When the Apostle Paul begins talking about being “In Christ”, I wonder if he is extending the image of today’s text. Jesus gives us a powerful run of images describing our relationship with both the Father and Himself. We are “in Him” and He is “in The Father”. Yet also He is “in us” and […]
When I ask God for things, I don’t always get what I ask for. I ask, “In Jesus’ name” and everything, but still I don’t get what I want. This can get confusing with such passages as today’s. “Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” I […]
Throughout my life, I’ve experienced periods of growth, periods of stability, and periods of pruning. I like the growth the best. None of these periods are bad, or wrong, or unimportant. In fact, we so badly need them all that if we are missing any of the three in our lives, we will not flourish […]
In the first century, when a Jewish man decided to get married, his life was choreographed quite specifically for the next few years. First, the young man would tell his father of the woman he wished to marry, and his father would arrange to pay the bride price and establish the New Covenant, a marriage […]
We have, at some point in our lives, denied Jesus. Whether with our words or our actions, we have implied or even stated out loud that we don’t know this Nazarene. We have acted just like the world or the worldly people around us. We have joined them in their sinful behaviors. We have not […]