I’m not sure whether Jesus lived in turbulent times or just sort of caused tumult wherever he went. He definitely upset a lot of old, traditional notions and ways—those venerable…
Growing up, I’d sometimes ask my father for some money. He didn’t often have much, but I don’t recall him ever saying no. Later, when I was away at college…
It doesn’t exactly feel as if my demons have submitted yet, but maybe they just want me to think they haven’t. The truth is they’re done. They’ve lost. They aren’t…
I wish they had been walking by a field, maybe at sowing time. As it is, “they were walking along the road” (9:57). It’s a dirt road. The road is…
Corpus Christi is a hot place. When we lived there, I saw what amazed me: a man, walking. It wasn’t once or twice. I saw him nearly every day, walking…
We’ve been reading our way through 1 Timothy. Timothy was in Ephesus, trying to get some things straightened out in the church there. If we think of Ephesus at all,…
“[D]o nothing out of favoritism” (5:21). Remember Joseph and his eleven brothers? I guess Jacob just couldn’t help himself. Well, he had learned from the best: his mother, who…
elder When Paul was writing, there were no church buildings, only home churches. Let’s all meet at my house next Sunday! Well, we’d be squeezed in,…
Last Sunday, I spoke of Paul’s instruction to Timothy about prayer in the church. Christians pray for everybody. We pray for everyone not only because everyone stands in need of…
At some point, you may have wondered why we do church the way we do. If you worship elsewhere when you’re on vacation—I hope you do!—you’ve noticed that different churches…