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Sunday, February 26, 2012
Reaching Too High
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Genesis 11:1-9; Mark 1: 9-15 About ten years ago I participated in a workshop attempting to bridge the suspicions that Black and Latino communities often have of each other. Having been raised in an era when race was what divided people, I was surprised to hear both groups talk about language. Language, or the lack of communication between the groups, was the dividing line. Each group was totally convinced that the other was plotting against them and because Latinos spoke Spanish did not understand English and vice versa that trust became particularly difficult. But, then, as I thought about it, the comment made sense. I remembered my own parents wanting me to pretend not to hear so that I could communicate what hearing persons were saying because they were convinced that they were the targets of comment....
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AT: 02/26/2012 08:30:34 AM
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Sunday, February 05, 2012
Casting Out Demons
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Deuteronomy 32: 1-18; Mark 1:29-39 Perhaps one of the more recent powerful images of casting out a demon was the one in the film The Exorcist, when the old priest played by Max Von Sydow of Seventh Seal fame, casts out the demon which has taken over the body of a young girl played by Linda Blair. That scene featured at least one 360 degree turn of the head and Von Sydow being thrown across the room by the power of the demon leaving the child's body. This is definitely not the kind of image we have when we read of Jesus casting demons out of people. Although there is no exact equivalent of the word "demon" in Hebrew Scripture, the idea of evil spirits totally disembodied and having power over people seems to have been generally accepted by the time of Jesus. Early Christian writers used...
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AT: 02/05/2012 08:30:33 AM
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Sunday, July 31, 2011
Plenty and Want
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Isaiah 55: 1-13; Matthew 14: 13-21Well, it happened again. What I mean to say is that I did it again. It all started with a simple trip to Princeton with a fellow pastor who needed some time to talk about personal stuff. I heard myself saying, “You know, that there's a new translation of the Bible out – its at the Cokesbury store at Princeton. Let's check it out.” Books, though, are like tortilla chips – you don't eat just one, but, hopefully, you know when to stop. When we got to the Seminary bookstore, there it was – no, not just the new translation I wanted but my favorite two four letter words: Book sale! Seriously now, how can you resist this book or that if it's 60% off? The two of us went merrily through the sale racks, picking this one and then that one – to paraphrase Shakes...
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AT: 07/31/2011 08:30:03 AM
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Sunday, June 26, 2011
Punishments and Rewards
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Acts 5:1-11; Matthew 10:40-42 As the child of deaf parents, there were many words and phrases that I never heard, such as expletives. Whenever I heard a new word and used it in speech, I would gauge the reaction of people around me to figure out how it should be used. One summer when I had been sent south to Alabama, ostensibly for a vacation – my parents were the ones who had the vacation – I must have been around eight years old – my Aunt Ruby had taken me to Panama City, about two hours south of Dothan, the nearest excuse for a city to that God-forsaken place where my aunt lived. We had gone to see my Uncle Paul and his family. When around other adults, Uncle Paul swore like a sailor – he had been one in World War II and survived both Pearl Harbor and Guadacanal – and he swore. Well, I hear...
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AT: 06/26/2011 08:30:01 AM
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Sunday, August 22, 2010
Keeping the Commandments
by Rev. Joyce Antila Phipps
Texts: Psalm 71; Luke 13: 2-13In 1992 Circuit Judge Julius Swann from Etowah County Alabama died in office and Governor Roy Hunt was charged with selecting a judge to replace him until the next election. Alabama, like 37 other states in the Union, elect their judges, and although one may raise the question of judicial independence when judges are elected, that question is for another day. He selected Roy Moore, a fundamentalist Christian whose past included West Point, Army service in Vietnam, professional kickboxing, practicing law, and losing various election tries for D.A. and local judge. Judge Moore brought his wooden plaque of the Ten Commandments and hung them in his courtroom and thus ignited a controversy that is still not over. Sued by the ACLU for that practice, the stone sculpture of the Commandments ...
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AT: 08/22/2010 8:30:47 AM
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