trust ⁽¹¹²⁾

Genesis 15:1–6, Romans 5:1–11, 1 John 1:5–2:2 One of the ongoing struggles that people have is earning their salvation. They think they can, or that they must. This is what is often called “works” in Christian circles. Theologians have discussed what “works” is from a…

Matthew 15:10–20, Luke 6:39–42, Ephesians 6:12–18 In our current political and cultural climate, there are plenty of sharp barbs being thrown out. If we wanted to, we could say flaming arrows, which is metaphorically accurate. It’s pretty nuts, and certainly unloving, unpeaceful, impatient (i.e, doesn’t…

Genesis 37:16–27, Deuteronomy 30:15–20, Matthew 12:46–50 One of the most heartbreaking things taught by certain Christian traditions is that God wills bad things to happen to people. One of the reasons they draw that conclusion is that we are able to look back at stories…

Numbers 32:16–22, Matthew 3:13–17, John 13:1–17, 2 Corinthians 5:14–17 Service takes many forms. We are often tied into our mind’s understanding of service, and thus become blind to what service can look like. In the case of Reubenites and Gadites, their service took place in…

Nehemiah 13:4–22, Matthew 12:1–8 Nehemiah was “just” a layperson. He probably had no formal religious or other education. He wasn’t a “leader” of the people. He did, however, have an important position of trust with King Artaxerxes. To be the cupbearer meant that you were…