Incarnation
The Incarnation is so very many things. There are so many other things, of course, that it is not. The Incarnation, in particular, is about God become a human being – and not the other way around. The Incarnation is … (read more)
jesus
Getting Our Callings Right …
A few weeks ago we completed our annual Missionary Candidates’ Briefing Course. Fifteen candidates and missionary inquirers from here and there around the country (and a few from elsewhere in the world) gathered at our offices on Clifton Avenue. We … (read more)
Emmaus
Unlike many sites in the Holy Land, no one seems to know, precisely, where Emmaus might have been. This uncertainty surprised me, while visiting the Holy Land recently. Emmaus, I should have thought, is the sort of place you might … (read more)
Feeding the Hungry
“I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And I am unwilling to send them away hungry…’” (Matthew 15:32) The gospels tell us of two occasions in which … (read more)
Caesarea Philippi
I have recently had the spectacular privilege of visiting the Holy Land. On one fine day our pilgrim group journeyed to the ruins of Caesarea Philippi, once the administrative center of Philip the Tetrarch. Philip was the son of Herod … (read more)
The Other Side
Everything is near, it seems, in the Holy Land: you can travel from the shores of the Mediterranean to the banks of the Jordan River in a single afternoon. You can travel from the Golan to Masada in a day. … (read more)
God Will Provide
“Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.” (Luke 10:7) Hidden in the story of Jesus sending out the 72 disciples is the story of … (read more)
Just Tell Them About Jesus
About three years ago I slipped into a meeting of Twin Cities pastors to hear a well known and somewhat controversial systematic theologian speak on the topic, Preaching Christ In An Age of Religious Pluralism. An inner-city pastor asked, “Should … (read more)
God’s System of Justice
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) In April 1992 California was preparing for its first execution in 25 years. Robert Alton Harris was on death row for … (read more)
“Huh…?”
A few days ago, I stumbled upon an interesting report from the world of psycholinguistics. It had to do with “universal words.” It turns out that “mommy,” or something rather like it, appears in many languages around the world. This … (read more)