The Road to Iceland

Joel 2:23-32 Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in God, who has given the autumn rains in faithful commitment. God sends abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. God says “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten - the great locust and the young locust, the locust swarms, my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in the people Israel, that I am God, there is no other;   never again will my people be shamed.   “And afterward, I will pour out Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,  your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. On my servants, both men and women, I will pour out Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on

He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”   When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to Jesus, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” But Jesus said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. At the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ They all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me e

Deuteronomy 8:7-18 For God brings you to a good land, with flowing streams, waters in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, olive trees and honey; you eat bread whenever you wish, where you lack nothing. You shall eat and bless for the good land. Take care that you do not forget God, or fail to keep God’s laws. When you have eaten, built your homes to live in, and you have all that you need each day, do not exalt yourself, forgetting God, who brought you out from Egypt, from slavery, led you through the terrible wilderness, made water flow, and fed you with manna that your ancestors did not know, to test you, and to do you good. Do not say to yourself, "My own power has got this for me.” Luke 17:11-19 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus went through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, h

Lamentations 1:1-6 How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she, who once was great among the nations! She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. Bitterly she weeps at night, tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. After affliction and harsh labor, Judah has gone into exile. She dwells among the nations; she finds no resting place. All who pursue her have overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to her appointed festivals. All her gateways are desolate, her priests groan, her young women grieve, and she is in bitter anguish. Her foes have become her masters; her enemies are at ease. God has brought her grief because of her many sins. Her children have gone into exile, captive before the foe. All the splendor has departed from Daughter Zion. Her princes are like deer that find no pastu