by Bishop Bill Gohl
When love has flow'red in trust and care,
build both each day that love may dare
to reach beyond home's warmth and light,
to serve and strive for truth and right.
by Bishop Bill GohlIf we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – I John 1:9 These words of Brian Wren's lilting hymn, When Love is Found, have been reverberating in my mind over the last days:
When love has flow'red in trust and care, build both each day that love may dare to reach beyond home's warmth and light, to serve and strive for truth and right.
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by Bishop Bill GohlGod said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh…" – Genesis 9:12-15a Peter Rollins, a contemporary theologian, tells this story: It's Sunday evening and the local pastor is at home reading. One of her parishioners knocks on the door. She opens the door. Sweating, panting; it’s obvious that he ran all the way to the parsonage. Tearfully, he says, "Listen there is a family that lives just down the road. The guy lost his job, she is looking after three kids, their mother stays with them. They don't have enough money for their rent. They've got no money at the moment. And they're going to get kicked out of the house. Even if they are one day late on their rent, they are just going to get kicked out on the street. It's the middle of winter. We've got to do something. Please, let's do something." So the pastor says, "Yes, we will go and we will collect some money – fast." Just in passing she says, "Oh and how do you know them?" And he says, "Oh, well, I'm their landlord."
by Bishop Bill Gohl"Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you." – Philippians 4:9, NRSV When I tell my call story, I often trace my faith journey through my mother. My mom patiently taught me the catechism when I feared flunking out of confirmation class, she was a Sunday School teacher and Vacation Bible School leader, she was the one who reminded us by her own example that being a part of the church was more than a Sunday morning commitment. I learned the faith, our faith, at the feet of my mother.
During Black History Month, I’ve been thinking about the African descent leaders at whose feet I have also learned the faith of the church. by Bishop Bill Gohl"Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing." – Joel 2:12-13 Valentine's Day, which this year the church observes as Ash Wednesday and the ensuing forty days of Lenten preparation often bring with them a lot of bad childhood baggage (my Mom's side of the family is Roman Catholic and there are some definite ideas about Lenten denial and discipline from that side of the house!); as well as a true invitation to wholeness and renewal. Still, Lent is not about making us good after a year of bad behavior, not about adding or taking away some spiritual or dietary discipline in order to make us healthier or more worthy of salvation. It is not even really about journeying with Jesus into the wilderness. Indeed, Lent is about a journey, our own journey with God, a journey towards the very heart of God. The disciplines of this journey are spiritual tools helping us to remove the distractions which draw us from the love of God.
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