In our three-year lectionary cycle, most Hebrew Bible texts come up once at most. Isaiah 58 is assigned five times. We justice-minded Christians tend to find additional reasons to turn to it as well.
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Ecclesiastes as a one man show
I have always wanted to see the look on Qoheleth’s face. An innovative thespian on a spiritual quest recently gave me that chance.
A colleague from the theater department at my university had told me that someone was doing a monologue of Ecclesiastes at a local fringe festival. I was excited in a way that betrays my particular nerdiness about this topic. I bought a ticket to Meaningless and sat up front, eagerly waiting to finally meet the sage, whom I had been studying for so many years, in person.
January 29 Epiphany 4A Matthew 5 1 12
Did Jesus tell us to pray for our enemies
If so, what did he mean?
January 22 Epiphany 3A Psalm 27 1 4 9 Matthew 4 12 23
In June 2020, I was invited to give a virtual conference to youth from the United Methodist Church of Peru. At that time, the COVID pandemic was at its worst, and many people were dying worldwide. Like most of us, those who attended the conference were anxious, sad, afraid, and discouraged. Many of them had lost family members and members of their church community to the virus.
A biography of Psalm 91
The deeper Philip Jenkins takes us, the more layered and fascinating the story becomes.
January 15 Epiphany 2A John 1 29 42
I had received three speeding tickets in one year. It was a personal record. I wasn’t proud. The State of Iowa, in its wisdom, said that I should take a defensive driving course. They insisted, really. If I didn’t, they would take my license away. Could I do my job if I couldn’t drive? Probably, but what would the congregation think? This was before online classes, so I toddled off to a Saturday morning class for a few weeks, to be instructed on the finer points of obeying the law.
Reading the Bible with Love Sechrest
In Race and Rhyme, associative hermeneutics finds its roots in deep, communal, and highly developed wisdom.
January 8 Baptism of the Lord nbsp A Matthew 3 13 17
Even Jesus is unable to escape the consequences of sin, becoming a victim of human violence.