tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:11:03 +0000May you see the face of Jesus in everyone you meet. And may everyone you meet see the face of Jesus in you.http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/powe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)Blogger1067125KevinGPowellhttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-3211103098172367849Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:09:00 +00002009-11-10T21:11:03.083-07:00Pentecost 23B from Good Shepherd on Vimeo.Text here:“The building is our idol,” our esteemed bishop said in his report at yesterday's Southern Conference Convention. “Some churches, if they had a choice,” he said, “would rather be without a pastor than a building.”I immediately knew what he was talking about. My first church was like that. They had been without a pastor for about two years beforehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/CV8X4eOmYXo/sermon-pentecost-23-year-b.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/11/sermon-pentecost-23-year-b.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-3966910970008628798Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:41:00 +00002009-10-25T17:42:45.301-06:00Let every person be subject to the governing authorities;” Paul says, “for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/8AeDRu4njoU/reformation-day-sermon.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)1http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/reformation-day-sermon.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-5173992920375805447Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:02:00 +00002009-10-20T00:02:00.726-06:00Romans 13: 11-14Paul thought the world was going to end soon. And Christians ever since have followed suit. It seems that every TV preacher likes to say that we’re living in the End Times, that Jesus’ return is going to happen before the next commercial. If we’re not careful, we’re warned that we may be “left behind.”So, we better watch what we do. We don’t want to be caught sleeping when the Dayhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/U0OGvkCKQY0/blogging-through-romans-romans-13-11-14.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-13-11-14.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-3515889532820039208Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:02:00 +00002009-10-19T12:02:00.751-06:00October 19 Romans 13: 8-10I had a friend in university who, although a Christian, had a visceral dislike for poor people, government, Bill Clinton, liberals, and secular music.When the Ontario Provincial government cut welfare payments by 22% before closing a major psychiatric hospital in Toronto, sending 1000s of people on to the street (literally), because, the government said that they needed http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/P5lUiJTodhE/blogging-through-romans-romans-13-8-10.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-13-8-10.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-7301531078471502513Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +00002009-10-17T01:00:03.532-06:00 Romans 13: 1-7“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for their is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God” (13: 1)How could Paul make such a stupidly naive statement? So, God put Hitler in charge of Germany? Stalin in the USSR. Pol Pot in Laos? And the Christian’s duty is to subject themselves to this authority?What happens http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/wz3sp7ISguY/blogging-through-romans-romans-13-1-7.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-13-1-7.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-1132018525756803066Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:00 +00002009-10-16T01:00:04.463-06:00Romans 12: 9-21Whoever said that faith was reasonable didn't read today's passage from Romans. While we find echoes of this passage in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel, chapters 5-7, we tend to throw this sort of message in the back seat. We don't keep it next to us as we navigate our daily encounters with others. In fact, if our Foreign Affairs Minister followed Paul's advice in http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/2JLAWUMEEr0/blogging-through-romans-romans-12-9-21.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-12-9-21.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-9201724665254733366Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:59:00 +00002009-10-14T01:59:00.599-06:00Romans 12: 1-8We often hear this passage as a stand-alone exhortation on Christian moral behaviour. But I think this section is a response to the last. The word “therefore” is a giveaway.It looks as if Paul is saying, “ALL of Israel will be saved. Those pesky Jewish folks who don’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah will find their way into covenant with God. So don’t think you’re any better than http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/MjU11B7Jwqs/blogging-through-romans-romans-12-1-8_14.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)1http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-12-1-8_14.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-2138127789502886721Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:55:00 +00002009-10-14T01:55:00.428-06:00Romans 11: 25-36Here Paul concludes, albeit a little condescendingly, that, yes, ALL of Israel will be saved. And God is only saving Israel because “the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (v. 29). Irrevocable for US and for GOD. Paul seems to suggest that God saves Israel grudgingly, but only after all the Gentiles find their way into covenant with God (v. 28). But I wonder if his choice http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/hdeKmscDyAk/blogging-through-romans-romans-11-25-36.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-11-25-36.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-6995980261847919274Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:53:00 +00002009-10-13T01:53:00.261-06:00 Romans 11: 11-24“...remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root supports you” (v.18b)In the early church there was a movement to expunge the Old Testament from the bible. The reasoning was that the older covenants no longer applied, and that God has moved divine favour from the Jews to the Gentiles, since the official Jewish establishment didn’t recognize Jesus as the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/k291sFzpAvs/blogging-through-romans-11-11-24.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-11-11-24.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-9023168849833569909Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:51:00 +00002009-10-12T11:53:24.167-06:00Pentecost 19B Romans Series from Good Shepherd on Vimeo.Romans 10: 5-17What will the church of the future look like?Will churches resemble what we have now? Will churches have pews and pastors, committees and councils, hymns and hierarchies?Will leaders be trained in seminaries? Will there be a clergy/lay divide? Will we have buildings?Probably “yes” to all these things. Some churches will hold http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/qXs0N52RMlU/sermon-pentecost-19b-romans-series.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)1http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/sermon-pentecost-19b-romans-series.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-2770326841856295718Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:45:00 +00002009-10-10T13:45:00.524-06:00...only a test. Please go back to bed.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/h0LYoasikh0/this-is-test.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/this-is-test.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-3081140666827511841Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:29:00 +00002009-10-10T06:32:36.460-06:00Romans 10: 18-21Here Paul jumps back in his hole, getting his fellow Jews mad at him. Paul is saying that all Jews need to do is look at their bibles and they’ll know who Jesus is. They have heard the faith that he talks about in the previous section.Paul is trying to open the doors to all gentiles while slamming it in the faces of his fellow Jews.At least that’s the way it looks in the surface. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/YZN7diBl7WQ/blogging-through-romans-romans-10-18-21.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-10-18-21.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-7511781834449580732Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:32:00 +00002009-10-10T06:45:14.869-06:00Romans 10: 5-17You may have heard about the “Romans Road” method of evangelism, where the would-be evangelist takes the unbeliever through scattered verses in Romans and ends up on 10:9: “...if you believe in your heart and confess with your lips that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved.”Makes it easy. Salvation just means confessing and believing. All you need are the right http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/7ruRmWxzwEY/blogging-through-romans-romans-10-5-17.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)1http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-10-5-17.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-4745844565272791427Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:06:00 +00002009-10-08T06:09:43.518-06:00Romans 9: 30-10:4Paul digs the hole deeper. He calls his fellow Jews “ignorant” and “unenlightened” for not having faith in Jesus. Paul confesses a desire that they be saved, but he seems to suggest that chasing after works of the Law as a means to righteousness is, in fact, a form of faithlessness.Which, in a sense it is. After all, if they’re pursuing righteousness through obedience to the Law,http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/d7Dk2jnEuhc/blogging-through-romans-romans-9-30-104.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-9-30-104.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-1079113400517271531Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:47:00 +00002009-10-07T10:55:44.325-06:00Romans 9: 19-29This is where Paul gets into trouble with some of his Jewish friends. A big part of his theology is that Christ is the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Israel. And now Paul is saying that, because many of his fellow Jews haven’t recognized Jesus as Messiah, God is going to cut them loose.At least that’s what it sounds like he’s saying. And a lot of Christians decided that Jews http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/pLoxPng0-JU/blogging-through-romans-romans-9-19-29.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-9-19-29.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-560829146173060340Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:00:00 +00002009-10-06T21:01:05.944-06:00What does this mean for faith communities?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/2wLTKGJ3upk/is-social-media-fad.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/is-social-media-fad.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-1825484091695048433Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:33:00 +00002009-10-06T06:38:50.158-06:00 Clearly, I'm not the target audience for this book. I don't find the idea of diversity controversial. In fact, I find it astonishing that the notion of “diversity” is even under discussion. Especially to the point where Matthew Raley needs to guide an anxious reader through it.I'll save you the twenty bucks. The book can be summed up thusly: people are more than the boxes we put them in or http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/UkBRE9fHAYM/diversity-culture-as-opposed-to-what.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/diversity-culture-as-opposed-to-what.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-1583132767000773656Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:55:00 +00002009-10-06T04:58:10.622-06:00Romans 9: 6-17“I have loved Jacob. But I have hated Esau.”I like to make fun of my Presbyterian friends because of what church reformer John Calvin made of this and similar passages. Calvin (who’s writings influenced the Presbyterian Church) talked about “Double Predestination” which means that God decided before the world began who was destined for eternal bliss in heaven, and who better load uphttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/GKWch7F2QYU/blogging-through-romans-romans-9-6-17.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-9-6-17.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-2371118720747593595Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:19:00 +00002009-10-05T11:21:07.712-06:00Pentecost 18B - Romans Series from Good Shepherd on Vimeo.Text:"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”We know that, do we? That's something we can ALL agree on, is it?We know that all things work together for good or those who love God, who are called according to God's purpose.”There are days when I don't like this verse. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/0o9lSsXu4ss/sermon-pentecost-18b-romans-series.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)2http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/sermon-pentecost-18b-romans-series.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-7147047601656025051Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:21:00 +00002009-10-05T03:23:35.000-06:00Romans 9: 1-5Clearly, Paul’s new Christian vocation is rubbing hard against his Jewishness. He knows something has changed. Either he has changed or his fellow Jews have. Paul evidently still feels deep kinship towards his fellow Jews, even to the point that he wishes “that I myself have been accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh.”But, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/DA0CwxZONT8/blogging-through-romans-romans-91-5.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-91-5.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-638348353866949180Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:18:00 +00002009-10-03T08:20:54.057-06:00Romans 8: 1-17Here Paul’s Greek education is rearing its ugly head. Not that his Greek education was bad, but that it moved him away from his Hebrew roots.The Hebrews believed that God was present on earth, in people, plants, animals, things. The Greek believed that the earth was evil and that heaven was good. They made a distinction between the “spirit” which was good. And the “flesh” which was http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/yNupNrG_Frg/blogging-through-romans-romans-8-1-17.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)1http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-8-1-17.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-7602622515367576546Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:31:00 +00002009-10-02T05:33:41.117-06:00Romans 7: 14-25In the book (and movie) Lord of the Rings, the character Gollum struggles with both the good and evil living inside him. The good side of him wants to obey his master, Frodo, but that evil part wants to murder his master and his friend. There’s a scene where Gollum struggles with both sides of his nature, fighting until one side vanishes.I think we too, struggle with the good in ushttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/MNUyKG-E4Ko/blogging-through-romans-romans-7-14-25.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)1http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-7-14-25.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-894372849830819641Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:51:00 +00002009-10-01T06:53:35.644-06:00Romans 7: 7-13On the surface, he’s talking about the Law of Moses, Jewish Law. But underneath all that he’s talking about all those unnecessary demands that we heap on people.Lutheran theology talks about three uses of the Law. Actually two, the third being rejected by the ELCIC and for good reason.The 1st use is – and I LOVE this term: Civic Righteousness. Even the heathen can do this, Luther http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/i2nbM7rdFLs/blogging-through-romans-romans-7-7-13.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)2http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/10/blogging-through-romans-romans-7-7-13.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-2268997889235792812Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:20:00 +00002009-09-30T07:31:52.752-06:00Romans 7: 1-6How would you identify yourself? Who makes you who you are? For me, I can say that I am a member of the Powell/Eckert family, husband to R, dad to S and N; pastor at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Canadian, etc.It’s tempting to want to self-identify with those parts of our lives that we have some control over. Where we work, who our family is, who our friends are, where we http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/j3pmCNkmJ60/blogging-through-romans-romans-7-1-6.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/09/blogging-through-romans-romans-7-1-6.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8265604.post-7948833639723338737Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:29:00 +00002009-09-29T10:31:39.776-06:00Update on this post.I just got off the phone with a CIBC rep. They're accepting my pay stubs and a new card will be coming in the mail in the next week or so. They said they'll be talking with the other rep I dealt with, and will review their policy on private information.But the best part was that they contacted ME. Apparently, they found my screed on this humble blog and wanted to rectify the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KevinGPowell/~3/i9PW2DtYEoQ/cibc-update.htmlpowe2550@yahoo.com (Kevin)0http://kevingpowell.blogspot.com/2009/09/cibc-update.html