Wisdom of God: the Sage

Christ Series, Part 3Jesus was not primarily talking to wicked people, trying to pursuade them to be good; he was talking to good people who were living like fools, trying to pursuade them to open their hearts to sacred wisdom. It is an alternative wisdom that stands in ironic tension

Continue reading

Son of David: Christ the King

Christ Series, Part 2The ancient promise of a kng who would rule Israel with wisdom, peace and justice stands in dramatic contrast with the brutality of the Roman empire of Jesus’ time. Jesus proclaimed the reign of God, which challenged, fulfilled and transformed both images. Today, this ironic expression, Christ

Continue reading

Suffering Servant: Lamb of God

Christ Series, Part 1The suffering servant songs in Isaiah portray a redemptive meaning to innocent suffering and the connection to the passion of Christ is unmistakable. We have difficulty with this idea because it has been interpreted in ways that are tragically wrong. But we must ask, When we clear

Continue reading

Light out of Darkness

This Christ-light now rises from the darkness of the tomb to shine far beyond the darkness of the world, inviting us to behold with Christ the light of eternity. This is the vision of eternity that transforms our perception of the world and our life in it.listen

Continue reading

Healing Grace

Grace series, Part 5For many people, life feels like a struggle to find yourtrue self. It often feels like we’re disjointed inside. Thetrouble is that we seek affirmation on the outside whenwhat we need can only be achieved from the inside out.Through the gift of grace, we come to a

Continue reading

Guiding Grace

Grace series, Part 4As we seek guidance from self-help books and counselors, it sometimes feel like the blind leading the blind. We want to be told what to do, but there’s no quick fix. Instead God offers the gift of wisdom to help us find our way. The trick is

Continue reading

Forgiving Grace

Grace series, Part 3In the face of our own wrong-doing, we experience grace as acquittal after being found guilty. There is a healthy experience of guilt that we need not fear. There is a truly soul-destroying moment in life when we are broken and paralyzed by our guilt until we

Continue reading

Awakening Grace

Grace Series, Part 2So much that is in our modern world is designed to put us to sleep, to domesticate us, to manipulate and controll us. We are lulled into complacency by our fears and our addictions. There is a kind of awakening that returns us to a wild state

Continue reading

Liberating Grace

Grace Series, Part 1We are suburban captives — caught in a merciless treadmill of life blazing on as if in free-fall. The biblical answer is Sabbath. We have all but lost Sabbath in our modern culture, especially with the deterioration of our Lord’s Day Act. So we have to learn

Continue reading