father ⁽¹⁸⁰⁾

Matthew 9:9–13; Luke 10:25–37; James 2:5–13 “For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice,   the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”      — Hosea 6:6 (CSB) It’s interesting that the same translation, the CSB, translates Hosea 6:6 with faithful love, while in Matthew 9:13 it’s…

Psalm 30; Hosea 13:4–14 Yesterday was the birthday of my stepfather. He passed away years ago. For whatever reason, this year his birthday hit me kind of hard. He and I had our good moments. We had our bad moments. Just like any parent-child relationship.

Acts 21:34–22:28 Have there ever been times in your life when you knew speaking the truth would, at best, keep things the way they were? And, at worst, make things horribly wrong? Or, have you had the experience that no matter how much you speak…

Numbers 3:44–48; Numbers 18:20; Deuteronomy 10:8–9; 1 Peter 2:3–10 Inheritance wars have long been a genre of popular fiction. Whether the fights were over business or titles of nobility or who will take over the family criminal enterprise. Sometimes, battles are fought over who gets…

Psalm 2; Acts 13:32–41; Galatians 4:1–8 I was Luke Skywalker for Halloween. I was attired like he was when we first see him in Star Wars (now re-titled “Episode IV: A New Hope”). Needless to say, I was excited to see The Empire Strikes back…