Letters On The Page

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer 24th Sunday after Pentecost    Deuteronomy 6:1-9  Hebrews 9:11-22  Mark 12:28-37   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. Jesus says to the scribe, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” This scribe that Jesus speaks to has just agreed with him about what is the most important commandment out of the 613 commandments that God gave to Moses.  When Jesus answered the question he began with the Shema, the Jewish confession of faith that is found in our first reading.  In the confession, “The Lord is One,” God reveals that there is only one God. There are no others. Unlike the pantheon of gods in Egypt, Caanan, Greece, and Rome.  After the confession that the Lord is one, Jesus says the first commandment. The confession of the Lord God as One and the first commandment demand complete obedience to God. The Lord demands complete devotion through all the love we ca

  Holly Ordway.  Not God’s Type: An Atheist Academic Lays Down Her Arms . Moody Press, Chicago, 2010. Ignatius Press, San Francisco. 2014.  Inside the book jacket, the following statement is in bold letters at the top of the book description: This is the story of a glorious defeat. Indeed. Ordway chronicles God’s glorious defeat of her fervent atheism. And, because God has a marvelous sense of humor, he uses the most unlikely of people to bring the Gospel to her in a way that disarms her and allows the Word of God, that two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), to pierce her heart and mind and bring her to faith in Christ. The defeat took a long time. God’s chosen instrument of communication was Josh, Ordway’s fencing coach. He spoke to her in an intellectual language that she could understand. He exhibited patience and discipline in dealing with Ordway. Not only in fencing, which she readily concedes that she needed, but also during their discussions of the Christian faith. He let her ask quest