One of the things I find most interesting about the Bible is the way that its stories openly–one might even say brutally–cover the faults and failings of the main characters. Nobody manages to come off all that well in the story. Even Moses, author of the Torah, or perhaps receiver of it, is not presented…
Introductory Note I’ve been meditating on Psalm 119 recently after a conversation with an author regarding a forthcoming book reminded me of it. I’m going to write a few short devotionals. I’m not sure how many I’ll write, but reading this Psalm does make me think. For any devotional on Psalm 119, please remember that…
Christian education programs in churches are often the least well-thought-out elements of church life. Thinking about discipleship provides some answers.
In my Sunday School class yesterday we discussed Mark 15. We’re reading this with Allan Bevere’s Keeping Up with Jesus: A Narrative Devotional Commentary on Mark. In the thought questions for chapter 15, Allan asks both why Jesus is silent at his trial as depicted in Mark, and what it means that Jesus died for…
Summarizing attributes of the assembly of dragons and beasts in Revelation 12 & 13.
Are we making an image to the beast or being the image of Christ?
We need to listen to people with different perspectives in a variety of different ways to improve our own understanding.
Teachers and pastors frequently avoid talking about sanctification. Some of the reasons include: A Detour on Christian Perfection When I first joined a United Methodist congregation, I had the idea that Methodists would know a great deal about John Wesley. One Sunday night I discovered how wrong I was. I had been invited to teach…
There might be many reasons why someone would be ashamed of the good news about God that is represented in what we call the “gospel.” Historically, the shame was in worshipping a convicted and executed criminal, calling him God and following his teachings. Very few people doubt that Jesus died, and that he was executed…
The other day I was just waking up and realizing that I faced a challenging day. I decided to do a little scripture reading before even getting up. I chose to read a language I read only very slowly and with difficulty (Syriac), because that usually gives me more time to meditate. I have a…
