{"id":104274,"date":"2025-01-05T07:21:16","date_gmt":"2025-01-05T12:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=104274"},"modified":"2025-01-05T07:21:16","modified_gmt":"2025-01-05T12:21:16","slug":"a-pastors-thoughts-ideas-for-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/01\/05\/a-pastors-thoughts-ideas-for-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Ideas for 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bruce Gillette, First Presbyterian Union Church, Owego —<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo Act Justly, Love Tenderly, Walk Humbly” is a wonderful book written jointly by an Old Testament scholar, a psychologist, and a religious educator reflecting on the three elements of Micah 6:8. How do the scriptures require us to respond to the problems of the real world? <\/span><\/p>\n

Walter Brueggemann writes about how to live a just life by sharing the poem, \u2018The Cookie Thief\u2019 by Valerie Cox:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA woman was waiting at an airport one night,<\/span><\/p>\n

With several long hours before her flight.<\/span><\/p>\n

She hunted for a book in the airport shops,<\/span><\/p>\n

Bought a bag of cookies, and found a place to drop.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,<\/span><\/p>\n

That the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be,<\/span><\/p>\n

Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between,<\/span><\/p>\n

Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene.<\/span><\/p>\n

So she munched the cookies and watched the clock,<\/span><\/p>\n

As the gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock.<\/span><\/p>\n

She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,<\/span><\/p>\n

Thinking, \u201cIf I wasn\u2019t so nice, I would blacken his eye.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With each cookie she took, he took one too,<\/span><\/p>\n

When only one was left, she wondered what he would do.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh,<\/span><\/p>\n

He took the last cookie and broke it in half.<\/span><\/p>\n

He offered her half, as he ate the other,<\/span><\/p>\n

She snatched it from him and thought\u2026 oooh, brother.<\/span><\/p>\n

This guy has some nerve, and he\u2019s also rude,<\/span><\/p>\n

Why didn’t he even show any gratitude!<\/span><\/p>\n

She had never known when she had been so galled,<\/span><\/p>\n

And sighed with relief when her flight was called.<\/span><\/p>\n

She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,<\/span><\/p>\n

Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate.<\/span><\/p>\n

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,<\/span><\/p>\n

Then she sought her book, which was almost complete.<\/span><\/p>\n

As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise,<\/span><\/p>\n

There was her bag of cookies, in front of her eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

If mine are here, she moaned in despair,<\/span><\/p>\n

The others were his, and he tried to share.<\/span><\/p>\n

Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,<\/span><\/p>\n

That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We live in times when people are too quick to judge and condemn others. A better way for 2025 is a disciplined commitment to both the inward and the outward journey. It is both the way to follow God and the way to God. <\/span><\/p>\n

I like the \u201cYokefellow Disciplines.\u201d  <\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus said, \u201cTake my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.\u201d Matthew 11.29.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Discipline of Prayer: To pray every day, preferably at the beginning <\/span>of the day.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Discipline of Scripture: Read reverently and thoughtfully every day, a section of Scripture following a definite plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Discipline of Worship: To participate, at least once a week, in public worship of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Discipline of Money: To give a definite portion of my annual income to the promotion of Christ\u2019s cause.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Discipline of Time: To use my time as a sacred gift, not to be wasted striving to make my daily work, whatever it may be, a Christian vocation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Discipline of Service: To try, every day, to lift some human burden.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Discipline of Study: To develop my mental powers through careful reading and study.<\/span><\/p>\n

Any pastor in Owego would be happy to be asked how you can follow these disciplines. I hope they will help to make a joyful new year for you.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bruce Gillette, First Presbyterian Union Church, Owego — \u201cTo Act Justly, Love Tenderly, Walk Humbly” is a wonderful book written jointly by an Old…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":102416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nA Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Ideas for 2025 - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/01\/05\/a-pastors-thoughts-ideas-for-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Ideas for 2025 - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Bruce Gillette, First Presbyterian Union Church, Owego — \u201cTo Act Justly, Love Tenderly, Walk Humbly” is a wonderful book written jointly by an Old...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/01\/05\/a-pastors-thoughts-ideas-for-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-05T12:21:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2024\/07\/Faith_Column.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"288\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/01\/05\/a-pastors-thoughts-ideas-for-2025\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/01\/05\/a-pastors-thoughts-ideas-for-2025\/\",\"name\":\"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: Ideas for 2025 - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/01\/05\/a-pastors-thoughts-ideas-for-2025\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/01\/05\/a-pastors-thoughts-ideas-for-2025\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2024\/07\/Faith_Column.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-05T12:21:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/01\/05\/a-pastors-thoughts-ideas-for-2025\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/01\/05\/a-pastors-thoughts-ideas-for-2025\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/01\/05\/a-pastors-thoughts-ideas-for-2025\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2024\/07\/Faith_Column.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.greenstreetdata.com\/PS\/owego\/files\/2024\/07\/Faith_Column.jpeg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":288,\"caption\":\"Pictured is Pastor Bruce Gillette, First Presbyterian Church of Owego. 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