Surely Jesus’ teachings and actions bring extreme responses. The words of this particular passage come on the heels of the Sermon on the Mount, some healings, and the call of the...

My brother Lance was born with a hearing disability, and I learned early in my life how to communicate well with him. We needed to be attentive to each other, and...

This psalm is the only one ascribed to David in Book III of the Psalms. Familiar Davidic themes run through it. We may wonder, How many times does David need to...

Abraham faces a dif cult situation. The mothers of his pre- cious children are jealous of each other, and he knows he cannot maintain the situation—a distressing time. The teller of...

The pain of abandonment lls this part of the great saga of Abraham. The story thus far has been laden with dif cult choices: the decision to leave Ur and all...

Many churches in the small country towns where I grew up have large wooden boards af xed to the back wall. On these boards are recorded, usually in faded yellow-gold text,...

Afew months ago I attended a funeral for my friend John. John had been a minister for over fty years, mostly serv- ing as a rural parson in agricultural communities in...

The number of movies about superheroes seems to have exploded in past decade. Some scholars have suggested that the popularity of superhero stories develops because they take the place of local...

Humans expend a lot of effort in trying to make peace with their gods. We tend to attribute value and worth to many different (false) gods: success, wealth, tribal or national...

Sometimes we nd it hard to be joyful and offer praise to God—especially when our present circumstances overwhelm us. The pressures of life—expectations, busyness, illness, worry, addiction— ll our lives and...