U-turns Permitted

Today we listen to "Down by the Riverside" by Muddy Magnolias. The theme of "down by the riverside" is a popular one in spirituals and folk music. In these songs the riverside is a place of reflection, refreshment and renewal. We look at Psalm 137:1-6 to see how the Israelites handled despair down by the riverside.

Today we listen to "Carry on Wayward Son" by Kansas from 1976. Then we read the story of the Prodigal Son, as it is known. Actually, there are two wayward sons in the story. But there's more to the story: how is this story more than the call to the individual to know that he/she is "beloved" of God? And what is the claim laid upon us by this story?

This is the first in the 2022 version of "Finding God in Your Songs" series. We listen to "Wishlist" by Pearl Jam (1998), then work through the story in Genesis 22 of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac at God's behest. Abraham had a wishlist; but so did God!

In his last words to the community of migrant Jesus-followers, James lays out a surprising recipe for survival in an unjust and difficult world: open, authentic, vulnerable community.

James concludes his letter by zooming in on the community of Jesus-followers and suggesting to them that the only way they can survive the in hospitable world in which they find themselves is with open, authentic and vulnerable community.

Today we conclude our study in the letter of James. After all the topics he has handled in the letter, he zooms in on the community of Jesus-followers and suggests to them that it is only in open, honest, vulnerable community and friendship that they can survive the world in which they find themselves.

Today we conclude our study in the letter of James. After all the topics he has handled in the letter, he zooms in on the community of Jesus-followers and suggests to them that it is only in open, honest, vulnerable community and friendship that they can survive the world in which they find themselves.

Today we conclude our study in the letter of James. After all the topics he has handled in the letter, he zooms in on the community of Jesus-followers and suggests to them that it is only in open, honest, vulnerable community and friendship that they can survive the world in which they find themselves.

Today we conclude our study in the letter of James. After all the topics he has handled in the letter, he zooms in on the community of Jesus-followers and suggests to them that it is only in open, honest, vulnerable community and friendship that they can survive the world in which they find themselves.

James 5:7-11 calls us to patience in the face of suffering. What does James mean by "patience"? And to what kind of suffering does he refer? And James does point to Jesus, who suffered more than any other person on earth, from whom we should learn.