We are entering the season of the year that is usually the busiest for churches and individuals. Thanksgiving will be here in just a few short weeks and the Christmas season follows immediately after that. There will be numerous family gatherings, huge meals to cook,...
My daughter Evelyn’s favorite song as a young toddler was “One Day” by the Hasidic Jewish reggae/hip-hop beatboxing artist Matisyahu (honestly). I take credit for this. (Oh, the joys of having exclusive control of the iPod in those days…) In this song Matisyahu offers...
The Old Testament book of Haggai tells part of the story of rebuilding the Temple after the people returned to Jerusalem from exile. In Haggai’s day, the people were discouraged because things were not going as well as they expected. They saw the Temple that was...
The New Testament describes the church in many ways. For Paul, the church is a body, with Christ as the head and we the members. Matthew’s gospel pictures the church like a community of learning disciples who are being trained to go out into the world. John imagines...
In my daily Bible reading the other day I was reading the story of Gideon in the book of Judges. And I saw something fascinating. Just as a reminder – this story details the suffering that the Midianites were inflicting on Israel as a punishment from God for their...
It’s that time of year again: the flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, the birds are nesting … and the weeds are growing. Try as I may, I can’t seem to keep my lawn free of these unwanted dandelions, white clover, and ground ivy, or my woods from honeysuckle,...
