5th Commandment - Honor Your Mother and Father
Exodus 20:12 12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you....
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Sep 12
Welcome the Stranger
“I had crossed the line. I was free; but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.”...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Sep 6
4th Commandment - Keep the Sabbath Day Holy
Exodus 20:8-11 8 “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 10 But the seventh day is a...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Aug 30
3rd Commandment - Misrepresenting God
Exodus 20:7 NRSVUE 7 “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Aug 22
Reflections on 8 Years of Ministry
Where to begin – I suppose at the beginning. When I first received a phone call regarding my profile, I was a little stunned because...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Aug 15
2nd Commandment - No Idols
Matthew 4:1-4 NRSVUE 4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Aug 14
Encounter at Callahan's
Tonight, I was with my wife at a local restaurant. As we were preparing to pay for our meal, there was a man already at the checkout; his...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Aug 8
1st Commandment
Author's note: Long post warning. I pray it is a good read. Matthew 19:16-22 NRSVUE 16 Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Aug 5
Introduction to the 10 Commandments
Here is the shortened version of the 10 Commandments: 1. You shall have no other gods before me. 2. You shall not make for yourself an...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jul 25
Welcome the Stranger
Leviticus 19:33-34, Inclusive Bible Do not mistreat the foreigners who reside in your land. The foreigner who lives among you must be...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jul 18
Bridging the Gap
Genesis 28:10-19 10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jul 11
God’s Word – A Conversation About Scripture
In 2019, Karen Armstrong published her book The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing the Sacred Texts. I started reading the introduction and...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jun 26
34th General Synod of the United Church of Christ
I cannot recall ever having written anything about General Synod in a Blog Post. Sounds kind of boring, really. But Synod begins on...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jun 21
Our Amazing Selves
“Within Young Leaves” The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo Wrapped within young leaves: the sound of water. —Soseki "This delicate...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jun 13
Risk and Trust
“A Wisdom Moment of Trust” The Book of Awakening, Mark Nepo "The need to step into what we fear and, in so doing, disperse its hold on us...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- May 22
Women's Equality
The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Chapter 105:1-8 (Mirrors the Gospel of Luke 8:1-3) "1. Now, many women who possessed much wealth, and abode...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- May 15
Physical Health - Jesus' Ministry of Healing
Luke 17:11-19 11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- May 7
Mental Health - Healing the Gerasene Demoniac
Luke 8:26-39 26 Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 As he stepped out on shore, a man from...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- May 2
Abundance vs. Scarcity - A Different Way to Look at Poverty
Luke 21:1-4 21 He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; 2 he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Apr 25
“The Alien Resident Among You”
Luke 4:22-30 “22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They said, “Is this not Joseph’s...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Apr 18
Introduction - The Social Ills of Jesus' Day
Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Apr 11
Love One Another
There was another mass shooting today, the 146th mass shooting this year. Mass shootings are defined as a shooting death where four or...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Apr 4
Matthew 28:1-10 : Resurrection Life - Ditch the Cross
Matthew 28:1-10, NRSVUE 28 After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Mar 28
Palm Sunday: Matthew 21:1-17
21 When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Mar 21
New Covenant of Love
Jeremiah 31:33-34 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Mar 14
Atonement - Turning or Returning to God
My apologies - this is a long post, but hopefully a deeply informative one. There is much more I could say about Atonement, but hopefully...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Mar 6
Keep the Sabbath Day Holy
We continue our Lenten series on the ways in which we violate God's covenant and this week are looking at how to keep the Sabbath Holy....
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Feb 27
Leviticus 22:1-3 - Our Sacred Gifts
Leviticus 22:1-3 22 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Direct Aaron and his sons to deal carefully with the sacred donations of the...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Feb 20
Violating Covenant: Worshiping Other Gods
This coming Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent. Throughout Lent we will be looking at several of the ways in which we violate God’s...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Feb 13
"Enlarge Your Sense of Things"
"An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining, and so, one morning, sent him for some salt. When the apprentice...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jan 30
Leviticus 11 - The Regulations on Clean and Unclean
Chapters 11-15 deal with the regulations on clean and unclean, but we are going to take them chapter by chapter because they each discuss...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jan 23
Leviticus 8-10
As we continue our deep-dive into the Book of Leviticus, we learn more about the people of Israel, the God they worshiped, and maybe even...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jan 16
Leviticus 6:7-7:38
This section of material is so fascinating to me. So often we have no context for the priesthood, nothing concrete enough to say, "This...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jan 9
Leviticus: Chapters 1-7
If you've ever taken the time to read Leviticus then you will notice right out of the gate that God's instructions to Moses seem rather...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jan 2
Leviticus: Content and Structure
Note: The New Oxford Annotated Bible, NRSV, provides an excellent introduction to each book of the Bible. The first section of material...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Dec 28, 2022
Holiness Code: An Introduction to Leviticus
In order to understand the importance of Leviticus, it is important to understand who wrote it and why. Most scholars adhere to the...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jun 29, 2022
The Overturning of Roe v. Wade
A few days ago, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 vote, decided to overturn Roe v. Wade, which removes federal protection of women who seek...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Apr 5, 2022
Searching for Peace on Palm Sunday
Most of us are familiar with the story of Palm Sunday, the day that Jesus rides in on a colt or a donkey into the city of Jerusalem just...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jul 29, 2021
Exodus 29:38-45 I Will Be Their God: Dwell Among Them
38 Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old regularly each day. 39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning,...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jul 24, 2021
Genesis 45:1-15 - Joseph and Forgiveness
45 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So, no...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jul 8, 2021
Genesis 13:8-12,14-18 God's Promise to Abram
8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herders and my herders; for we are kindred. 9 Is...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jul 1, 2021
Genesis 11:1-9, Separation and Scattering
11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jun 25, 2021
Genesis 6:1-4, Separation of Spirit
6 When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that they were fair;...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jun 18, 2021
Genesis 17:1-22 - Separation and Commitment
17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Jun 14, 2021
Genesis 1-2 In the Beginning, Separation
The Book of Genesis provides us with a variety of wonderful stories regarding the foundation of the world and of the people who will...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- May 21, 2021
Joshua 2:1-7 Use What God Gives You
2 Then Joshua, son of Nun, sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So, they went...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- May 13, 2021
2 Samuel 13:16, 20b: Tamar and Tarana Burke
2 Samuel 13:16, 20b “No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.” (b) And...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- May 7, 2021
To Be Seen, Known, and Valued
“Connection is the energy that is created between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued—when they can give and receive without...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- May 1, 2021
Final Thoughts on Atonement
Some of you are aware that I have been taking a class for Continuing Education Units, those professional development hours that a lot of...
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Rev. Izzy Harbin
- Apr 19, 2021
Matthew 23:1-12
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3 therefore, do whatever they...
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