Archive for March 2019

March 21, 2019 DAILY READING Revelation 2:8-11This weekend’s reading: Mark 14:66-72 FIELD NOTES It seems almost like Divine intervention that many congregations are discerning responses to the UMC Special Called General Conference during Lent, a time often spent in prayer and discernment. General Conference wasn’t the prettiest showing of the church. It revealed how divided and…

March 20, 2019 DAILY READING 2 Chronicles 20:1-23This weekend’s reading: Mark 14:66-72 FIELD NOTES Did you notice in today’s passage in 2 Chronicles that Jehoshaphat, the ruler of the Jews in Judah, called a nation-wide fast as a means for the Jews to prepare their hearts to hear from God?  Fasting was and is a spiritual…

March 19, 2019 DAILY READING 1 Corinthians 10:1-13This weekend’s reading: Mark 14:66-72 FIELD NOTES Like yesterday’s reading, this passage in 1 Corinthians is a reminder that doing religious things like baptism and partaking in communion as if they are a checklist for salvation is not the faith Jesus calls for.  I don’t know if you can relate,…

March 18, 2019 DAILY READING Romans 4:1-2This weekend’s reading: Mark 14:66-72 FIELD NOTES In verses 6-8 of today’s reading in Romans, God’s blessing belongs not to those who perfectly obey the law, but to those who in faith accept God’s free gift of forgiveness and grace. This Lenten season, I have been seeking a path of…

March 16, 2019 DAILY READING 1 John 2:1-6This weekend’s reading: Mark 14:43-52 FIELD NOTESTish Harrison Warren has written a delightful book, Liturgy of the Ordinary, in which she invites us to experience sacramental moments throughout our day. Warren reminds us that there is no real separation between secular and sacred…life is a wholeness not to be…

March 15, 2019 DAILY READING 1 John 2:1-6This weekend’s reading: Mark 14:43-52 FIELD NOTES“There are two enormously encouraging truths for us to remember,” [Bishop] Job said. “One, God is with us. God continues to woo us, seek us out, love us, speak to us, enable us and lead us into the future. Second, it has been…

March 14, 2019 DAILY READING 1 John 2:1-6This weekend’s reading: Mark 14:43-52 FIELD NOTES Following these three simple rules; do no harm, do good, and staying in love “…is not what many of us have been doing, so to adopt this way is a radical shift in our lifestyle…It is a radical departure from our regular…

March 13, 2019 DAILY READING 1 John 2:1-6This weekend’s reading: Mark 14:43-52 FIELD NOTESNow that we have quieted our ways of doing harm [a bit tongue in cheek, no pun intended], let’s consider a life focused on doing good.  Wesley says,  “Do all the good you can; By all the means you can; In all the…

March 12, 2019 DAILY READING 1 John 2:1-6This weekend’s reading: Mark 14:43-52 FIELD NOTESDo No Harm. It is simple, uncomplicated. Even a child can understand what it means, and it is applicable to everyone at every stage of life.” [Rueben Job, Three Simple Rules, p.21] And, of course, we do not start the day with a…