Jacob and the Face of God

In the stories of Jacob and Esau there is a long history of interpretation that presents Jacob in a more positive light than his older twin. That’s understandable in that the Jews trace their lineage through Jacob and not Esau, and it’s rather unthinkable that a non-Jew would be a better example of the...

Like A Slave

The is the last of a four-part series on the parable of the Prodigal Son. Read Luke 15:11-25 We have now concluded the fun part of this story. This is the part we like, the part about being found after having been lost, about becoming alive again after having been given up for dead. The part about coming...

In a Far Land

This is the second of four messages on the Prodigal Son. For last week’s message click here. Last week I attended the inaugural Frederick Buechner Religious Writer’s Workshop. If you don’t know who Frederick Buechner is, I encourage you to find out. He’s a the author of over thirty books, none of them...

Jesus, Zacchaeus & Christian Cake-Bakers

Apparently there are some Christians who believe that if they bake a cake for a gay marriage that this constitutes an endorsement of the event, and that being forced to do so is a violation of their religious freedom. People of all backgrounds and persuasions have been weighing in, with Christians in...

Love, Grace, and Reproof

Whenever I write or speak about grace, forgiveness, and the dangers of judgmentalism I invariably get some pushback from some who think that I’m going easy on sin. Some of this is from people who seem to genuinely feel that grace itself is too easy on sin. I think this reflects a fundamental...

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