Scripture: 1 Samuel 15:25 – “Now therefore, I pray, pardon my sin, and return with me, so that I may worship the Lord.” (NRSVUE)   The Bible is a source of beauty and inspiration, a revelation that guides the life of the faithful. But there are certain problem passages that cause people to doubt that the Bible is perfectly divine rather than, as I like to say, an authentic experience of the divine recorded by imperfect people. Some of these passages are ones that are rejected

Scripture: John 8:7 – “When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’” (NRSVUE)   One of the best-known stories in the Bible is the story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. Even people who have never picked up a Bible know this story. A group of scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery before Jesus and ask him if they should stone her to death. It is

Scripture: Exodus 34:9 – “[Moses] said, ‘If now I have found favor in your sight, my Lord, I pray, let my Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.’” (NRSVUE)   Mel Brooks is one of the greatest comedic filmmakers of all time, but I’ve always found his 1981 film, History of the World, Part I to be hit or miss, which makes sense as it is a series of sketches rather than a feature narrative. But

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:2b – “Look, now is the acceptable time; look, now is the day of salvation!” (NRSVUE)   Last night at our Book study, we finished reading Good Enough: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection  by Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. It is an anthology of devotionals on various topics related to grief, perspective, and self-acceptance. One of the devotionals towards the end of the book is “When Words Fail,” which is primarily about the importance of cr

Scripture: Exodus 6:9 – “Moses told this to the Israelites, but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.” (NRSVUE)   One of the most significant moments in the entire Bible is when God is revealed to Moses in the burning bush in the Book of Exodus. God announces Moses’ mission to cry out to Pharaoh and to lead the Israelites from slavery to freedom in the Promised Land. God even reveals the divine name, which we render euphemisti

Scripture: Isaiah 29:13 – “The Lord said: Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote…” (NRSVUE)   How do we know God’s will for us? I wish there was an easier answer to this question. Some will say because someone taught them about God – a Sunday School teacher, a minister, a parent or other family member. They were taught that God is love or t

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:9 – “Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse, but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing.” (NRSVUE)   We are living in very troubling times. The flashpoint in the United States are events unfolding in Minnesota, where Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed by ICE agents and, just yesterday, someone sprayed an unknown substance on Representative Ilhan Omar. But addition to strife

Scripture: 1 Samuel 10:7 – “Now when these signs meet you, do whatever you see fit to do, for God is with you.” (NRSVUE)   Sometimes, I am fascinated by the testimony of people who have rejected or left the church. I want to know what we as Christians can do to better welcome people into the Gospel. Common refrains are that faith is irreconcilable with science, that the Bible is full of contradictions, and the hypocrisy of Christians proves that religion cannot transform live

Scripture: Genesis 27:38 – “Esau said to his father, ‘Have you only one blessing, father? Bless me, me also, father!’ And Esau lifted up his voice and wept.” (NRSVUE)   We know that we should bring up our children in the faith and teach them the lessons of the Bible. We point out people like Abraham and David and tell children to be like them. But one thing I have discovered is that the great heroes of the Bible are not simple characters that we can just mindlessly emulate. T

Scripture: Acts 9:26 – “When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.” (NRSVUE)   We always hear about “Road to Damascus” moments in people’s lives. Even in our secular age, people know at least the broad details of the story. Saul( who will eventually change his name to Paul) was a great persecutor of the church, but as he traveled to the city of Damascus, he was overwhelme

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 – “For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a ti

Scripture: Luke 2:19 – “…and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” (NRSVUE)   Christmas Eve is one of the ultimate crosswinds days of the year. It is a day that is often tremendously busy, as families are either preparing for all the festivities of Christmas Day or engaging in Christmas Eve traditions. But it is also (supposed to be) a day of quiet reflection and anticipation of appreciation of the miracle of Christ coming into the world. How do we f

Scripture: Jude 24-25 – “Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”   There are many similes about how uncertain life can be. Life is like a roller coaster. A house of cards. Flying blind. I’d like to add another. Life is like walking on a dock on

Scripture: Isaiah 41:14-15 – “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you maggot Israel! I will help you, says the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. I will make of you a threshing sledge, sharp, new, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff.” (NRSVUE)   The Bible has lots of common imagery: God as a shepherd or a rock, Jesus as a sacrificial lamb, peace represented by a dove, or oil as a sign of being chosen by

Scripture: Isaiah 30:21 – “And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” (NRSVUE)   When it comes to the season of Advent, we go through a bit of mental gymnastics. We anticipate and prepare for the coming of Jesus. We look at the promises of the prophets, the angels, and even John the Baptist which will be fulfilled with Christ. And Christmas becomes the celebration as Jesus comes

Scripture: Psalm 100:1 – “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.” (NRSVUE)   Christmas is less than a month away. One of my favorite Christmas stories is How the Grinch Stole Christmas . The Grinch is a nasty character who hates the Christmas celebrations of his neighbors in Whoville and decides to steal their presents, food, and decorations to ruin the fun. One reason he does this is because of the clamor the Whos all make. “For Tomorrow, he knew, all the Who girls

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:23 – “‘All things are permitted,’ but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are permitted,’ but not all things build up.” (NRSVUE)   I remember when I was in high school, I went on a windjammer cruise with my friend, and I expressed my faith to another teen. He said I was naïve and too obsessed with rules. He especially highlighted the various contradictions in the Bible and what only an idiot would believe it. He didn’t convince me to abandon

Scripture: 2 John 5 – “But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment but one we have had from the beginning: let us love one another.” (NRSVUE)   There is something to be said for simplicity. After all, I think most of us have heard of the principle of KISS: keep it simple, stupid! This week I want to look at that Second Letter of John, the second shortest book in the entire Bible. As you might expect, this short book has a very simple mess

Scripture: Zechariah 1:15 – “…I am extremely angry with the nations that are at ease, for while I was only a little angry, they made the disaster worse.” (NRSVUE)   I think that even people who have never cracked open a bible know about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Revelation to John. They ride on white, red, black, and pale green horses, symbolizing conquest, strife, famine, and death. They are figures of terror, representing suffering and upheaval which must

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.” (NRSVUE)   Sheldon Cooper is a character from the sitcoms The Big Bang Theory  and Young Sheldon . He is a brilliant scientist but has difficulty relating to other