I don’t know about you, but “refreshing” sounds great, and I’d like some!  And in particular this refreshing. 

Is a “broken spirit” a good thing or a bad thing? 

There are numerous spiritual lessons to be gained from the book of Esther. To my mind, the central one is what Mordecai says to his cousin and foster daughter, when the looming crisis comes to light...

It ought to hit us like a slap.  “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,” Jesus says. (Luke 6:26) Can this really be? 

“This can go two ways.” I can’t tell you how many dramas have used that line. Usually as the prelude to a threat.  No threats here, but definitely serious.

The rumors come ahead of the man himself: Joshua is out again, preaching again!  He’s apparently going all through Galilee.  And now here he is, right in Capernaum! 

John emphasizes that we must love one another. Indeed, it’s a command that we do so and he presents us with no middle option. We want to force a middle position, we want to claim we don’t really hate them, even if we have ill feeling toward them.  But John (actually the Spirit through him) says:  No, no middle ground.

Spring is just about done now, and we’re moving into early summer.  It’s beautiful.  It’s wonderful—that is, it causes me to be full of wonder!

I’ve been looking at the origins and meanings of the words sympathy, empathy and compassion. If exploring words isn’t exactly your thing, I hope you’ll stick with me anyway; there is a point to it.

Our story begins with the humanist scholar and theologian, Desiderius Erasmus, whose motto was ad fontes—to the sources.

These verses are the climax of the Song of Songs. They express, in the most eloquent language, the primacy of love in all of God's dealings with us.