Welcoming the Stranger

This week for one of my classes I studied the tale of Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8. I've often visualized a black man in royal robes, bouncing along in a chariot, while a young Jewish man runs up alongside and is able to

Individual or Person?

John Wayne and a lot of other actors personified a myth we see often in American literature, the 'rugged individual' who fights his or her lonely fight, and at some point in the story even turns away from those who offer comfort and shelter. I'm sure you've read books or watched movies along that line. The reality, though, is much different. Not one of us is

Not an Option

I awoke in the middle of the night with a starkly realistic dream about someone from many years ago in my life. My nerves were knotted up in anger, and I realized this was someone I haven't yet forgiven for real or perceived offenses. It's time for me to go

The End of Conflict

Last night some friends and I discussed part of a book called "Life Together." A German pastor named Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about church life, during the Nazi persecution of the Lutheran church in Germany during WWII.  Brother Dietrich realized that if the church didn't

Humility and Trust

To be frank, I don't know if I want to trust you. I've trusted people before, and some of them betrayed me, gossiped, and made fun of me. Some of them abandoned me, just hung me out to dry and walked away. So if I ask you to pray about something, or open up and tell you about my problems, what will you do? Or maybe this is you, asking me

The Gift of Presence

"Your presence is the only present we request" sometimes shows up on an invitation to a birthday or anniversary. The hosts are expressing that it's more important to be there, than to give something to the person being honored. Guess what? Jesus 'showed up' often during his life on earth, and his presence was often simply that, and that alone. Jesus came to

Why Mary Magdalene?

Reading and meditating on the gospel accounts of Jesus' resurrection, one striking detail comes clear:  in all four stories, it is the women who see Jesus first! (Yes, they went to the tomb first, but their testimony is pivotal, contrary to the culture of the day, and is a sign of the acceptance of women in the church.) But in all four accounts, Mary Magdalene

Why Did Jesus Die? A Meditation for Holy Saturday

Some very helpful thoughts from Dr. C. Baxter Kruger on why Jesus died (these are a few excerpts from a longer article, linked below):
"If we are to understand why Jesus Christ died, we must begin with who God is, and therefore we begin with the Holy Trinity and with the abounding and glorious and rich and overflowing fellowship of the Father, Son and Spirit. For this Triune God is the Creator, and this divine life of togetherness and communion is the womb of creation, and this divine fellowship of unbounded joy is the rhyme and reason behind the existence of the human race and of every person within it....
If we must speak in terms of law, then we must say that the law of this universe is the primal decision of the Father, Son and Spirit to give humanity a place in the Trinitarian life through Jesus Christ....
For how do you get from the Fall of Adam to the right hand of God the Father almighty? The only way is through death. The Fall must be undone. Adam must be thoroughly converted to God. Human existence, broken and estranged and perverted, must be radically circumcised and systematically recreated, utterly and thoroughly transformed, and bent back into right relationship with the Father.
...And Jesus died because the only way to get from the Fall of Adam to the right hand of the Father was through the crucifixion of Adamic existence...."
http://baxterkruger.blogspot.com/2008/03/on-death-of-jesus.html

How to Treat One Another

I just saw this post on another blog and it's so good, I want to share it here. This is an 'infographic' which means it's easy to absorb visually but has great information in it.

http://overviewbible.com/one-another-infographic/

If you wonder how we should treat each other, this is a good place to start.

What do you think?

Living in the Kingdom: The Sermon on the Mount

"Blessed are the poor...You are the salt of the earth...Unless your righteousness is better than the Pharisees...You have heard it said..."  These are familiar words from Jesus. Many times they are said to be "a new Torah" or "the constitution of the Kingdom," and they can be a tad frightening if

The Holy Spirit Beckons Us In

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have lived, forever, in an endless 'dance' of self-giving, each in the others and each making space for the others. That God who is Love itself (1 John 4:8) has invited

The Holy Spirit in Community

My six siblings and I love getting together to catch up on life. We tell stories on each other, share memories of growing up together and laugh -- a lot! Sometimes we're all talking at the same time and have