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The start of the parables...Matthew 13:1-23...The Granddaddy of them all

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  I found this moose shed on an unmaintained trail in the RMNP last week.  It made me think of what I need to shed.  I snowshoe in the winter but not as much as I hike in the summer so I need to shed a few pounds I also found through the colder months!  It has been great to be back on the trails and also explore some that I didn't last year.  I am trying to fill in my new trail map for 2025.  But it also made me think about other things I need to shed that deal with my spiritual life. Our Sunday passage took us into chapter 13 of the Gospel according to Matthew.  The disciples notice right off that Rabbi Jesus is using a different teaching technique.  He is telling stories called parables to communicate spiritual truths.  To some they will just hear the common story with a " wow " factor in it while others will connect it to a spiritual truth.  The " wow " factor of the parable of the sower or the soils is the outcome of the seed that fe...

One last call to "whoever" - Matthew 12:38-50 - Harsh but heralding

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  Snow still at 10,000 ft but manageable to get where I was going.  This is probably one of many trips this spring, summer and fall to the Grand Ditch Road.  I followed this up with a hike the next day to the summit of Shadow Mountain.  I don't think I have my " trail legs " yet so I am thankful for a couple of days before heading out again.   In the title of this post I used the word " whoever " to stress the invitation offered to the scribes and Pharisees who wanted to destroy Jesus and also called His driving out of unclean spirits as of the devil and also the words " harsh but heralding " to stress His attention getting words ( brood of vipers and evil and adulterous generation ) used to again warn them of a coming judgment and they were on the wrong side.  Jesus is speaking the truth in love.  A judgment is coming; this is how they are responding; and this is the solution out that will cost Him His life.  No greater love than this, that ...

Matthew 12:31-37...The extreme plan, the extreme conclusion, the extreme consequence

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  Here is looking at you just outside the main entrance of the church last week.  It looks like a mother and last year's child.  They were munching on a bush that had some green on it and maybe some fiber content.  You can see our outside cross in the background.  Moose are large and can be aggressive so keeping your distance is a good thing.  Thankful for many doors out of the church! This week is a hard one for me.  We are helping my dad (94) transition again to a more suited situation for his needs.  These situations make you look back to the man who raised you and what he could do and also look forward to see some struggles you might face.  The state of your mind seems to be so important in walking through these later years.  I know sometimes what happens up there is out of your control (like my mom) but I hope to keep being curious about the world around me. Jesus gets right in the faces of the Pharisees (brood of vipers) and thei...