Mercy matters more…

It was raining and cold that December Friday night, when I answered a call from one of my son’s friends. Blake wondered if the high school marching band might shelter in the church as they waited for the Christmas Parade to begin. Without much thought, I told Blake I would head that way to unlock […]

Beatitudes: core Christian characteristics

Some of my seminary professors reminded me of Jesus. Other students may have seen Jesus in a professor’s scholarly insights or deep Biblical expertise, I did not.  Quoting Scripture does not make a person Christlike, the Temptation story reminds us that the Devil is pretty good at quoting the Bible. (Matthew 4) No, I caught […]

Light a Christmas candle for a new world

“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree (to) all the world…” With regal themes Luke timestamps Jesus’ birth year. In four verses, Luke will reference a king, emperor, or empire seven times. Luke did not reference the High Priest in Jerusalem or the local governor, but Caesar in Italy and Quirinius in Syria. The […]