Next to the calling of the disciples, I expect that Matthew’s story about their sending forth is one of the most confrontational stories in all the Bible. Can you imagine? There you are, perfectly content to be a follower, when Jesus comes home all worn out one day...
Here comes Jesus, closer and closer to me. Ah, the closer he comes, the less I like it. His very existence threatens me. I’ve grown used to my way of life. I like the familiarity. I know my place in society, my reputation, my rights and privileges, all of which are...
What kind of kingdom will this be? It will be a kingdom where, in accordance with Jesus’ prayer, God’s name is truly hallowed, his will is done on earth, men will have everything in abundance, all sin will be forgiven and all evil overcome. It will be a kingdom where,...
The Kingdom is served in greater ways when Christians and churches are collaborating and cooperating to proclaim the Gospel and minister to human need… The call and challenge for each individual, each church, and for all of us as a Fellowship, is to be the presence of...
The context for much of what Jesus said about the family was his vision of the coming crisis of God’s reign which would turn ordinary life on its head. He perceived the coming of the kingdom to be a revolutionary event; the family could no longer provide true security...
Nevertheless it is possible, in the midst of the limits and transitoriness of human existence, to make societies which are more liberating and less oppressive, and hence closer to the kingdom. To deny this is to deny all efficacy to God in history, to make the world...
There is no genuine Christianity where the sign of the Cross is absent. Cheap grace is grace without the Cross, an intellectual assent to a dusty pawnshop of doctrinal beliefs while drifting aimlessly with the cultural values of the secular city. Discipleship without...
If happiness is what we feel when we think we’ve got what we want, then joy is what we feel when we discover we already have what we most need. Joy is still present when life is hard. Christ comes for grieving people with broken homes and broken hearts. Christmas is...
The process of being conformed to the image of Christ takes place primarily at the points of our unlikeness to Christ’s image. God meets us there, in grace, offering us the forgiveness, the cleansing, the liberation, the healing we need to begin the journey toward our...
“The meek are partakers of the divine blessing…for they shall inherit the land.” In English, the word “meek” has come to be about the same as “weak” or “harmless” or “spiritless.” It is thought that a meek person is something of a doormat upon which others wipe their...