It is striking to me that Samuel hears God’s voice so clearly. Samuel has a deep ability to experience and discern God’s presence. He could have doubted the words, “The Lord...

In my days as a children’s ministry leader at our small church in a suburb just outside Minneapolis, my favorite class to teach (yes, this teacher had favorites) was the preschool...

When Jesus spoke of an unforgiveable sin, he uncorked a flow of questions and fears that continue today. It seems to me that the specter of God’s unforgiveness has, in many...

In Mark 3, Jesus heals with authoritative abandon. Even the evil spirits recognize his authority. On a mountain with his inner circle, Jesus appoints twelve of them to serve as his...

Paul speaks of “gratitude,” of “bodies breaking down on the outside,” of those same bodies “on the inside . . . being renewed every day,” and of an incomparable “stockpile of...

In today’s reading, Paul continues the theme with which he began his letter: Life may be full of troubles, but God empowers us to take each raw deal that life throws...

Psalm 138 opens with a defiant celebration. The psalmist looks at all other “gods” and sings grateful praise to Yahweh alone. Idols are the darlings of kings who devour the earth...

Israel has disappointed Samuel. To him, the problems with elevating one person to the rank of king should be obvious enough to everyone. And as we noted yesterday, when he outlines...

In ancient cultures, it was customary for children to follow in the vocational footsteps of their parents. As the call stories of people from Joshua to Jeremiah to Jesus demonstrate, though,...

Our mortality is charged with God’s infinity. The psalmist sings of the unfathomable sum of God’s thoughts, as many as the grains of sand that cover the landscape of Israel. Here...