To read click here: Trouble with Grace part 1 Whenever I talk about grace, it seems, someone is sure to get rattled by the idea. Some people think that grace means lawlessness–a world of anarchy in which there is no justice and evil runs rampant. In a world as messed up as this one, chaos […]
To read click here: Gen 15. Faith which God Affirms One of the most common conversations about God that I have begins like this: “I love God. Or, at least, I thought I did. And I thought God loved me, since, in Jesus, He died for me and forgave my sin. . . But now […]
If the Bible is true then, first, we’re all guilty of inflicting suffering, and, second, we’re all the victims of injustice. If we believe the first, it follows that we would be humble, not eager to judge others. If we believe the second, it follows that everyone is deserving of some sympathy. Obscure either and […]
This has been a brutal week: racist murders, terrorist beheadings, tourists gunned down, hate mail, and another brother forced to resign from his ministry. It was the mail, and my grief over what this brother and his family are going through, that prompted this psalm, a cry from my own fractured soul–and a glimpse at the hope that […]
to read click here: Deuteronomy . . . . At first glance we mistakenly view the Hebrews as aggressors. We forget that they had been so afraid of these enormous Canaanites with their walled cities that they would have preferred to return to slavery in Egypt. God made it clear that they could NOT overthrow […]
Click here: Exodus 14 The card read: “Do not be afraid. Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. . . The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:13-14). I have needed those instructions again and again since then. . . photo by:
To read this page click here: Judges 11 Jephthah’s story looks at first glance like a nightmare of conflict, betrayal, mistrust and human sacrifice. What is going on? For those with eyes for the good news, it is about far more. photo by:
On Packers and Seahawks No player is safe from second-guessers. What does that illustrate, apart from 20-20 hindsight?
Browning’s Christmas Eve Christmas Eve, 1849, England. A cold, wind-whipped pedestrian seeks refuge from a rainstorm by slipping into the back of a stone chapel during a sermon. A mere nine people are listening to the preacher, whose logic and grammar are abysmal. The poet, already cynical about the holiday, pours out on paper a […]
This is part of a series on Luke’s Gospel that will be published shortly. Luke 3 People were expecting the ultimate king. Luke jumps ahead another 18 years. He clarifies the date by naming those in power at the time: emperor, governors, kings, high priests–but the Lord gave his words to an obscure prophet in […]
