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Believing and Living
The Revised Common Lectionary for Sunday, March 29th, spotlights Jesus’ restoration of Lazarus to life. This amazing account, as recorded in John 11, offers believers timely hope amid an ongoing global pandemic. As Jesus’ prospect of suffering and death grew closer, He returned to the area of Jerusalem. Though the religious establishment spurned Him (10:39), His closest followers loved Him. Even rejection and scorn could not dim the glory of the Messiah as displayed through the restoration of Lazarus to life, a miracle that likely occurred in the winter of AD 29. The record of the above incident is important, for it serves as an undisputed, confirming sign of the…
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God’s shepherding love
Psalm 23 is part of the lectionary readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent on March 22nd. It is a fitting passage of Scripture to spotlight, especially given our current circumstance of national and global crisis brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. Of the 150 songs in the psalter, Psalm 23 is perhaps both the simplest and the best loved. On the one hand, the poem was written by David from the perspective of a shepherd. On the other hand, the ode represents the prayer and meditation of a person with a mature spirit. From an historical perspective, David’s confession of faith, hope, and trust in the Lord as the…
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A prayer to the Creator in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak
May our sons in their youth flourish like well-nurtured plants. May our daughters be like stately corner pillars that are carved to adorn a palace. May our granaries be filled with every kind of produce. May our sheep increase by the thousands, and by the tens of thousands in our open fields. May our oxen pull heavy loads of produce from the harvest. May there be no enemy breaking through our walls. May there be no one exiled into captivity. May there be no cries of distress heard in our public squares. How blessed are the people for whom these realities are true! How blessed are the people whose God…
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Making sense of intriguing correlations between the Gospels (Part 2)
My previous blogpost spotlighted Lydia McGrew’s treatise, Hidden in Plain View (DeWard Publishing; 2017). In it, she explores a variety of “undesigned coincidences” appearing in the Gospels and Acts to affirm the reliability of the Gospels. I used McGrew’s foundational premise to consider an episode recounted in the three Synoptic Gospels, in which Jesus and His disciples experienced a violent windstorm while in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee. In the current blogpost, I want to lift up for consideration a second episode involving Jesus, His disciples, and the Sea of Galilee. The intent is to showcase another example of how seemingly unrelated details in various Gospel accounts…
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Making sense of intriguing correlations between the Gospels
Within New Testament studies, extreme versions of historical criticism approach the question of the Gospels’ historicity and reliability with a hermeneutic of suspicion. In its most cynical expression, advocates question everything in the Gospels and affirm virtually nothing. Adherents of the preceding view contend that the final form of the Gospels has little, if any, connection to real people and actual historical events. Instead, all that is left are faint memories or kernels of truth about the way Christians eulogized, or wanted to commemorate, Jesus of Nazareth. Some proponents even allege that the Gospels are an amalgam of later additions, revisions, and redactions spanning the following centuries, until the dominant…
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Christianity’s Hamster Wheel of “Spiritual Advancement”
The heading for this piece takes its cue from an article Casey Chalk wrote, which was posted on January 9, 2020, at The American Conservative website.[1] The main title is, “America’s Hamster Wheel Of ‘Career Advancement’”, followed by the subtitle: “We’re told that getting ahead at work and reorienting our lives around our jobs will make us happy. So why hasn’t it?” Regretfully, the same sort of attitude can be found in various forms of Christianity. It’s characterized by a hamster wheel of “spiritual advancement.” Supposedly, if Jesus’ followers do A, B, and C, as well as avoid X, Y, and Z, they can expect to make steady, measurable progress…
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A prayer for the New Year and beyond (based on Psalm 23)
The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. He gives me rest in lush meadows, he leads me beside peaceful streams, he renews my life. He brings honor to his name, by guiding me along the right paths. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are close beside me; your rod and your staff reassure me. You prepare a royal banquet for me, in full view of my oppressors. You drench my head with perfumed olive oil; my cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and constant love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell…
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Receive Christ’s gift of life!
Historians tell the story about the funeral of Charlemagne. He was the greatest Christian ruler of the early Middle Ages. After Charlemagne’s death, a tremendous funeral procession left his castle for the cathedral at Aix. When the royal casket arrived, with a lot of pomp and circumstance, it was met by the local bishop, who barred the cathedral door. “Who comes?” the Bishop asked, as was the custom. “Charlemagne, Lord and King of the Holy Roman Empire,” proclaimed the Emperor’s proud herald. “Him I know not,” the Bishop replied. “Who comes?” The herald, a bit shaken, replied, “Charles the Great, a good and honest man of the earth.” “Him I…
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Declutter our lives? In advance? As a prerequisite? Really?
For the second Sunday of Advent, December 8, 2019, the Revised Common Lectionary readings included Matthew 3:1–12. The focus of the passage was on John the Baptizer serving in his God-ordained role as the forerunner of the Messiah. While I listened to the speaker that Sunday, I became increasingly pensive. This is because the homiletician talked at length about the necessity of parishioners “decluttering” their lives in preparation for the advent of the Savior. Indeed, throughout the message, the speaker emphasized God’s children removing whatever was unnecessary, along with cleaning up whatever remained, in their lives. Allegedly, doing so was of utmost importance. Just to clarify, the homiletician did not…
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The God of the Impossible!
Genesis 17:15-17; 18:9-15; 21:1-7 Time: 2067–2066 b.c. Place: Canaan Lesson Aim: To learn that God can do what we consider impossible. Introduction Promises have fallen on hard times. Once, a person’s word was as certain a guarantee as you could get. Then spoken words became suspect, and the written contract was born. Now we’ve spurned even that symbol of trust. Today it seems there is no contract that can’t be broken in the name of more money, better business, or newer priorities. As it is commonly said, nothing’s ever an absolute guarantee—that is, except God’s Word. When the Lord made His promise to Abraham that Sarah would…
