Strength for Whatever

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” –Philippians 4:13. This is one of those Bible verses you find on those little daily flip calendars with pretty pictures and a different Scripture each day to inspire us to face our day with courage, optimism, and a go-get-‘em attitude. I doubt...

Brooding Spirit of Creation

Theologians like to use sophisticated words like “transcendence” and “immanence” when talking about the fact that God is outside of the world yet continually active in it. The ancient Jewish writers of Scripture, however, talked about the same things by painting word pictures. Word pictures are much cooler...

Racism’s Persistent Presence

Note: I wrote this article just before the Charleston shootings but waited to post it until after it was due to be printed in my church’s bulletin this past Sunday. I considered revising it in the wake of the shootings but decided to print it as written. There have always been signs telling us that 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...

Charleston and Our Culture of Violence

Once again we are reeling in the aftermath of another mass killing, this one clearly and explicitly racially motivated. As usual, we also have to listen to the same rhetoric from both sides of the gun issue, then watch while nothing gets done before the country gets distracted by the next big thing in the...

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