Included in the story of Jesus’s birth is the detail that after he was born, Mary “wrapped him in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). Why does Luke include this detail about his birth? This...
The Bible is adamant that we not make idols (images or representations of God). The holiness of God is what’s behind the Bible’s strong prohibition against making idols.[1] God is so completely other than (i.e., “holy”) the creation that...
All Saints Day is quickly approaching (Nov 1)! This is a Christian Holiday celebrated primarily within the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions (it’s less celebrated in Protestant tradition, as is often the case with events in the...
Have you ever noticed that Israel has to go through the wilderness before they can inherit the Promised Land? As the story goes, Israel was delivered from slavery in Egypt, and the way out of Egypt was through the desert. The final destination was...
I’m a stress eater. When things in life and ministry are crazy, when I feel like I’m losing control at work or at home, I eat. It makes me feel better. I makes me feel better because when I can’t exercise control in other...
It’s really hard to be courteous to everyone always. Actually, it seems impossible. Not long ago I wrote a Saturday Sermon about a text in the New Testament that commands Christians to be courteous to all people (Titus 3:2). I wrote...
But we need to remind ourselves to whom Paul’s great letter was sent. Looming up behind the various discussions of why Romans was written is an issue not usually noticed. Paul was coming to Rome with the gospel message of Jesus the Jewish...
I mentioned in this post that the Bible compares Jesus and the Church to a married couple. I noted that the points of comparison between the two are deep love and commitment (self-sacrificing love and commitment). This isn’t the only metaphor the...
At the end of each academic year here at Emmaus Biblical Seminary in Haiti, we do a deep clean of the cafeteria kitchen. My ministry partners have spent the past three days washing, scrubbing, bleaching, mopping, wiping, painting, and bleaching...
A friend of mine recently gave me a tallit as a gift. A tallit, for those who may not know, is a Jewish prayer shall. This particular tallit is of the messianic kind (made by and for cultural and ethnic Jews who believe in Jesus as the Messiah), and...