Scripture: Jeremiah 26:20 – “There was another man prophesying in the name of the Lord, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words exactly like those of Jeremiah.” (NRSVUE) Did you know that the prophet Jeremiah was a nepo baby? In the beginning of the Book of Jeremiah, when young Jeremiah is called by God to be a prophet, God says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecra

Scripture: Psalm 104:24 – “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” (NRSVUE) Why did God create the world in all its rich diversity? Was it all for our benefit as creatures made in God’s image and granted dominion over all plants and animals (Genesis 1:28)? Or does the world have a divine dignity all its own, created to be “very good” by God every step of the way (Genesis 1:31)? Or are things more complicat

Scripture: Judges 6:39 – “Then Gideon said to God, ‘Do not let your anger burn against me, but let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.’” (NRSVUE) The Bible is filled with truth and comfort, challenge and mercy, but sometimes it can get a little weird. One of the weirdest books is Judges, which is rarely read on Sunday mornings. I think this is because the

Scripture: Song of Solomon 8:6 – “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame.” (NRSVUE) I learned a new word today: antilegomena. It is applied to books from the Bible that people debated about including in the canon. We like to imagine an obvious distinction between canonical and non-canonical books, but the reality is that someone had to make a judgmen

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:25 – “For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” (NRSVUE) April Fools’ Day is more serious than you might think. There is, and should be, lots of silliness: fun, Dad jokes, harmless little gags. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is famous for their elaborate April Fools’ Day pranks or “hacks”, such as getting a police car on top of the Great Dome or tricking the world into thinkin

Scripture: Philippians 1:23-24 – “I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.” (NRSVUE) What is better: to be with Christ or to live for Christ? I am thinking of two answers to this question, and both are from outside the Bible. The first is the Rapture in Dispensationalist Christianity, the idea that before the horrors of the End Times, God will whisk the good

Scripture: Isaiah 60:18 – “Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise.” (NRSVUE) What is the opposite of violence? When we see distant wars, mass shootings, and even the painful losses that no one ever seems to notice, how do we respond? One way, and perhaps the first way, is with a need for revenge. We long to revisit the pain we have felt upon others. If retali

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