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Swords into plowshares

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Swords into Plowshares is the blog of the Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations of the Presbyterian Mission Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Seeking peace. Striving for justice. Together.

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Posts with tag: grace

January 4, 2016

January 2016 - May the force be with you

There were many of us who went to see the new Stars Wars movie, The Force Awakens. Kathy and I always think back on our first Stars Wars movie when we took our six-week-old son to the $2 theater in Saugus, Massachusetts. We were struck at the kind of imagination it took George Lucas to create the movie.

The church and imagination have always been uncertain dance partners. They have stepped on each other’s toes and fought over who leads. We have witnessed the trouble a poor soul encounters when they imagine a piece of church furniture can be moved or a tradition changed. While no one wants to hear the same sermon every Sunday, whoa to the preacher who lets their imagination get beyond the congregation’s.

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April 8, 2014

Please and Thank You

The primary purpose of Christian worship is, of course, simply giving glory to God. But worship also provides us with regular opportunities to practice the theological habits of grace and gratitude. Like learning to say “please” and “thank you” at home, worship seeks to shape us in a way of life that befits God’s holy realm, our eternal home.

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September 26, 2013

Something's Needed--Open Wards?

 We all want church to be our own ideal place of spiritual growth where we encounter God.  This is what we have in common.  Exactly how we can have that while in communion with one another is where the problems begin. 

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