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Genesis 14:17–20, Hebrews 5:1–4, Acts 13:1–3 The calling of God is mysterious. The Levitical line produced the priests, but who would be called was something different. The calling of pastors is equally mysterious (including to the pastors). How and why God calls certain people to…

Numbers 20:1–13, Jeremiah 35:1–19, Matthew 15:1–20 Traditions are wonderful things. They can bring peace and order. They can help a person find themselves and understand where they came from, and what has shaped them to this point. Traditions can also blind us. While slavery was…

Deuteronomy 1:9–18, John 5:19–30, Romans 1:28–2:9 We’ve all heard, “if you have one finger pointing out, you have three fingers pointing back.” There is great wisdom in that seeming childish saying. It might be better to say it is child-like. the child-like understanding recognizes the…

John 20:19–23, Acts 1:4, Acts 2:1–36 The short vignette in the locked upper room after the Resurrection seems as if was a snippet of a memory that was lacking something. Yet, John felt it was important. As a precursor to Pentecost, Jesus’ statement/blessing about receiving…

Psalm 25, Isaiah 26:1–21, Acts 16:16–34 Imagine being the only person at a 4-way traffic light with no one else on the road. The light for you is red. And it’s still red. Most of us will wait a little bit. Some might rev their…