Courtesy of leap day, I finished reading through the Bible yesterday morning. So over the last 365 days, I made it through Genesis to Malachi and Matthew through Revelation. There were moments of beauty and wonder as well as some parts that were just tough […]
I am not sure that “love” is exactly the right term, but I do love the power of the Good Friday service. Love is a strange word to describe the service, but it is one of the most meaningful services for me in the course […]
It didn’t hit me until today the connection between the two passages yesterday – the end of Deuteronomy and the reading from the Gospel of Mark. In both cases, they were the stories of one dying. In Deuteronomy, we read of the death of Moses […]
Coming to the end of the Gospel of Mark – today brought the story of the trial of Jesus and the crucifixion that followed. It immediately got me thinking about where I am seeing the cross in my daily life – both literally and figuratively. […]
Nouwen had a decidedly different take on the concept of taking up our cross (referring back to Matthew 16:21 – “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”) Most of the time I hear […]
Today I am grateful for the cross of Jesus. I was at a conference about racial/ethnic ministry today and as I was walking in, I saw the shadow of the entry steeple,falling on the church building. It spoke to me of how we are called […]
Mark 15 There’s nothing pretty about Mark 15. We can try to dress it up, try to avoid the reality of what is described, but this is a dark chapter in the Gospel. We have Jesus being unjustly condemned, beaten and whipped, and crucified before […]
A Place at the Table – 45 – Cross Jesus, the cup You offer us is bottomless, with opportunities to drink at every intersection, every chance meeting. In Your time upon this earth, You traversed a great area in order to show love to Your […]
A Place at the Table – 33 – The Feast of Rest God, we thank You for instructing us in immensely practical ways. We are a people made to work hard and to rest well. Our bodies and spirits are suffering because we have ignored […]
Matthew 1:18-23 – With Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being […]
The Crucifixion of Jesus They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a […]
The Demand for a Sign The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, […]
