Most Bible translations soften what Paul says in the opening line of Romans: “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus” (1:1). That sounds okay. Jesus came to serve, and we like…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
Though Luke is a Gentile, a Christian, and one of Paul’s key helpers, and, as such, probably not very concerned with the details of Jewish law, he nonetheless is careful…
Talk about biting the hand that feeds you! Rank ingratitude. Now, a parable isn’t supposed to cover all the details. It’s supposed to get across at least one, clear, main…
General, later President Eisenhower and, a few years after, General Douglas MacArthur were both honored by ticker-tape parades. And no wonder—both had been at the strategic epicenter of bringing terrible,…
I suppose there are those here who know of Marfa—so chic—but if you kept on driving along Highway 90, and driving and driving, like you really had to get to…
If Jesus is always teaching, he is also preparing his followers. He has something he’s asking them to do, wants them to be doing. In much of the first part…