Frankly Devoted

  This graphic, including words from Duke Chapel Dean Luke Powery in this morning's Ash Wednesday service, go hand ind hand with my Devotion published by Habitat for Humanity International this week.  Love in action By Frank Wrenn Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?  Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? —  Isaiah 58:5-7 , New International Version I usually hear this Scripture at Ash Wednesday services, as my congregation begins the season of Lent. For many, Lent is...

This Sunday begins the Season of Advent. In many Christian traditions, Advent marks the start of the new Christian year - with congregations lighting candles each of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. The term comes from the Latin ad venio “to come” – anticipating the coming of the Lord.  It is a time not just for a new year, but a new commitment to Christ as we prepare spiritually for Christmas, remembering Christ being born into the world. It is a season of waiting, of preparation to welcome God’s light into the world. The season comes as the days grow shorter and darkness abounds, and we light the Advent Candles in preparation for the one who brings light to the darkness  The book of Isaiah is full of verses that are used during the Advent season. Christians take these versus to foretell of Jesus as the coming of the Messiah.  Many of these verses from Isaiah will be familiar to some of you:  Isaiah 9:2 The people w...

 My Lenten Devotion for April 1, 2023 for Saint Mark United Methodist Church, Atlanta, GA, 

  I delivered the following message on Christmas Day, 2022 as a guest speaker at Rehoboth United Methodist Church: Merry Christmas! Christ is Born! Let us Rejoice! Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward all humankind. It is an honor to be with you at Rehoboth on this Holy Day, a special honor with Christmas falling on Sunday. Before I begin, let us bow our heads. Father God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable, O Lord. You are our rock, and our redeemer, our light and our inspiration. Amen. Christmas traditions! The magic… the lights! I remember as a kid our family tradition of riding through neighborhoods, seeing the pretty lights on Christmas… the neighborhood streets lined with luminaria. For a number of years, we filled up our own white paper bags with sand, lit, the candles, and lined our driveway. All of Wrenn Road seemed lit up! Mama would say, “It looks like the world is on fire!” A few years ago, I st...