Articles
Reflections
July 5, 2021
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...
June 29, 2021
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?
June 28, 2021
“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.
June 15, 2021
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!
June 8, 2021
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.
June 3, 2021
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!
May 31, 2021
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.
May 25, 2021
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.
May 24, 2021
We know this one by heart: "So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” (James 4:17) The principle James states rings absolutely true. There is nothing hard to grasp about the principle. Except, what actually is the “right thing”?
May 18, 2021
I’m pretty sure we would have figured it out anyway, but the writer to the Hebrews leaves us in no doubt whatever: the tabernacle and temple detailed in the Old Testament are symbolic.
May 13, 2021
But there was one, and only one, disciple who was literally, physically crucified with Jesus. He is usually called “the thief on the cross”.