Joe

When you take a math test, getting it right is the objective. Whether you get the correct answer the first time or after the teacher allows some corrections, you are ultimately wrong if your final answer is not right. Faith is not a math test.

[Read more…] about Getting It Right is Wrong (or Why Faith is Not a Math Test)

Jesus simultaneously invites us to engage in politics while avoiding the political. At first read, that probably seems like a contradiction, but it is an essential distinction.

[Read more…] about Love, Power, and Politics

If you are like most people, I imagine that you tend to just breeze right past Luke 13:31-35. At some level, it might come because it closes a chapter on repentance, an oft-misunderstood topic thanks to what the church typically teaches. Then again, it could be because it just sounds strange.

[Read more…] about Repentance Remixed

The temptation of Jesus is one of those Bible stories where it is easy to conflate the different accounts. We see come across it and pay little attention to whether it is Matthew, Mark, or Luke telling the story, we just pull the same old lessons out of it.

For some, the lesson goes like this: You will face temptation. Memorize a bunch of Bible verses to say when tempted. Believe this will make the temptation go away.

[Read more…] about Jesus’ Temptation … and Ours

Luke 9:28-36 tells this wild story traditionally called the Transfiguration. In it, Jesus takes three of his follower up on a mountain to pray. While praying Jesus’ face changed and his clothes became radiant. Then Moses and Elijah, two dead men, show up and start talking with him about his pending crucifixion in Jerusalem. The whole thing feels a bit outlandish, so what should we make of this story?

[Read more…] about Transfiguration: Torturous or Transforming?

Growing up a Boy Scout, I learned early on the value of a good map when it comes to navigating unknown lands. I remember on more than one occasion a leader would hand me a map and say, “This is where we are going.” The first thing I needed to determine? Where we were.

[Read more…] about A Map of Your Psyche