Forward Day By Day – August 28, 2019

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

God’s words come to us in myriad ways. Anyone who has heard God’s still, small voice nudging the soul has heard the word of God. The joyful sensation we feel in communion with other Christians is God working in us. God’s word can also come to us in the counsel of wise...

Invitation to the 182nd Annual Convention

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Dear Clergy and Wardens of the Diocese of Louisiana, NOTICE OF THE 182nd CONVENTION OF THE DIOCESE OF LOUISIANA It is my honor and privilege as your Bishop, to give you notice of the 182nd Convention of the Diocese of Louisiana on November 1-2, 2019.  Convention will...

Forward Day By Day – August 27, 2019

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Paul has been in prison at Caesarea for two years, and he is in what seems to be a constant state of self-defense. And yet Paul is always telling the story of Jesus of Nazareth. He will not be deterred. Agrippa himself accuses Paul of trying to convert him....

Forward Day By Day – August 26, 2019

Monday, August 26, 2019

Again, the daily readings are a festival of intrigue. Bathsheba and Nathan scheme against a pretender to David’s throne. Paul continues his self-defense arguments, this time in front of Agrippa. And in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ mood is positively apocalyptic....

Forward Day By Day – August 25, 2019

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Unlike some of us, Jesus does not discriminate. He offers healing and fellowship willy-nilly to all who come along and ask—and even to those who don’t ask for it. Jesus’ decision to heal a woman on the Sabbath is one of many actions that keep getting ….(View...

Forward Day By Day – August 24, 2019

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Bad things happen to good people. And yet, the Lord is our refuge and our habitation and we are under God’s protection. We must hold these two conflicting facts in tension. Bartholomew is a good companion in this hard task of faith in part because very li….(View...

Forward Day By Day – August 23, 2019

Friday, August 23, 2019

Herod the Great built Caesarea Maritima on the Mediterranean coast—a fancy summer home with breezes and access to sea. The ruins of this harbor city are still there: the commercial port, theater, aqueduct, and the palace of the Roman procurator, which was at one point...

Forward Day By Day – August 22, 2019

Thursday, August 22, 2019

All our lessons today burst with intrigue. There is trouble in David’s court, and Absalom has just been killed. Paul’s imprisonment continues, and the plot thickens. In Mark, Jesus is wrapping up a fraught debate session with those wily priests and scribes....

Forward Day By Day – August 21, 2019

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

One of the beautiful things about the Daily Office Lectionary and its guide to reading through scripture is the opportunity to read the psalms in quantity. Reading them this way is a bit like reading an epic, generational novel. The whole human experience is there:...

Forward Day By Day – August 20, 2019

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

My first memory of this verse is from a nineteenth-century primitive chapel. Behind the altar is a massive plate-glass window, which overlooks miles and miles of the ancient Ozark Mountains. Carved above the window is the inscription: I will lift up mine eyes unto the...