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The Land Between

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I've been reading a really good book lately called "The Land Between."  It tells the story of the Israelites in the desert as they are between Egypt and the promised land.  Over and over again they long to be back in Egypt where they had food and were comfortable, even though they were slaves.  They complain, gripe, and lash out to Moses and God.  But, they are also on a path toward the promised land.  A land flowing with milk and honey and God's blessings.  They are in this strange in between place. I can relate so much to this analogy.  I miss 2019 and life before Covid.  I've complained a lot to God about how my church and job have changed overnight.  I hate social distancing and not being able to see people's faces because of masks.  Church is so different.  And we're not out of the woods yet, we're not through this pandemic thing.  We haven't reached the promised land of the "new normal."  For the Israelites, God used...
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The Most Common Command in the Bible

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 I was surprised recently to learn what the most common command is in the Bible.  Go ahead and guess what it is.  My first guess was: worship God.  Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second greatest is to love our neighbor as ourselves.  But this is actually not the most repeated command in Scripture. The most common, most repeated, command in the Bible is "Do not be Afraid."  As someone who has struggled with anxiety recently this really struck me.  A lot of my anxiety comes from a fear of not being able to control the future.  What if this happens... What if that happens... And what if it's my fault.  But God repeatedly throughout Scripture commands us to not be afraid. I've been working on some Christmas messages lately and you find this command to not be afraid even in the Christmas story.  Joseph, Zechariah, Mary, and the shepherds are all told "do not be afraid."  There is something about the Chris...
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Shame and Racism

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       I’m working this week on a sermon comparing guilt to shame.  Shame, as I’ve come to understand it has to do with who we are. Yes, we feel shame and are shamed by others, but shame is an identity. Whereas guilt is about something we’ve done.  Guilt has to do with being guilty over a crime or sin I’ve committed.       All of this has brought the issue of racism into my mind. Racism is about shame.  Racism attempts to take a person and identify them with negative stereotypes.  It becomes about who they are.        It may also have to do with guilt.  We make people feel guilty for their skin color.  We say “all such people do this.”  It also becomes an issue of what someone does, i.e. guilt.        Why? Why do we do this to other people? Why do we make someone feel bad for who they are?      I grew up in a majority white neighborhood and went to a majority...
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