Bible Reading for July 22 – Isaiah 31-34 The people of Jerusalem had big, big problems. They were being threatened by the most powerful country in the world, the Assyrian empire, and there was no way they could mount any sort of effective military defense against an invasion. What could…

So, when you look at Jesus, Whom do you see? Some see only a great teacher and moral example. Others see a prophet, like John the Baptist or Isaiah. These days, many dismiss him as just another “dead white guy,” whose opinions need no longer be considered, especially by the…

How do you feel when someone you love breaks your heart? How do you feel when, in spite of your best efforts, he or she turns away from you, expressing love for someone else instead? As hard as it may be for us to believe, that’s how God feels when…

Bible Readings for July 18 – II Kings 18; II Chronicles 29-31; Psalm 48 Lately, it seems that the Church has faced lots of opposition, but that is nothing new in the history of God’s people. Perhaps recalling the Assyrians’ invasion of Judah, Psalm 48: 4 mentions that many times,…

Let’s face it – it’s hard to read the prophets, with their repeated pronouncements of judgment. And because sin is a universal problem (Isaiah 24:5), eventually every part of creation will experience God’s justice, the consequences of Adam’s rebellion which brought a curse on the world he had been created…

Who is obligated to obey God’s commands? These days many people assert that they can determine the truth for themselves, believing that whatever they think is right must in fact be good. But nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, God has always insisted that He has the sovereign…

Justice. That’s what so many of the crowds recently marching in the streets have been demanding. People are tired of feeling like second-class citizens, tired of being considered guilty until proven innocent. The recent demonstrations have caused us Americans to think seriously about how we can improve the quality of…

Why care so much about our own traditions? Why not learn from what other people and cultures are doing today? That seems to have been Ahaz’ opinion. He was 20 years old when he became king, and even though his father Jotham and his grandfather Uzziah and his great-grandfather Amaziah…

“This One will be our peace” (Micah 5:5). That sounds good, doesn’t it? With our streets filled with protestors and violence, with our hearts full of anxiety and dread of a mysterious virus, who doesn’t need some peace these days? And the people in Micah’s time were in an even…

“It is now all too common to hear calls for swift and severe retribution in response to perceived transgressions of speech and thought.” That’s what a group of quite frankly progressive authors wrote recently in Harper’s Magazine, not exactly known as a bastion of conservatism. But such a classically liberal…