There are people all over the world who are being persecuted—truly persecuted—for righteousness’ sake, for the sake of their faithful witness to their relationship with God and to the ways of God’s kingdom.
Opened Heavens
February 1, 2022 by
Jesus’ baptism somehow prompted an amazing representation of the thing that Jesus’ life in its entirety was about: the barrier between heaven and earth was penetrated and the way from heaven to earth and from earth to heaven was opened.
Connections 01.16.2022: The Near Future
January 9, 2022 by
Sometimes when we Christians think about the future, we think primarily about what we presume to be the distant future. We think about going to heaven or about Jesus coming back. We think in terms of everything being all right one of these days.
Connections 01.02.2022: Exiles
December 26, 2021 by
The prophet Jeremiah preached in the last quarter of the seventh century and the first quarter of the sixth century. About a hundred years before Jeremiah, the Assyrians had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel.
Connections 12.26.2021: Christmas Clothes
December 19, 2021 by
When I was a boy, my parents had a Christmas routine. My father would go to one of the department stores in our small town, where he would engage the help of the wife of the couple that owned the store in selecting a dress as a Christmas gift for my mother.
As Slow as Christmas
December 8, 2021 by
It was late on Christmas Day; the sun had set and my parents and I were somewhere between Yatesville and Barnesville on our way back home after the day-long celebration of Christ’s birth through the eating of food and the exchanging of gifts.
Connections 12.12.2021: How to Live
December 5, 2021 by
Who knows what people expect to hear when they go out to listen to John the Baptist preach. We do know what they hear.
Connections 12.05.2021: Completed Love
November 28, 2021 by
Wouldn’t you have liked to be there on that long ago day when the Christians of Philippi gathered to hear the letter from Paul that they had just received?
Connections 11.21.2021: The Truth
November 14, 2021 by
Try to see things from Pilate’s perspective. The local religious authorities have brought a man before you. They accuse the man of being a criminal.
Champ and Sara
November 10, 2021 by
2021 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the births of Champ and Sara Ruffin. He was born on July 25, 1921, she on September 13. I want to honor them in this centennial year of their births.
Connections 11.14.2021: Misunderstandings and Understandings
November 7, 2021 by
Hannah’s story is filled with misunderstandings. First, Peninnah thinks that Hannah’s inability to have children grants her license to torment Hannah for her childlessness.
Connections 10.03.21: A Theory of Everything
September 26, 2021 by
I readily admit that I don’t understand what most of that means. But I appreciate and admire the goal. It would be great to have a theory that explains everything that exists—from the tiniest to the largest—in the created world.
Connections 09.19.2021: High Standards
September 12, 2021 by
This week’s lesson text praises women who are wise, righteous, industrious, and productive. Those are good ways to be. It also instructs husbands and children to praise such women.
Connections 09.12.21: Embracing Wisdom
September 5, 2021 by
We hear a lot of debates these days about what constitutes knowledge and what characterizes wisdom. Some of us may even engage in such debates.
Connections 08.29.2021: Pressing On
August 22, 2021 by
I wonder if any of you ever find yourselves running into the same kind of barrier that I find myself running into. It’s the barrier that stands between me and the goals that I have set for myself.
Connections 08.22.2021: A Broad Focus
August 15, 2021 by
The construction of the Jerusalem temple had been completed. King Solomon was presiding over a dedication ceremony. He addressed the people of Israel who had gathered for the occasion.
Connections 08.08.2021: Complications
August 1, 2021 by
I’ve recently read a novel and watched a television series that each featured a similar subplot. The main character in the novel and one of the lead characters in the series each had a mother whose choices and resulting circumstances.
Connections 08.01.2021: Self-Awareness
July 25, 2021 by
At the end of our Scripture passage, David says, “I have sinned against the Lord.” But that is only after he hears Nathan’s story and absorbs the prophet’s accusation.
Connections 07.18.2021: On the Fringes
July 11, 2021 by
We sometimes hear of or talk about people living on the fringes. We usually use the phrase to refer to those who live on the fringes or edges of society economically, socially, culturally, or politically.
Connections 07.11.2021: By Association
July 4, 2021 by
We tend to avoid guilt by association, but being linked to someone else’s reputation isn’t necessarily a negative thing. Take for example Herod Antipas’s association of Jesus with John the Baptizer.
Connections 06.27.2021: Into, Out of, and Back Into the Chaos
June 20, 2021 by
The two stories in this week’s lesson text come right after two stories in which Jesus overcomes the chaos.
Connections 06.20.2021: Just As He Was (and As We Are)
June 13, 2021 by
Most modern scholars think that Mark’s Gospel was the first Gospel to be written. They furthermore think that both Matthew and Luke used Mark’s Gospel as a source in composing their Gospels.
Connections 06.06.2012: Doing God’s Will
May 28, 2021 by
We have probably heard people say, after they have decided upon a particular course of action, that they are going to do what they have decided to do because they believe it is God’s will.
Connections 05.30.2021: Family Resemblances
May 23, 2021 by
Family resemblances can be strong. My father died four decades ago, so it has been a long time since I witnessed any of his mannerisms.
Connections 05.16.2021: Learning from Experience
May 9, 2021 by
The writer of 1 John talks a lot about what we know. For example, he says, “By this we know that we abide in [God] and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (4:13).
Connections 05.09.2021: All We Need
May 2, 2021 by
One of my generation’s anthems proclaimed, “All you need is love!” In case we didn’t get it the first time, it repeated the message in a slightly different order: “Love is all you need!”
Connections 04.25.2021: When A Plan Comes Together
April 18, 2021 by
There was a time in my life when I was a regular viewer of the television program The A-Team. On one hand, I am not proud of that fact. On the other hand, everybody needs a little mindless distraction every now and then.
Connections 04.18.21: Realistic Idealism (or Idealistic Realism)
April 11, 2021 by
First John was written to a Christian community that was dealing with dissension and schism. The division in the community was prompted by people who claimed that Jesus only appeared to be human.
Connections 04.04.2021: Here, There, and Wherever
March 28, 2021 by
Look at Mary. She is right here. She is standing outside the tomb, weeping. She has already discovered the empty tomb.
Connections 03.28.2021: The Humble King
March 21, 2021 by
Jesus’ words imply an invitation to his disciples: “So come along with me!” Jesus’ words also imply an invitation to those of us who are also his disciples: “Come along with me!”
Angry
March 10, 2021 by
The chances that we will murder somebody are thankfully slim. The chances that we will get angry enough at someone to want them dead…
Connections 03.14.2021: Amazement
March 7, 2021 by
I am constantly amazed at the things human beings are capable of accomplishing.
Connections 03.07.2021: Foolish Wisdom
February 28, 2021 by
I admit to being a little troubled by what Paul says in this passage. Or it might be more accurate to say that I’m a little troubled by ways people might use—misuse, really—what Paul says.
Mortal Love
February 17, 2021 by
Valentine’s Day fell on February 14 again this year. It’s regular like that. Ash Wednesday, on the other hand, moves around.
Connections 02.21.2021: Looking at Rainbows
February 14, 2021 by
Ever since I took my first Old Testament course in college—and that was a long time ago—I’ve heard that the rainbow in the Noah story represents God’s unstrung war bow.
Connections 02.14.2021: Stubborn Faithfulness
February 7, 2021 by
The prophet Elijah was on the final journey of his life. You’d think he’d be grateful to have his fellow prophet and disciple Elisha accompany him. But Elijah kept trying to stop Elisha from going with him.
Connections 01.31.2021: Not Taking Evil for Granted
January 24, 2021 by
Jesus’ miracles had a purpose: they announced that God’s reign in the world had arrived in Jesus. So when Jesus cast evil spirits out of people, it was an announcement that God’s power to defeat evil was with Jesus.
Connections 01.24.2021: To Us
January 17, 2021 by
Jesus came to reveal God to us. This doesn’t mean that God hadn’t revealed God’s self to people before Jesus came.
Connections 01.10.2021: The Most Wonderful Times of the Year
January 3, 2021 by
Mark tells us right up front what his story is about: “the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (v. 1). And just in case we missed Mark’s statement of who Jesus is, God reminds us of Jesus’ identity when Jesus emerges from the Jordan.
Connections 01.03.21: Light in the Darkness
December 27, 2020 by
This week’s lesson falls on the second Sunday of Christmas. That is also the Sunday before the Epiphany, which occurs on January 6. Both Christmas and Epiphany are about God’s revealing God’s self to the world in Jesus Christ.
Connections 12.20.2020: Faithful to Send Jesus
December 13, 2020 by
I thought about opening with these words: “Put yourself in Mary’s place.” But then I realized that we can’t do that.
Connections 12.13.2020: God Will Do This
December 6, 2020 by
By my count, Paul offers a list of fourteen instructions to the Christians in Thessalonica in verses 12-21 of this week’s lesson text.
Connections 11.29.2020: Christian Holism
November 22, 2020 by
I recall a day when I was in fifth grade and it occurred to me that I had to go to school for seven more years before I could graduate from high school.
Connections 11.22.2020: What You Don’t (and Do) Know
November 15, 2020 by
We have a saying: “What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” As with many sayings, that one expresses only a partial truth. On one hand, it’s true that not knowing someone’s negative opinion of me can’t hurt me.
Connections 11.08.2020: Joyful Readiness
November 1, 2020 by
Our current unit of lessons is entitled “The Disciple’s Life” and is subtitled “Motives and Actions.” The title and subtitle assume that we should undertake certain actions as disciples of Jesus.
Connections 11.01.2020: Seating Arrangements
October 25, 2020 by
I have had a recurring—well, I don’t know what you’d call it. I’m pretty sure it’s not a vision (I know I don’t go into a trance). Maybe it’s just a fantasy.
Connections 10.18.2020: Electoral Humility
October 11, 2020 by
Almost sixty years had passed since Nebuchadrezzar’s Babylonian forces sent the first group of exiles from Judah to Babylon. Almost fifty years had passed since his armies had destroyed Jerusalem…
Connections 10.11.2020: The Song of the Ruthless
October 4, 2020 by
The prophet has in mind a mighty city that God has brought down because of its oppressive practices. The ruthless oppressors had been making a lot of noise and doing a lot of damage, but God silenced and stopped them.