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 […]

Being a hopeful song

Do you remember handwritten directions and folding paper maps, before MapQuest, cell phones, or satellite in-car navigation?  Back in the olden days when summer revivals filled pews down south, a little caravan rolled out of a church parking lot ready to share the Good News a few towns away. Traffic was heavy, and the cars […]