Volume 1 Issue 28

Ev’rybody’s talking about Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism,
Ragism, Tagism, Thisism, Thatism, Isn’t it the most?
C’mon, Ministers, Sinisters, Banisters, and Canisters,
Bishops and Fishops, Rabbits and Popeyes, Bye-bye Bye-byes.
Let me tell you now, Revolution, Evolution, Mastication, Flagellation,
Regulations, Integrations, Meditation, United Nations, Congratulations.
All we are saying is Give Peace A Chance.
--John Lennon & Paul McCartney (1969)
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Today’s sermon begins my Lenten series on Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness as recorded in the Gospels of Mark (1:12-13), Matthew (4:1-11), and Luke (4:1-13). How wonderful it would be if we as the Growing in Christ community might take this opportunity to examine these passages that address Jesus’ temptation and respond with our own reflections and interpretations through the Bulletin Board. For all those who “don’t need anybody telling me what to believe,” this would seem like an offer just too good to refuse!
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Pheme Perkins, the author of the Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections on the Gospel of Mark [found in The New Interpreter’s Bible cited in today’s sermon], is Professor of New Testament at Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Among her other publications are ‘The Gospel of John’; ‘Reading the New Testament: An Introduction’; ‘The Johannine Epistles’; ‘Hearing the Parables of Jesus’; ‘Love Commands in the New Testament’; ‘Revelation’; ‘Resurrection: The Early Christian Witness and Contemporary Reflection’; and ‘Jesus as Teacher’.
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The Daily Guides feature which began in January seemed like a good idea at the time, but the readership has not grown beyond an average 4.682 per day (the highest number of visits on a given day was 11). As was expressed in an earlier edition of this newsletter, this kind of response simply doesn’t justify the amount of time required to manually enter each Daily Guide to the site. Therefore, the few of you who are finding value in the devotionals really need to call the phone number at the top of the Daily Guide page and request your own subscription to the “Science of Mind” magazine. You will have the added benefit of receiving all the other articles that appear in this outstanding monthly publication. The last Daily Guide to appear on this website will be March 31, 2003.
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In the March 8 Daily Guide, Maria Shamaya Clemente writes: “As a spiritual community of kindred change agents, we can come together, share our experiences, and love each other into our highest spiritual promise.” I could not express any more beautifully my hope for the mission and ministry of this virtual community of faith called Growing in Christ. May the love of God, the peace of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit empower us to become such an agent for change in a world so desperately in need.
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Until next week…….Shalom!