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"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12) Now, even though it could feel like Jesus’ summary statement in Matthew 7:12 is the sort of thing you would find in All I Really Need to Know I Learned …
Continue reading "“In Everything”: the comprehensive call to love our neighbor"
When Adam and Eve turn from God and His will by choosing for themselves and their own will, they were in essence choosing to love themselves over God. Sin can be both the decision for and experience of disordered love. Saint Augustine, the 4th century Bishop of Hippo in present-day Algeria, described this reality when …
Continue reading "Sin’s Disruption and Disordered Love: Insights from St. Augustine"
Psalm 130 begins with praying to God from the depths. But midway through there comes a word about waiting: I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. (Psalm 130:5-6) We tend to think of waiting …
Continue reading "The Mercy of Waiting: learning to pray with Psalm 130"
The harvest is plentiful:the demon-possessed by the tombs in the Gadarenes,the paralytic lowered through the roof,the tax collector cast-offs like Matthew,the girl who died and her grieving parents,the woman with the twelve-year hemorrhage,the blind men looking for sight,the man with demonically-caused muteness,the crowds listening at the seaside,the unnamed afflicted and sick and hungry... The harvest …
Continue reading "The Harvest is Plentiful: a reflection on Matthew 9"
When looking at the life of Joseph in Genesis 40-41, I noticed some striking aspects about the timeline of Joseph's journey. Joseph was sold into slavery at 17 years of age according to Genesis 37:2. By the end of Genesis 41, Joseph is 30 years old (41:46). Two years pass between the end of chapter …
Continue reading "Five Elements of Waiting on God: insights from the life of Joseph"
Matthew Erickson 