In his salad days, Croatian theologian Miroslav Volf served as a draftee in the Yugoslavian army. But his hitch brought him no honor. Mr. Volf mustered in with two strikes against him already on the board: He was married to American; worse yet, he was a Christian. Thus, the communist army suspected him a traitor,Continue reading “His Name Is Dayspring”
Tag Archives: repentance
Relationship Assessment
Some of the most dramatic chapters in the discipleship story of God with us come in the Acts of the Apostles. It begins, as we heard a couple weeks ago, with the jaw-dropping account of Jesus returning to heaven, which catches the apostles flat-footed and leaves them gazing up into the sky. Spectacular moments likeContinue reading “Relationship Assessment”
Passing through Jesus
Unlike the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke in which Jesus teaches through parables, John’s Gospel doesn’t include any parables. Instead, Jesus reveals himself through his much-beloved “I AM” sayings: “I AM the bread of life.” “I AM the light of the world.” “I AM the resurrection and the life.” “I AM the way, theContinue reading “Passing through Jesus”
Seeing with Kingdom Eyes
The Lord’s persuasive invitations to discipleship are the common threads woven into our Scripture lessons over the past couple Sundays. Those gracious, open invitations to be counted among Jesus’s followers immediately compel a tax collector named Matthew to quit his lucrative job raking in big bucks for his Roman bosses and to join the communityContinue reading “Seeing with Kingdom Eyes”
Cross Training
We typically sing the rousing lyrics on a Sunday in Lent: “In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time.” The idea of the cross towering over various “wrecks” across the ages became all-the-more poignant in the harrowing days of anger and grief after 9/11. That twisted, iron-girder cross rising fromContinue reading “Cross Training”
Heart health
Old Testament prophets have miserable, unenviable jobs. God taps these individuals – mostly men but also a few women – to proclaim bracing messages of doom and gloom to wayward souls who’ve strayed far from the fold of God. Over the past few Sundays, in our exploration of the story of God with us, we’veContinue reading “Heart health”
Patching the Leak
The Old Testament kings and prophets, along with God’s perennially disobedient people, have been the main characters in our Scripture lessons for the past couple Sundays. As the story of God and us continues to unfold, the long era of royal rule has begun for the Israelites, and their kings are mixed bags of goodContinue reading “Patching the Leak”
Drawing the Line
Chaos seems to be the order of the day for God’s first people, the Israelites. Not long after the Lord their God rescues them from the bonds of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites begin stepping way over the line, far out of bounds, and deeply into dangerous territory. They most definitely are not meeting God’sContinue reading “Drawing the Line”
Ash Wednesday: The Past Comes Knocking
Lent is a lot of things to a lot of people. But at its heart, Lent is a gracious invitation to take an honest look in the mirror of self-reflection, muster up the courage to allow the Holy Spirit pick out those attitudes and behaviors that are separating you from God and those around you,Continue reading “Ash Wednesday: The Past Comes Knocking”
Flawed Heroes
Only seven weeks into our look at the biblical story of God and us, and already, a sad, gloomy cycle of broken relationship between heaven and earth has taken hold. An ever-faithful God is doing what only heaven can do to try and corral the ever-growing ranks of unfaithful mavericks among God’s people. But theContinue reading “Flawed Heroes”