See show notes at http://www.reallifespirituality.com/

I talk about how Jesus' friends can assist us overcome our challenges. Music is from http://www.magnatune.com/ It is Cheryl Ann Fulton playing The Rising of the Lark. Running Time: 12:10

Caitlin was my Seeing Eye dog. Today would have been her fourteenth birthday.

Running Time: 29:36  Size: 20.33mb

I talk about drawing as a way to explore our relationship with God. I reference Fingerpainting on the Moon: Writing and Creativity As a Path to Freedom by Peter Levitt

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I ramble on about formulating your faith journey and share with you some of my experiences.

Text: 1 Peter 3:15-16

Texts: Mark 16:19-20; Luke 24:50-53

I also reference Acts 1:9-11

I combine reflection on Ascension and Memorial Day.

Running Time:18:40  Size: 17MB

Text: Acts 8:26-40

God shows no partiality.

Running Time: 20:38  Size: 20.4MB

Text: Acts 4:32-35

For information on Roberta C. Bondi's On the Flint River, see

my web page at http://www.RealLifeSpirituality.com for a book review or to purchase it.
The resurrection is a journey from death to life. Gratitude can be our response to this gift from God.
Running Time: 18:33  Size: 16.9 MB

Night on the Flint River: Accidental Journey in Knowing God

By Roberta C. Bondi

Copyright © 1999 by Abingdon Press

ISBN 0-687-02455-2 (alk. paper)

Press

A good read.

Running Time: 8:47  Size:8.1 MB

Biblical Text: Mark 16:7

Jesus is:

• going ahead of you
• to Galilee
• You will see him there
• Just as he told you

This provides a framework for thinking of our lives. There is both comfort and challenge here. Because of the Resurrection, there are new possibilities. We often find them wrapped in what we have already known.

Running Time: 12:07  Size:11 MB

Here is my Maundy Thursday message.
Biblical Text: Mark 14:10-25
For more info about the Gospel of Judas see my web site http://www.RealLifeSpirituality.com/
Jesus is both flesh-and-blood and dvine. By remembering that the story of Jesus' death retold in the story of the Last Supper, we call upon God to act afresh in our flesh-and-blood lives to free us from all kinds of enslavement: physical, emotional, spiritual.
Running Time: 19:08  Size: 17.5 MB

Some off the cuff remarks on the unveiling of this document.  Running Time: 12:03 Size: 11.0MB

 

Text: Mark 6:30-46

1. Ministry is public.

2. In the story “Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand,� we have the shape of our worship service with Communion.

3.1 Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand is like Israel in the desert when God provided their food.

3.2 Eating this meal gathered around Jesus reminds us of when God gathered the people at Mt. Sinai.

4. The Church’s Meal is a dress rehearsal for the End Time Banquet.

5. After the Meal, Jesus sends you out into the world.

As Church, capital C, we are the Community, capital C, gathered around Jesus. Jesus feeds us with the Word, capital W, and with the Meal, capital M.

Running time: 27:03 Size: 24.76MB

Spiritual guides are not exempt from spiritual hunger. I reflect on my own recent encounter, comparing and contrasting it with physical weight management.

For me, spiritual hunger has two sources:

1. It comes from my own disconnect from God.
2. God keeps me hungry enough to want to do God's will to satisfy my hunger.

I share what I have learned to do to satisfy my spiritual hunger.

For online Bibles, check out Bible Gateway.com

Running Time: 27:45 Size: 25.3MB

Texts: Mark 1:16-18; Psalm 102

I reference John 4:1 and Matthew 5:13

For my discussion on salt and contemplative prayer, see On Salt: Some Preliminary Thoughts on Prayer and Study which I posted on February 13, 2006. Use the calendar on and click first on February and then on 13.

To read the entire text of The Second Coming go to

A very personal message about my prayer life today. Jesus told Peter and Andrew he would teach them to fish for people. I compare this saying with a falconer training a falcon for the hunt. To be an effective hunter, the falconer must keep the falcon hungry. Is the same true for Christians?

Running time: 24:14 Size: 22.1MB

Texts: Psalm 6 and 1 Corinthians 4

I reference Sandra Schneider's The Revelatory Text: Interpreting the New Testament as Sacred Text and Harry Emerson Fosdick's hymn "God of Grace and God of Glory"

Evangel means good message. It's not a particular kind of Christian, moral outlook or political persuasion. We all can be evangelical, sharing the message about Jesus Christ.

God's evangel is for us to share. It's our wisdom, our power. Our own wisdom and power--or the lack of it-- is unimportant.

I reflect on why I attend worship:

• I made a commitment to attend.
• The friends of Jesus are present.
• Jesus is present in our midst.
• We uphold each other by our presence.

The plural refers to the text. Paul is using the plural you (old-fashioned ye) to say that God lives in the Corinthian church.

If I was southern, I could say y'all and not sound funny!

Texts for this message: Psalm 32 and 1 Corinthians 3.

Lent is an opportunity to become teachable. With a teachable spirit, we will come to know God in our midst, Jesus as the foundation of the church and we will recognize God's spirit in all the other churches, too.

I reflect on a contemporary worship gathering I attended in Lent.

I read from Mark 1:29-45.

Having a teachable spirit is an aspect of my pastoral leadership.

I was taught that to end my separation from God, Jesus gave up his freedom of movement to be nailed to the cross.

Welcome to Lent.

I introduce you to Lent, redefine sin and repentance so you can get started. God's mercy is the source of the new life we are seeking. I also read psalm 51 and an original poem.

No message this week.

Instead, I share a reading from Luke 9:28-36 and one of my poems.

Biblical Texts: Psalm 33; Isaiah 43:18-19; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

We have an opportunity to do a new thing because God chooses us to do it.

I'm Merrill Louise, pastor of the Judson Fellowship: An American Baptist Church. I graduated from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1999 with a Masters of Divinity. After serving a number of churches as vacancy pastor, pastoral assistant and supply preacher, I accepted a call and began serving The Judson Fellowship in Jamestown, New York on June 1, 2004. I was ordained to the Christian Ministry of the Gospel on April 10, 2005.

As pastor, I take seriously the exhortation in Ephesians 4:11-13 to prepare God's people for Christ's service. I practice pastoral leadership in five ways:

1. I preach the Word of God.

2. I lead public worship.

3. I pray out loud in public worship on behalf of God's people.

4. I lead conversations through my own vulnerability, my own questions and doubts, my own wrestling with the Word and with what God would have me do.

5. As a pastor, I am called to invite all people into a deeper relationship with God.

I'm Merrill Louise, pastor of the Judson Fellowship: An American Baptist Church.

• I graduated from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1999 with a Masters of Divinity.
• After serving a number of churches as vacancy pastor, pastoral assistant and supply preacher, I accepted a call and began serving The Judson Fellowship in Jamestown, New York on June 1, 2004.
• I was ordained to the Christian Ministry of the Gospel on April 10, 2005.

As pastor, I take seriously the exhortation in Ephesians 4:11-13 to prepare God's people for Christ's service. I practice pastoral leadership in five ways:

1. I preach the Word of God.
2. I lead public worship.
3. I pray out loud in public worship on behalf of God's people.
4. I lead conversations through my own vulnerability, my own questions and doubts, my own wrestling with the Word and with what God would have me do.
5. As a pastor, I am called to invite all people into a deeper relationship with God.