Years ago I stayed in a Bed and Breakfast where an intriguing book lay on the bedside table: “Founding Mothers”. When I saw it was by one of my favorite radio commentators, Cokie Roberts of NPR, I plunged in and wasn’t disappointed. What a marvelous concept: telling the too-often forgotten stories of these passionate and […]
As you study Jesus’ parables’, it becomes obvious quickly how important the Sower and the Seed story is, one of the few to appear in all three synoptic Gospels. (John’s Gospel doesn’t contain any parables.) But even more noticeable is that the Sower and the Seed story leads the rest, in Matthew (Matt. 13:3-17), Mark […]
December has been a month of pouring over Luke’s Gospel. If you watched the Luke Webinar * then you already know how much the evangelist is responsible for grounding the birth of Jesus in history, as well as learning of his deep ties to the Hebrew Scriptures. One of the earliest examples of these Old Testament […]
You may have more in common with Zechariah than you realize—the one that Luke writes about in his opening chapter (since there are a number of Zechariahs throughout the Scriptures). This Zechariah loved God, no doubt about that, having served in the ‘family business’ of being a priest his entire life. That can be like […]
“Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us” (The Message, Eugene Peterson II Tim. 3:15). Not everyone likes a paraphrased translation […]
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 […]
