Living worthily of the gospel includes Christlike self-giving and God’s joyful generosity; friendship with God and equality with others; abandoning fantasies of security and accepting complexity; discerning God’s correction and God’s...

This selection from Psalm 105 includes the story of “bread from heaven” that we read in Exodus. When comparing this psalm to the version of the story in Exodus, the differences...

Read Exodus 16:12 a few times. How do you hear God’s voice? Aggravated, almost threatening? “I heard that! Here, take this and keep quiet!” Or gentle and promising? “Yes, children, I...

“If only we had died . . . in the land of Egypt, when we . . . ate our fill of bread.” When we go through liberating change, we may feel that the grass...

If the parable of the workers presents God’s grace in a story with surprising social contours, it fits well with what precedes it. In Matthew 19, Jesus overturns expectations about family...

The parable of the workers in the vineyard appears to take place in the familiar world of workers, bosses, and paychecks—including the perhaps all-too-familiar world of subsistence wages. But don’t let...

“Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ,” Paul exhorts his Philippian readers. He encourages them to live in a way that reflects the good news of...

I do not know the back story of the characters in this parable. However, key words and phrases catch me: slave (which is servant or bondsman in other translations), ten thousand...

In different parts of Africa, you will find a Palaver tree. It’s usually large with spreading branches to shelter and shade those who gather below it, making it a tree central...

I enter this text as a vegetarian. My spouse, whom I typically adore and highly respect, is an omnivore—an eater of all foods. For almost thirty years we’ve practiced living, hosting,...