Author: John Thomas Frazier

Daily Office Readings for Friday of the 3^rd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 40 and  54; Evening, Psalm 51;
Isaiah 50:1-11; Galatians. 3:15to 22; Mark 6:47to56

“The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word.  Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.”  (Isaiah 50:4)

I truly feel that the pastor-teacher gift is one that God has given to me.  However, I know that to teach one has to first know and do.  People who have taught me actually lived what they taught. I too have lived many of life’s experiences, the good and the bad.

As I do my Daily Office, my morning prayers, I get a sense of Isaiah’s words where he says, “Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.” As I hear God I ponder what really speaks to me and then I share it as in teaching with this blog.

This daily practice is life changing. I have learned to respect the Sabbath now and look forward to my Sabbath reflective time.  This blog itself is another of many modifications in my life where God has, and is, acting in my life. I exercise daily, I have re-enrolled in piano class again and much more. I share all this as I use my life as a teaching tool and an example of how God is always with us, coaching us to be in union with God for the benefit of our communities.

Having the tongue of a teacher is fine but must be lived as well. If you are weary, I pray my words and the sharing of my life is sustaining for you. Even as I get older, God keeps me active. We should remember where we have been, but always look ahead to where we are going. Just as I teach, I also submit to being taught. We all need each other and God who wakens our ear to listen as those who are taught.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.

 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom. 

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of the 3^rd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 50; Evening, Psalm 118;
Isaiah 49:13to23; Galatians 3:1to14; Mark 6:30to46

“Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:6 and 7)

So Abraham is our spiritual ancestor.  And, as I have said in many blogs, our ancestry is not genetically based. Abraham is our spiritual ancestor. We have heard it said that blood is thicker than water. But I say that spirit is thicker than even blood. While blood flows through veins and arteries, the Spirit of God “absorbs” us. We become immersed in the spirit.

God told Abram (before God re-named him Abraham), “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing;” (Genesis 12:2).  This blessing is one of belief.  Abraham is blessed and is a blessing to a multitude of nations.

 As we believe in God, we behave differently. All people of faith are children to Abraham.  Just as I shared yesterday about what John the Baptist told the Pharisees, “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham” (Matthew 3:9).  So too, we, you and I, are those stones.  We are not of a certain blood type, save the blood of our Lord Jesus shared in His cup. We are the family of faith through believing. I will again close with one of my favorite prayers found on page 289 of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer: Let us Pray:

“O God, whose wonderful deeds of old shine forth even to our own day, you once delivered by the power of your mighty arm your chosen people from slavery under Pharaoh, to be a sign for us of the salvation of all nations by the water of Baptism: Grant that all the peoples of the earth may be numbered among the offspring of Abraham, and rejoice in the inheritance of Israel; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of the 3^rd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 119:49 to 72; Evening, Psalm 49:
Isaiah 49:1 to 12; Galatians 2:11 to 21; Mark 6:13 to 29

“We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”  (Galatians 2:15 and 16)

What? “and not Gentile sinners.”  This is where I fall out with Paul.  His language is tainted with a bias against non-Jews, even though he proclaims taking the Gospel to the Gentiles is his God-given call. Perhaps he feels this is why he was called to take the Gospel to them.  Additionally, he apparently does not care for Peter and makes it known as publically as he can. How Christ-like is that? By the way, today is St Paul’s day! I say, be thankful for God’s work in Paul but be careful. 

So for me, there are three things here to choose from. There is our biological make-up; there is the works we can do, that is, what we can achieve for ourselves; and, there is faith, pure and simple.

Insofar as genetics are concerned John the Baptist makes it very clear when many Pharisees and Sadducees came to him for Baptism. He must have felt their Abrahamic ancestral arrogance and he said to them, “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” (Matthew 3:9)  God made all people, and all people are precious in God’s sight.

What we achieve, from theological understanding to market place commerce, can, if we are not careful, do us more harm than good. Paul himself as well as many religious zealots (of all faiths) have done horrible things in the Name of God. God works from love and charity. Any violent act to another human, with the possible exception of the defense of self and community, is sinful in God’s sight. As far as commerce is concerned, we would do well to remember the story of the rich young man (Mathew 19), or the rich ruler (Luke 18). The wealthy person asked about entering the kingdom of heaven.  Jesus told him that putting a check in each block of the law won’t do it if one’s heart is not charitable. He said further, sell what you have and give to the poor. And most importantly, Jesus invites him to “come and follow me.”  We could have had his name had he let go of his ego an accepted the invitation into the kingdom when invited.

Neither ancestry nor personal achievements will gain us any advancement towards God if we are not faithful to God. This faith must be love based and charitable. We all know the stories handed down through the prophets and saints. All we have to do is listen and heed.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of the 3^rd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 45; Evening, Psalms 47and 48;
Isaiah 48:12 to 21; Galatians 1:18 to 2:10; Mark 6:1 to 13

“Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown by sight to the Churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, ‘The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.’  And they glorified God because of me.” (Galatians 1:21 to 24)

This is how Saul, now Paul, was identified. He was basically called, “the one who changed!”  Change can be good.  It is good if we evolve. Change is good if we get better, if we grow in good ways.

In my own personal life I have evolved in terms of what I believe about God, and about humanity. I have moved from believing God is some kind of anorexic Santa Clause sitting on a throne looking for places to deal out wrath.  I now believe that God is the Holy Spiritual presence that is continuously creating the universe and dwells within the same creation in love and kindness. I believe that God holds humanity in a special way and was pleased to dwell among us as one of us in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

About humanity, I believe we are all loved equally by God.  I believe we are doing ourselves a disservice by separating ourselves with the artificial categories of race, sexual orientation, nationality, gender, and language. These separations are silliness and in most cases, sinful.

I have not always felt this way. I have evolved. I have been like Nicodemus who in the darkness of his mind came to see, and talk with, our Lord Jesus, and was changed forever (John chapter 3). Like Saul to Paul, I have had to let go of my old silliness and sinfulness and receive what God wants me to understand. I was filled with what my own elders wanted me to think. Today, with the guidance of good spiritual writers as my elders, I have been changed forever.

It is when we take some time to ourselves and ponder, that God visits us and gives us new insight into God’s divine relationship with us, – a relationship in which we all belong to God and to one another, and one in which we all may grow and evolve, like Paul.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Monday of the 3^rd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 41 and 52; Evening, Psalm 44;
Isaiah 48:1 to 11; Galatians  1:1 to 17; Mark 5:21 to 43;

“For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1: 11 and 12)

Let us ponder about Paul’s acknowledgment that his understanding of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus did not come from, or was taught to him, from human origin. 

He received the Gospel through a revelation of Jesus Christ. I like calling this revelation a “Glimmer of Grace.”  This is the same way that the Apostle John received his revelation in which he told about and was later put to print; The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John” or just plain “Revelation,” the last recorded book in our Christian Bible. Many readers either don’t understand this book or just don’t like it.  I have read where Martin Luther, Theologian (1546), thought the book ought to be excluded. However, it was not.

Revelation from God in Christ Jesus is invaluable. Such revelation opens our minds far beyond anything we could learn on our own. Such revelation was shared with Saul/Paul as he was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians and bring them captive back to Jerusalem. The Risen and Spiritual Jesus revealed to Paul his new ministry. This was Paul’s Conversion.

We too can have a conversion revelation. It will perhaps not be as dramatic as Paul’s was but life-changing none the less. All we need to do is be attentive to our Lord Jesus moving in our lives. It might be good to have a positive attitude.  Try to do what you believe is the right thing. This is what Paul was doing although he was misguided. So, our Lord Jesus straightened him out and adjusted his path. Our Lord Jesus will do the same with us too. God sends people to us all the time with messages even they are not aware of. You should be especially curious if you realize the same message coming to you three times in a short period of time. If you see the bush burning, go and check it out. God needs you and wants to co-create with you. You will receive a Glimmer of Grace.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of the 3^rd Week of Epiphany: Year A

Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 5-13; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23

“As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” (Matthew 4: 18 and 19)

Our Lord Jesus changes us.  But even for Jesus, we must recognize our invitation to, “Follow Him.”  In following Jesus we are changed. And here’s an added note, we might be changed more than once.  Depending on the needs of our communities, and what God asks of us, we might be changed over and over again.

Perhaps we might live a lifelong transformation; lawyer, doctor, trash collector, etc . Jesus himself was a chief carpenter, lawyer, healer and trash collector.

Jesus defends the woman caught in adultery by inviting those who have not sinned to cast the first stone. The case was dropped like the stones in their hands.  Jesus goes through out Galilee healing all of their infirmities.  This was his own calling as a doctor.  And finally, Jesus collects all of our trash, our sins, and thus frees us and makes us fit for eternal life in the kingdom. Jesus sets the example for us to follow.

God in Christ Jesus changes us?  We might start out in a blue collar trade or even as a lower echelon administrative clerk.  But when our Lord Jesus commands us to follow him, we are changed.  And here’s the thing, we can be changed over, and over again.

This change from fisher persons to evangelist of the gospel is the realization that our secular vocations are changed from vocations to ministries; from fishermen to evangelists.  If what you do to earn your bread served a common communal good, then see that vocation as a ministry. What you do for the community in which you live, be it to teach school, repair shoes, cut hair, cook food, or even pick up neighborhood trash; each vocation must be seen as a ministry for the building up of the community.  This also applies for volunteer vocations like assisting at the urban ministry, or local soup kitchens or clothing closets. And for how long?

Yogi Bearer said it best, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”  In Christ Jesus, we are recyclable. We can be used to do the Lord’s work over and over again. I myself have been a mover of furniture, a Marine, now a minister and I understand that the Lord is not done with me yet.  And I further understand, my work, my ministries are not about me, but rather the communities in witch I live and serve for the benefit of the faithful.

The same is true for each of you. Our Lord Jesus says to you, “Follow Me.” What say yee?

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of the 2^nd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 30 and 32; Evening, Psalms 42 and 43:
Isaiah 46:1 to 13; Ephesians 6:10 to 24; Mark 5:1 to 20

“Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.” (Ephesians 6:18)

Personally, I have always had a problem believing in evil spirits.  They are present in the man living among the tombs in our Gospel reading from Mark today.  I fully accept the good Spirit of God but question the possibility of an evil spirit.  I don’t know why.

It might be my limited understanding of psychology.  I think the way people think about life has a lot to do with how they behave in life. What we believe shapes how we live.  I also believe that all of us have some degree of mental illness and thus we need each other. And collectively, we all need our Lord Jesus whom I believe has no mental illness at all.

For me, praying in the Spirit, as Paul suggests, connects me with my Lord Jesus and all the saints, past and present. We all need help. It is a form of arrogance to assume we don’t.  Maybe the last hurdle for society to overcome is the loving embrace of ourselves, acknowledging our mental challenges and the availability of God’s help.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of the 2^nd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 31; Evening, Psalm 35;
Isaiah 45:18 to 25; Ephesians 6:1 to 9; Mark 4:35 to 41

“For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it a chaos, he formed it to be inhabited!): I Am the Lord, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:18)

The prophet Isaiah records the message from God for us and adds his own editorial in his report, “he is God,” and, “he established it: he did not create it a chaos, he formed it to be !inhabited!” 

I believe in God, the maker of heaven and earth, and all that is seen, and unseen. So in God creating our inhabitable earth, God must have had us in mind well before putting together our life support system of planets and sun-stars.  We are not accidents! We are “on purpose!  Chaos may have had its time, but organized peace was established for us to reside in. God provided this for us through love.

Thank you Isaiah for your message from God, and thank you for your own divine inspired reminder that while chaos existed, we were brought into being in peace. When chaos existed in the flood, Noah and his family were at peace on the ark. When chaos existed with an impending Egyptian onslaught, Moses conducted the Israelites through the water in peace.   When chaos existed at the inn, our Lord Jesus was born in the peace of a stable. I am reminded that the chaos of the cross did not prevent the peace and rest of the Resurrection which was about to come.

When you are aware of chaos happening, look around, God is making peace very near you. Go then and be in the peace of God.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom. 

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of the 2^nd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 37:1 to 18; Evening, Psalm 37:19 to 42:
Isaiah 45:5 to 17; Ephesians 5:15 to 33; Mark 4:21 to 34:

“Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18 to 20)

Full disclosure, I am not on board with everything that Paul says, especially as for as his suggestions about husbands to wives.  As far as we know, Paul was never married.  I feel marriage is an equal partnership.  However, I will not throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is something really good to be learned regarding the psalms and hymns prayed and sung to the Lord.

Hymns and spiritual songs are a part of our rich Church tradition. My two favorites are “Lead Me, Guide Me,” from Lift Every Voice and Sing, and “Praise to the Lord,” (hymn number 390) from our 1982 Hymnal.  Lead Me, Guide me is my way of starting my day. “For if God leads me, I cannot stray.”  Even singing this daily, I still fail to follow close enough, I’m human. “Praise to the Lord” is just my happy song.  The melody and words please me.

I invite you to search for, and select one or two hymns that sort of identify your spiritual self, and then sing them every day. I have heard from somewhere that singing a hymn is praying twice. If you do this, the words will resonate with you and strengthen your spiritual connection with God.

While I don’t think Paul was an authority on marriage, and the treatment of women in particular, he definitely shares the love of God in Christ Jesus through his messages of love and instructions for holy living. Amen.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of the 2^nd Week of Epiphany: Year 1

Morning,  Psalm 38; Evening, Psalm 119:25 to 48;
Isaiah 44:24 to 45:7; Ephesians 5:1 to 14; Mark 4:1 to 20:

 “And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secretof the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that “they may indeed look, but not perceive,
and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:11 – 12)

This is a clue that in order to hear what the Spirit is saying to us through Biblical readings, that we must look deep beneath the surface of the literal text.  Truth was veiled in parables because truth required the work necessary to get the reward.  Those who just scrape the surface attain nothing of real value and could even be misleading or short circuited.  We can’t just grab and go. Sometimes we must savor the soup for a while to collect all the rich flavors of what’s there.

So, before we go deeper we must believe that there is something hidden beneath the perceived obvious. We also must believe that the treasure is worth the work of going deeper. There are many small steps that require patience in order to learn them. Living the Christian life is this way. To us has been given the secret of the kingdom of God.  We only have to follow the Master Chef, Jesus, and we will perceive, understand, and turn and be forgiven and received into the kingdom.   Be well.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John