“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea…. And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new….'” (Re 21:1-5a NAS95) Some Christians my age and older would like to rephrase that Scripture and have God... READ MORE >
“This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates Godlight and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone... READ MORE >
John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.” John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly... READ MORE >
“I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. “When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. “But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s... READ MORE >
“The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil.” Mattthew 25:1-4 New... READ MORE >
Joni Mitchell wrote a poem that was made into a song by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. They sang it at Woodstock… “We are stardust, we are golden, and we’ve got to get ourselves back to the Garden.” Even those who don’t believe in the biblical account of Creation entertain the notion of an idyllic beginning that we have somehow... READ MORE >
Psalm 127: Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved … sleep. This is part of a psalm... READ MORE >
Jesus had just come into the Temple. A group of kids followed him in from the streets where they and their parents had just welcomed him into Jerusalem as a hero. The kids kept cheering as they watched Jesus tear the place up, turning over tables and chasing the peddlers out of the Temple with a hastily improvised whip. Jesus... READ MORE >
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23 is almost a religious cliché and people who know very little about the Bible know parts of this Psalm. It is a Psalm of Thanksgiving for God’s provision and protection. But it is a great deal more than that. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads... READ MORE >
“Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.” This is the opening sentence of a short paragraph in the New Testament letter written by James. He was addressing a volatile and bitter conflict within the Church in m Jerusalem that featured questions that have faced religious n... READ MORE >
