A Great Sermon on Loneliness and Use

Rev. Grant Odhner's sermon on Sunday was exactly what I look for in a sermon. It was based on a story from the Word, it had great passages from the Heavenly Doctrines and from the Old and New Testaments, it had stuff to apply to life, it didn't offer simple, pat answers, it brought me down to the point of acknowledging that everything good is from the Lord and then lifted me up to want to strive to be the Lord's good and faithful servant.

It was “choir Sunday” so you'll have to fast forward a bit if you want to just listen to the sermon.

A Student Translation Project

Joel Glenn, a 2nd year Bryn Athyn College student, is working on a translation of Apocalypse Revealed as an independent study. As he translates he's posting what his translation on a blog (apocalypserevealed.wordpress.com). Under About he writes,

Every week or so, I will be putting up the next few numbers that I have translated. I am starting at the beginning of AR and will be working my way forward from there, hopefully completing Chapter 1 by the middle of February. Whether you read a lot or a little, I would love to hear feedback from you.

About the translation: My goal is to produce a translation that people can read easily. This does not mean that you will understand AR without any effort. It does mean that if you are familiar with the Writings, and make an effort to understand what you read, the way I translate should not stand in the way. You should get something out of it without tripping over sentence structure and word choice.

NewChurchWedding.com

For the last couple of years Rev. Chuck Blair has been doing weddings and pre-marital counseling for couples for people who get married at Cairnwood Mansion. He's now got a web site (newchurchwedding.com) where he outlines some of the fundamental New Church teachings about marriage, the requirements for a Cairnwood wedding, and what makes a New Church wedding different from a wedding in other churches.

The main thing to look at on the site are the 4 short videos.

More CaringForMarriage Videos

A little while ago I mentioned a couple of videos that Caring For Marriage made for promoting marriage. There are now two more. They look professional and they're funny, cute, and short. Enjoy!

A Letter by Grant Schnarr in the New York Times

Rev. Grant Schnarr wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times that was published today. It's his reflections on the significance of President Obama's inauguration and seeing the Lord in these difficult times. Here's one paragraph from it:

There is much to be learned, much to be improved, there is hardship ahead as there was years ago and always will be. And in this struggle the Lord continues to work to bring us opportunities to strive for Him and do the right thing, to grow, to reach for a better life not just without, but a spiritual life within, which honors God, one another and strives to bring good will, respect and honor to all human beings, because they are human beings.