Thursday Theology

I am thinking that I may try to make this a regular weekly feature. There is a part of me that misses the discussions around biblical texts and stories. Putting together a sermon was never really fun, but the experience always seemed to benefit me and sharing what I learned through the prep was generally enjoyable. For me personally, the random texts or "waiting on the Spirit" to guide me was always difficult and I suspect that will continue to be the case.

Therefore, I think that I will choose to use the Liturgical Calendar for my bible texts. I don't know if there are many of my regular readers that attend churches that use this schedule. I suspect that there are not. I haven't fully decided on whether I should be using the last Sunday's text or the coming week's, but will most likely use the coming week.
Also, since I haven't put much thought into it at this particular point, I also haven't done any real study on the text for January 7. 

For this week (and it may be the case in future weeks) I'm just going to give you the text and my gut reaction to it. In any given week, my take on the material and what you'd likely hear from a real pastor/preacher in church will no doubt differ by a great deal. I, after all, am somewhat of a heretic in the world of preachers.

The text, Mark 1:4-11

John the Baptist sees himself as unworthy to be a servant of Jesus, the Messiah. In The Gospel According to John, he says that he must diminish so that Jesus can increase.
This doesn't seem at all like the attitude and character I see from preachers, pastors, and proclaimers of the gospel today. I wonder how church life in general and Christianity in particular would change if our pastors were truly servant leaders rather than persons to be idolized and worshiped. 

As I said, this isn't much in the way of a message today. In fact, it is much more negative and critical than I intend to be if I continue to make this a regular post. Perhaps this first text will serve to remind me of my place in the sharing of the story of Jesus.

Until next time,
John <><