God will take what we have been gifted with and combine that with our willingness...and with what little courage we can muster...and make that be enough. It is the New Testament story.
03696 – The New Testament Story
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03685 – Tied in Knots?
The Greek word the New Testament uses for forgiveness also means “untying a knot.” Wow Good news for a world tied in knots indeed
03432 – Epiphany of Grace
Matthew writes: “[Herod] sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under.” Jesus is born, but in Flannery O’Connor’s words, “at a devastating price.” No one knows how many children died; the New Testament alone documents the...
03066 – An Evolving, Not Finished, Story
The Christian story did not drop from heaven fully written. It grew and developed year by year over a period of forty-two to seventy years. That is not what most Christians have been taught to think, but it is factual. Christianity has always been an evolving story....
02830 – “The Original Sin of the Church”
If America’s original sin is slavery, the original sin of the church is anti-Judaism and antisemitism. Before the New Testament was fully written. we see evidence of it... If you look at the passion accounts in the four Gospels in chronological order, you see Rome...
02596 – Self-Denial in the New Testament
The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so...
01983 – Seeing Things as Connected
This beautiful prayer [from John 17] for union is from Jesus’ Last Supper address to his disciples. It might be the highest level of mystical teaching in the entire New Testament. Here Jesus connects everything: he in his Father, the Father in you, you in God, God in...
01847 – “Jane Eyre” Dialogue
“It is not violence that best overcomes hate — nor vengeance that most certainly heals injury." "What then?" "Read the New Testament, and observe what Christ says, and how He acts; make His word your rule, and His conduct your example." "What does He say?" "Love your...
01607 – Go or Stop
As the characters in the story maintain a safe distance from Jesus, speculating among themselves about this new powerful teacher, readers of Mark are invited to follow Jesus into a whole new world, says New Testament scholar Brian Blount, into "Mark's world of Jesus...
01311 – Rebirth: Radical Transformation
The metaphor of rebirth, being born of the Spirit, is an image of radical transformation. An old life has been left behind, and a new life has begun. It has a number of metaphorical equivalents in the New Testament. In Paul, dying and rising with Christ, being...