It takes vulnerability and bravery for someone to raise questions that go against the grain.

With the world in crisis, students of the Bible can only wonder, “Is this the time of trouble such as never was? Are we truly in the last days? What should I be doing to prepare?”

Like all of the parables, the “parable of the sower”, is very pictorial, which makes it memorable. But it’s not just a nice story. There are serious lessons here, and the Lord fully intended that we do some thinking about what kind of soil we are. 

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!