Come see a man who told me everything I have ever done! (Jn. 4:29) The woman had been married five times. She was currently living with a man without being married. Did her neighbors talk about her, judge her, and condemn her? Did she feel marked, shunned, and ostracized? One day she meets a …
Month: April 2019
The Sermon on the Mount
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit..." (Mt. 5-7) We had just finished a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. We gathered at the bottom of a hill where …
The Message of the Cross
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor. 1:18) His name was Linwood. He was the part-time janitor at the country church where I once served. As the church grew, Linwood had a hard …
Compassion, Acceptance, Understanding, Forgiveness
For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. (Mt. 7:3) My mother had been ill for a long time. When I became worried that she could die with only a minor cold, I decided to visit her so that we could …
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We Wish to See Jesus
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ (Jn. 12:21-22) I spent a year of college in England. While there, I often took long bike rides into the countryside. …
Trusting in God’s Grace
Therefore, confess your sins to one another… (Jas. 5:16) I was in my twenties, on my knees, confessing my sins to a monk, and I heard him snoring. When I loudly coughed he woke up for a few moments, but then he fell asleep again. I was miffed he was so inattentive. I thought my …