This week Paul takes a trip to Athens and teaches the Greek philosophers about the "unknown god" for which they have an altar. Peter tells us to be prepared to suffer on account of our faith and to be prepared to give a reason for the hope that we have in us. He reminds us that in the same way that Noah and his family were saved through the ark, we too are saved by our baptisms that connect us to Christ's death and resurrection. Finally, in John, we hear Jesus give us a promise that the Father would send the Holy Spirit.

This week's readings:
1st Reading: Acts 17:16-31
Epistle Reading: 1 Peter 3:13--22
Gospel Reading: John 14:15--21

Next week's readings: 
First Reading: Acts 1:12-26
Epistle Reading: 1 Peter 4:12-19, 5:6-11
Gospel Reading: John 17:1-11

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This past week served as a great reminder that people will find any reason they can to argue.  It doesn't matter if the issues are significant or simple, there just seems to be something inside of us that likes to argue.  It doesn't matter whether it is in friendships, our families, our communities, or even in our churches, no place is immune to arguing.  

I was a little worked up this week about an argument that I observed taking place online.  I normally don't get too worked up about such things but I thought this one was so absurd from all sides that I became a bit agitated. 

Fortunately Jon Stewart was around this week to remind us all that ridiculous arguments aren't really that uncommon and that we will really find any reason to argue that we can.  

Apparently some 4th graders were studying how the government operates. This is a great thing. Coming from a political science background in college I would recommend everyone spending some time learning about how your government operates.  So they partnered with a senator to propose a bill that would make yogurt the official snack of the state of New York.  That seems pretty benign, right? It isn't related to any major social or political policy so it shouldn't take much time to get this through.  

It turns out that they spent 50 minutes debating this bill. That is 10 minutes less than an hour and probably 47 minutes longer than they should have spent on it.  Anyway, you just have to watch the video clip above to get the full sense of what happened.  

Now I'd be remiss if I didn't make some theological connection to this conversation.  Why do we do this?  Why do we argue so much?  It is because we are naturally focused on ourselves.  Our natural inclination is to focus on ourselves and our own needs and desires and not on those of others.  This is problematic when you get 2 or more people together.  When people get together there has to be some external motivation to get them to work together instead of arguing.  A lot of times this is simply transactional.  What can I get from the other person?  Knowledge, friendship, love, a job?  The list is endless.  

Maybe there is another way.  In fact, I would guarantee there is another way.  For that we flip to Philippians 2 where I'll leave you with this quote:

I think it is something worth keeping in mind!

This week we hear Luke describe the practices of the first Christians after Pentecost in the book of Acts. Peter will tell us that we should expect suffering because Christ suffered and then Jesus talks about sheep, gates, and hearing his voice. 

I've also introduced a new opportunity to ask questions. Send me a comment about this or any other video in this series. Comments can be:

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I hope to hear from you!

Two weeks have already passed since Easter. Can you believe it? This week we get a double dose of Peter. First we see him preach a big sermon after which, 3,000 people are baptized. Then we hear him build on what we heard about last week. Now he speaks about the ransom that was paid for us. Finally, we'll hear about the biggest surprise dinner ever. Jesus meets up with some disciples on the road to Emmaus, but they don't know who he is right away. After he breaks bread and gives thanks then it all makes sense!