My mother-in-law grew up in The Bronx, attending, as I found out several years back, a Presbyterian church. In the same neighborhood were many Jews, observant Jews. “Did you know…
Another Pharisee wants to hear more, see more, know more. That’s good. When anyone invites additional conversation, additional connection-building, let’s make the most of the opportunity. After all, when is…
We have all been inconvenienced. Hopefully, it hasn’t been at midnight. But, you know, any midnight call . . . it’s coming from someone who feels as if there isn’t…
It may not feel or seem as if much yields to the name of Jesus these days. It’s as if the name Jesus has sort of become an empty but…
Acta non verba—deeds, not words. That would be great. But, we get carried along, carried off by a feeling, and say things, and then we figure out the feeling and…
“Not one of us” (9:49). I am not interested in hindering others, but I am interested in strengthening the church: healthy, vital, vibrant, whole. The church is strengthened when we…
Now back once more on the Jewish side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus returns to a place he had previously visited. Luke does not tell us exactly where these…
Jews would not keep herds of pigs. The territory into which Jesus takes his disciples now is Gentile territory; more, it’s culturally Greek. Greek thought owed nothing to and had…
Why did the disciples cross the lake? To get to the other side. Only, as it turns out, that wasn’t so simple as they had thought when they set out. …
Luke tells us that “the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John” (7:30). So, it is possible…