on flares of panic: a prayer

Now the angel of YHWH came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it (kds: and himself?) from the Midianites. … Then YHWH turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and […]

whose miracle?

Jesus said to Peter — “But so that we may not cause offense, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.” —Matthew 17:27 NIV . “[T]oo […]

Favors the bold

My summer Bible study is a quick one, four weeks. We’re covering (the Book of) Ruth, which is tidy since Ruth has four brief chapters: yay, Nancy (our facilitator)! If you haven’t read Ruth for yourself, pick it up and have a seat. It won’t take you long, and there’s always more going on within […]

Driving to the mountains

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and […]

Lions and lambs

“I’m not sure I could agree to feed myself to the lions.” “I think, though, if we choose to die to self little by little by little, we can approach the kind of love Christ models.” We have been reading the Gospel of John. Today’s lesson included Peter’s denial/betrayal, pointedly contrasting this scene with an […]

Principally misunderstood

These examples make it clear that the guidelines for living that Jesus gave, that is, his ethics, were grounded in his apocalyptic worldview. They are probably misunderstood, therefore, when they are taken as principles for a healthy society. […]The motivation for ethical behavior, then, sprang from the imminent arrival of the Kingdom, to be brought […]

Yes, yes

My graded midterm arrived in my inbox this morning. Now that it’s safely squared away/ according to the internal logic of publication rights <g>, I’m going to share it with you here. It’s a little longer than most of my posts… but not by much. Again, you have heard that it was said to the […]

This is not /gezerah shawah/*

Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. —Genesis 32:29 But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask […]

Promises, promises

Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his […]

“It feels so bright on my face.”

20131027: I can see better in the clouded light today — the color shades don’t wash out in the blaze (do our shades wash out in the blaze of God’s glory?) One of the collateral effects (benefits? drawbacks?) of living in Central Texas is that sunlight here is generally strong. The sky is brilliant blue, the sun’s […]