One of the most haunting stories I’ve ever read is from Jim Wallis, in his book, Call to Conversion. Wallis describes something that happened at a conference in New York City on social justice that included religious leaders of all kinds. “At one point,” he recalls, “a Native American man stood up, looked out over […]
The Ethiopian Eunuch. What an unexpected Scriptural character he is. He is far outside of the bounds of religious acceptability. As a eunuch he was either born with ambiguous genitalia or he was castrated before puberty. He may have been castrated by choice, but the far more likely explanation is that he was castrated so […]
Today is the second Sunday of Easter. Notice I didn’t say “after” Easter but “of” Easter, because for Christians Easter isn’t a day but is instead a season. We get 50 whole days of Easter! Isn’t that fabulous?!?! Well, sort of. It is hard to sustain the joy and mystery of Easter. One Easter Season […]
Not surprisingly, I have become very conscious of feet over the past two months. Losing the use of a foot, even temporarily, has made me acutely aware of exactly how important our feet are and how much abuse they take. They bear the weight of our entire body and all the physical activities of our […]
I’ve been thinking a lot about atonement lately. Atonement is a theological term that basically seeks to answer the question, “Why does Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection matter to us and to creation?” When you read theological writings about the subject, you can begin to wonder if it is all simply another discussion about how […]
As you might guess, I have had a lot of unoccupied time over the past five weeks of my medical leave. My foot wasn’t working right, but my brain was just fine. I did a lot of reading, and I watched a bunch of tv. In this world of the internet and streaming, this means […]
I think the miracle, healing, and exorcism stories in our Gospels are some of the hardest stories for the modern-day Christian. The worldview behind these stories is just so different from the dominant worldview today. And as a result, we ask all sorts of questions that would not have been asked by the writers of […]
This morning I decided not to write and preach my own sermon, but instead to share with you the words of Nathanael, a Jewish man who lived about 2000 years ago and knew Jesus face-to-face. He asked me to read his words, because he hopes that his story will strengthen and inspire you in your […]
The new church year began with Advent at the beginning of December. With the first Sunday of the season of Epiphany (today), we are entering the year of Gospel readings that come from the Gospel of Mark. There will be some Sundays when we don’t hear from Mark, but by and large this will be […]
You have heard me say before that when I find a passage from Scripture that I want to avoid I find that it is better for my spiritual health to throw myself into it than to avoid it. I realized recently that I am not applying this discipline in all circumstances—I avoid Paul’s letters like […]