Third Sunday of Lent

John 4:5-42 Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her,

Seventh Sunday After Epiphany

Matthew 5:38-48 Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your

Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

Matthew 5:13-20 Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.

Fourth Sunday After Epiphany

Matthew 5:1-12 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. “Blessed

We Are Not So Different

Luke 18:9-14 Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, `God, I thank you that I am not

Great Love; Great Faith

  Luke 7.36-50 Despite the similarities of this story with similar stories in the other Gospels about Jesus being anointed by a woman, this one is unique to Luke. Not only does it appear in a far different place in the narrative, but it serves a vastly different function. It once again highlights the idea

Kingdom Greatness

Mark 10.35-45 James and John come to Jesus and want to sit on his right and left in glory. Jesus tells them it is not his to grant. Jesus doesn’t rebuke them, just tells them those places have already been prepared. The story gets interesting when the other ten disciples heard about what James and

What Has Really Changed

Matthew 11.1-6 Well, we’re back from our trip. It was good to visit friends and family, even though it was a fairly short trip. It was really fun to have our grandbaby for a couple of days on our trip up to Victoria for my half marathon. It was all too quick. But we’re back

The Gift

This week was an easy week. Mostly short runs; twelve miles on Sunday. Got a couple of good rides in as well. All in all, a nice recovery. I’m ready for one more long week, one more final push before the race. But that is only part of this past week’s story. I did get

Long Runs, Love, and My Unfulfilled Self

Week 11 of the training plan is finished. It was a 50 miles week. Sunday’s long run was 20 miles. I have never run that far in my life. It actually felt pretty good. Last week’s 19 miles killed me. This week I was tired (it was 20 miles), but also felt strong the whole