Joe Plemmons

hello from Vienna, which I found out tonight has a fast food place called "Hab's Burgers"

Victim complex

Finished my sermon and heard a "good job" from the congregation. I've gotten amens before, but that was the first "good job"

Intervention works! These folks know they are doing sketchy crime work - Together? We can interfere, put them off, and freak them out. Alone it is difficult, but together? Together we are strong. (and so many more than them). Practice stepping forward.

Brian Eno 2h. On the Arrest of Young People at a Quaker Meeting House Last night, six young people were arrested by police during a peaceful gathering at a Quaker Meeting House. They had assembled to talk, reflect, and organise around two issues of overwhelming moral gravity: the climate emergency, and the continuing destruction in Gaza. That the police chose to forcibly enter a Quaker space-a site known throughout history for its deep commitment to peace and nonviolence—is both alarming and telling. These young people were not disrupting the peace. They were enacting it. We live in a time where the greatest threats to our future go unchallenged by those in power, while those who speak out are increasingly met with suspicion, hostility, and force. When the state begins to treat moral concern as criminal intent, we should all be paying close attention. The people arrested last night were not extremists. They were citizens who care-young people who see the interconnected crises of climate collapse and human suffering and refuse to turn away. They gathered not in violent defiance, but in peaceful conscience. I stand with them. I believe their voices are not only valid, but vital. If the institutions meant to protect us cannot bear to hear these voices, then it is not the protesters who are disrupting order—it is the silence of those who look away. - Brian Eno

Worth sharing with alt text. Brian Eno's response to the Quaker arrests.

Sure I've said it before, but it's frustrating to read a commentary that makes a good point, but one that's completely unrelated to the pericope in question.

The Prodigal Son is not about "writing off the sick and infirm as sinners so you can ignore them"

Supervisors: PLEASE provide relevant info when scheduling a meeting. "Can we meet at 2:45" with no other details encourages folks to assume the worst.

Related: pray for me

SIGN NOW: Christians stand with Mahmoud Khalil Mahmoud Khalil is a legal resident who is currently being held in captivity by the Trump administration for exercising his right to free speech. Christians must stand in solidarity with Khalil before ...

Christians stand with Mahmoud Khalil: Khalil is a legal resident who is currently being held in captivity by the Trump administration for exercising his right to free speech. Christians must stand in solidarity with Khalil before more people are targeted. act.faithfulamerica.org/sign/release...

You know it's going to be an interesting sermon when your Google search gets you that "if you're feeling suicidal please seek help" response

Luke's telling of the transfiguration uses unique language; Matthew and Mark use μετεμορφώθη while Luke uses έτερον.

...and when a commentary on the Luke passage talks about the significance of the word that Luke doesn't use, I question the validity of the rest of the commentary.

My primary ministry position is outside of the church, but in spite of that I'm getting to have the "full time pastor" experience this week: every time I sit down to write my sermon, something else comes up.

Nothing like seeing the squiggly line appear when you're quoting a source in your notes... "yes, Google, I know that's bad grammar, but that's what Matthew Henry wrote."

Good morning, timeline.

“I wish that the ones who are upsetting you would castrate themselves!”

#DailyOfficeClerb ⚓️

New rule: if your curriculum uses SMART Goals, you have to define the term in the curriculum. Because it seems like everyone has *slightly* different ideas about what the acronym stands for, and I'm getting tired of it.

Great commentary lines I probably can't get away with putting in my sermon: “Being scared shitless is not a prerequisite to have a true and proper calling”

Re: The Beatitudes: "In God's Kingdom, immigrants and refugees, transgender people, the poor and the marginalized are not at the edges fearful and alone. They are at the center of the Gospel story. The boundaries are not simply extended...to include them--they are at the center." ~ Bp. Rowe

Yes!!!

Example, footnote for Isaiah 6:2 - "'Feet' is a euphemism for genitals."

...and? In what way does this being a euphemism affect the reading of the text? Does it say something about the nature of God if the seraphim are covering their "feet" rather than their feet?

Example, footnote for Isaiah 6:5 - "Having seen God, the prophet fears for his life."

...yes. And? The text itself does a better job of explicating the text than this footnote does.

Sometimes, footnotes read like "I have to say something but I don't know what." Like... if all you're doing is stating what the text itself plainly says, why are you wasting ink?

I'd always heard and believed that the Isaiah text Jesus reads in Luke 4:18-19 comes from two different parts of that scroll (the New Interpreter's Study Bible even names two different passages in its footnotes) but when I went to look in Isaiah, it's all in a single place: Isaiah 61:1-2.

Obviously he is not to be disturbed, but if you seek shelter in this tavern on a stormy night and you sit at the bar and he slowly turns his head to you & offers you a quest, you do have to go. Those are the rules.

A picture of John Wesley preaching to a crowd, accompanied by the text "Your Result: Methodist"

Can I show this to the Board?

Snowmageddon 2025 should be arriving here literally any second now

I can harmonize vocals for any (non-atonal) song on my first listen

Will they be the harmonies the composer was thinking? Probably not. But they will be beautiful and fit the harmonic structure of the piece.

Weather map using humorous descriptions of snowfall amounts in southeast Nebraska

The person running social media for the Nebraska weather service is a gem. 😂 “the zone of disappointment” 😂😂

The word "murder" ought to appear in this headline and blurb.
"Greek Coast Guard Found to Have Murdered Migrants in Cold Blood".

...MySpace?

Either that or the Wizards of the Coast message boards

If I were less scrupulous and more photogenic, I’d start a “Bible prophecy” channel on YouTube because the whole second beast and image of the beast and wounded head business would be SO easy to apply to Trump & Musk.

A picture of a shark sculpture. The shark has no teeth, creating the appearance of a goofy smile.