Maybe you also have friends who are remarkable artists, talents that their families say began emerging from earliest childhood. Then there are the rest of us who can appreciate art. I long ago reconciled myself to being in the latter category, justifying that someone had to troop through all those galleries and museums oohing and […]
What better place for individuals or Bible Study groups to look than the Scriptures for reasons to be grateful this November season of Thanksgiving. That’s why the three blogs this month have a theme of gratitude but you might be surprised by the selections! The first is the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness, that […]
Feasts and food play a surprising role in the Scriptures when you consider how many people went to bed hungry. And maybe that’s the point. While eating and drinking sustain human life, they also create the opportunity to celebrate God as the One who provides life. And they then become metaphors throughout both the Hebrew […]
Have you noticed how ‘success’ keeps getting redefined? In a Western culture cruising on the ‘wealth/celebrity/image’ highway, it could be the way someone dresses, the car they drive, the size of a bank account or number of diplomas on the wall. And worse, such criteria change constantly. The Letter to the Philippians is Paul’s way […]
Discovering the variety of ways Paul opens his letters to the early Churches is like mining fields of gold—so many gems to uncover, chew on, then figure out how to apply and his introduction to Romans is no exception. Paul launches his monumental epistle to the Romans with a self-description. That alone is a spiritual aha. […]