloved

6 Comments / Church, Colossians, Current Events, The Church in Exile, Uncategorized / By /

Finally I come ‘round again to the letter of Paul to the Colossians. I left off ten days ago with a general reflection on the idea that we are to clothe ourselves in Christ and his character. This week, I would like to use Paul’s list of admonitions as a springboard for discussion of the sorts of changes you anticipate Jesus might accomplish in you in today’s world. We’ll take this verse by verse through Colossians 3:17. Though it may seem like a thought coming from left field, I start by expressing my outrage at the anti-Semitism that is rising

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Set Your Minds on Things That Are Above

6 Comments / Colossians, Personal, The Pastoral Call / By /

Hello friends, just a quick check-in today . . . in the last ten days I have seen a theatrical presentation of C. S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce; traveled to Decatur, GA, where our covenant group memorialized Steve Hayner; underwent medical testing to investigate my vocal trouble; camped near the ocean in glorious weather;  and otherwise got a lot of mental and spiritual space. My head and heart are so full of these events and their lessons, I need an extra day to sort it. I will say this much: God continues to clarify my call and give me a

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Colossians 3:9b–13: Time for a New Wardrobe

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In the forty-five years since I gave my life to Christ, there have been many opportunities to recognize the complete transformation in my personality, priorities, and practices. Even by age 17, my life was on a trajectory of crippling anxiety, perfectionism, and isolation. If God had not pursued me and got hold of my heart, there is no telling how I might have turned out permanently. But catching me when he did, God began to remake me and reorient me towards him and towards my neighbor. The fact that this transformation started so long ago in no way diminishes my

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Colossians 3:5–11: “You Are Dead to Me”

1 Comment / Church, Colossians, Theological Reflection / By /

A few months ago, Andy and I spent the day with a group of singers who are going on tour in June and willing to take on a couple of oldsters as ringers. At the end of a very hard-working day, we gathered at a home for dinner. The banter and cultural references were beyond me half the time; it was the sort of party that makes you say, “I really should get out more.” Anyway, at some point during the festivities, one young woman said to someone who had been teasing, “Zorba, you are dead to me.” At the

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Colossians 3:1-4: We Get to Choose the Focus of Our Thoughts

2 Comments / Church, Citizenship, Colossians, Current Events, Death & Dying, PCUSA, People, Personal / By /

Last Saturday, my covenant group friend Steve Hayner died in the Lord. As his wife Sharol put it, his life was swallowed up in LIFE. I along with thousands of readers of his CaringBridge site, colleagues there at Columbia Seminary, and family and friends whose lives he touched in decades’ time, were aware that his homegoing was imminent. He was sick only about ten months, from diagnosis of his pancreatic cancer to the end of his life on earth. Occasionally he would share what was on his heart and mind as this process took its turns and twists. We all

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Colossians 2:16–23: You’re Not Good Enough Unless You __________

2 Comments / Church, Colossians, Food, PCUSA, Personal, Spiritual Disciplines, The Church in Exile / By /

After a sugar fast during the month of January and a rather decadent self-indulgence on Super Bowl Sunday, today began my annual discipline of calorie cutting. I have had a life-long preoccupation with food, which I do not consider a virtue but more a matter of childhood conditioning. As Erma Bombeck wrote once, “I am not a glutton; I am an explorer of food.” No, honestly, I really am a glutton and I am not proud of it and pray regularly for deliverance from this one of the seven deadly sins. In the meantime, I am vulnerable to the promises

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Colossians 2:11–15: Trust in Christ Is Completely Warranted

6 Comments / Colossians, Current Events, Theological Reflection / By /

My family and I have survived the white-knuckle viewing of yesterday’s Super Bowl game. You can guess, we were cheering for the Seahawks. Boo-hoo. It was a joy to watch, though, because the contest was close and the teams were a challenging match for each other. It also seemed to this rank amateur to be a clean game, with relatively few flags. Both teams racked up amazing accomplishments, and after the last two weeks I am actually glad for MVP Tom Brady’s victory. Well played. But football is football. It is a game, played according to detailed rules. While on

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Colossians 2:8–10: Just One Word

4 Comments / Church, Colossians, It All Started in the Garden, Teaching, The Church in Exile, Uncategorized / By /

Many years ago I saw a regional theater production of the Stephen Schwartz musical Children of Eden. A theatric rendition of the first few chapters of Genesis is certainly enough to bring me out on a Friday night! It was a fascinating interpretation of Eden, Adam and Eve, the snake, and the tragic human choice to sin against God’s will. What I remember most vividly is the form the temptation took: The Garden on stage was fenced off around the edges, defining its parameters and focusing attention on God’s realm. But soon the snake starts talking to Eve, and introduces

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It Takes a Village to Steer a Blog

2 Comments / Colossians, Personal / By /

I am so grateful to my readers and friends for concrete and helpful feedback about this Colossians study. We will resume the study in Chapter 2 tomorrow. In the meantime, I’d like to reflect a bit on this blogging thing with thoughts sparked by your comments. I came to realize that the blog genre is distinct for both writers and readers, who have different expectations. For the writer, blogging is an activity different from curriculum development and book writing. If I were to write a small group curriculum on Colossians, I would present the material quite differently so it could

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