God led the Chosen People from slavery in Egypt; however, a new kind of oppression later arose. Religious leaders became slaves to greed and power, exploiting the people as evil shepherds who rob and murder sheep— God’s people. A new Exodus was needed. It came with Jesus.

The center Sunday of Easter has traditionally been “Good Shepherd Sunday.” By the gentle call of each by name, Jesus leads us, his wounded and abused sheep, out of the oppressive dimension of the institution of religion, into a glorious new sheepfold. There the sheep are so one with the shepherd that the bond is the same as that between the Father and Jesus.

Let go and give yourself to the Lord, then God will hold onto you; no one will be able to snatch you out of God’s hand.

John 10:22–30

What are “Bible Breaths”? Learn More…
Example: I hearing the Shepherd’s voice. v. 27

Sundays are dedicated to the Gospels from the Revised Common Lectionary.
In year C, during the Easter Season, we read from John’s Gospel, with Luke on the Seventh Week.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.

The sacrifice of children to gods is an abhorrent practice of the ancient pagans. Consider, however, what happens when we do not pray for our children and neglect to dedicate them to the Lord. To fail in this is to leave them exposed to the Evil One. Vulnerable to evil, are not our children in one sense handed over to Satan by our failure to pray?

The whole theme of this chapter is to warn the Israelites not to engage in the practices of their pagan neighbors. Verse 13 is a central text in the Old Testament against homosexual behavior. Rather than pound the gay community over the head with this verse in judgment and condemnation, intercede for them in love, acceptance, compassion, and kindness. Dedicate them to the Lord as your own children and pray that they live a life of total openness to the will of God for them.

Leviticus 20

Learn about Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Being holy as the Lord. v. 26

The Saturday passages follow the reading list that Jewish people use in their synagogue worship
throughout the world. They are taken from
“The Torah,” the first five books of the Bible from Genesis to Deuteronomy
that are read each year beginning with autumn.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information

 The disciples huddle together, wrapped in choking bands of fear, doors shut and bolted from the anger outside. With no sense of moving through doors or walls, Jesus simply stands in the middle. May the first word from his mouth, designed to dissipate their fright, be the word that has all your fears vanish: “Peace be with you.” As unexpected, unhoped for, and undeserved as was Jesus’appearance to them, so does he now come to you and those rejoicing with you in your meditation on this same passage.

Extraordinary shifts from grief to joy, from loss to gain, from fear to peace, from death to life, mark the resurrection appearances. For John, a pre-Pentecost fullness comes to the disciples this night of the resurrection in the giving of the Holy Spirit. Receive the Holy Spirit as you join your breath with God’s.

John 20:19–23

Create your own Bible Breaths Learn More…
Example: Seeing the hands and the side v. 20

Fridays are dedicated to the Gospels.
In the Easter Season this year we read the final third of John’s Gospel.

For all the Firestarters I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or tablet. Check the menu options at the site for more information.