“All under the power of sin” is not a place we want to begin. It isn’t very flattering. But we can’t buy our way out or even work our way…
So, the Pharisees always manage to surprise me. I often wonder, had I been alive at the time, whether I would have been a Pharisee. I think I probably would…
“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (10:4). So much, then, for the entire sacrificial system established in the first books in the Bible. …
Jesus is back from the wilderness, tested, steeled with the Spirit, with purpose, devotion, zeal, focus. People notice. People gather. So many bump through life wishy-washy, pale, bruised. Oh, why…
It’s no accident, no coincidence, that temptation follows baptism. John offered a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jews were familiar with the forgiveness of sins: they gloried…
The Sons of Thunder had it coming, not that Jesus owed it to them, of course. But who among them really was going to argue that he had outdone James…
Poor Jimmy Carter. You just know there’ll be trouble when you get interviewed for Playboy magazine. Why would anyone agree to that interview? Back in 1976, Carter mentioned—confessed—to the reporters…
But we’ve always done it that way. What is that tried-and-true definition of insanity: repeating the same actions while expecting a different result? Because Jesus did not do the things…
What characteristic makes a Christian Christian? Faith? Love? Hope? Obedience? Humility? I believe—I hope—that I speak with you often about these virtues, these qualities. These are what give distinctive flavor…
It pays to know some history. It was the American philosopher and Harvard professor George Santayana who wrote, back in 1905, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to…