Monthly Archives: September 2010

Reflection on the Lections: Amos 8:4-7

One of this Sunday’s lections — Amos 8:4-7:

Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale? We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.” The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.

Amos sure lays it on the line, doesn’t he? Pretty blunt — when it comes to entities that trample on the needy, he says that the Lord will never forget their deeds.

So who are these people or insititutions that trample on the needy? Here’s the bullet list:

Continue reading

Posted in Lection Reflections | Leave a comment

Fight Fire with Love: Baptist Church READS Koran

Glad to share THIS news:

A Kentucky Baptist church will be host for an interfaith service Sept. 11 billed as a “peaceful, positive alternative” to a Quran-burning ceremony scheduled the same day in Florida.

The “Honoring Sacred Texts” service is scheduled at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Highland Baptist Church in Louisville. The service is offered by Interfaith Paths to Peace, a Louisville-based non-profit organization that promotes inter-religious understanding, in partnership with Highland Baptist Church and the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship.

Other sponsors include various local Christian and non-Christian faith groups. The service will include a display of sacred texts from Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Baha’i faith and other religions. The gathering will also include non-sectarian music and readings from the sacred texts by representatives of the world’s major religions on topics related to peace, cooperation and mutual understanding.

More below the fold …

Continue reading

Posted in Values, Faith, and Church | Leave a comment