Scripture
October 12, Ordinary 28C (Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7)
Jeremiah isn’t panicking. He’s incandescent with holy resolve.
The rhythm of a difficult song
Recently I reread the Psalms. I could feel the turbulence of the world that gave birth to them.
October 5, Ordinary 27C (Luke 17:5-10)
The spirit is willing, but the inner horticulturist is weak.
Money and the love of it (1 Timothy 6:6-19)
Money isn’t always bad. But the lust for riches is like an official invitation for evil.
September 28, Ordinary 26C (1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31)
Preachers often bury the lede—especially with this parable.
Wait, what’s the point of this parable? (Luke 16:1-13)
At first the dishonest manager seems to offer an example of what not to do. But then it seems like he’s the hero. What’s going on?
Praying the imprecatory psalms with Bonhoeffer
How did these psalms about enemies feel in 1940? How do they feel today?
Confounding words
In the gospels, sometimes Jesus responds to questions much like the young Bob Dylan did in interviews.
The Kirk assassination and the scandal of enemy love
The kind of love Jesus taught may not be popular. But the alternative has already shown its rotten fruit.
What is the lost coin in us? (Luke 15:1-10)
Can we reach the sinner inside and ask what keeps us from coming to the table?
September 14, Ordinary 24C (Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14)
Hope where all appears hopeless: that’s where God is.
Jesus makes it hard to be a Christian (Luke 14:25-33)
The problem many preachers face when trying to preach without fear or favor is Jesus himself.
Guestability
Churches tend to equate the notion of inclusion with hospitality. Peter and Cornelius suggest a more nuanced definition.
September 7, Ordinary 23C (Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18)
My mother taught me what the Psalmist knew well—that a human being is one continuous interrogative prayer.
Understanding idolatry (Jeremiah 2:4-13)
Jeremiah’s message for Judah cuts deeper than our petty loyalties.
The word outlasts the throne
Kings fall, tyrants pass, and hope endures in the prophets’ vision of God’s story.
The morality of Jesus reinterpreted
Writing primarily for post-evangelicals, ethicist David Gushee examines 40 biblical texts.
Noah gets drunk. Then he curses Ham.
How on earth did this odd little biblical tale get twisted into a justification for chattel slavery?