united ⁽⁴⁷⁾

Obadiah 11–17, Joel 2:12–19, Luke 21:12–19 (read online ⧉) The problem with being a follower of Jesus is, well, being a follower of Jesus. First, it makes you different. There's step one. Being different. We all want to fit in, but as a follower of…

Luke 17:20–37, Acts 7:44–60, Revelation 21:14–27 (read online ⧉) Throughout the Old Testament, there are memorial stones. The names of springs have tale-telling names. Altars were built…lots of altars. Places provide identity. The Promised Land (Israel) was one of identity. That particular land was powerful…

Genesis 38:1–30, Deuteronomy 25:5–10, Ruth 4:1–10, Mark 12:18–27 Migration has long been the story of humankind. People would move from place to place. The United States mythos includes a strong migratory component, from the theorized migration of First Nations peoples over the Bearing Land Bridge…

John 17:9–19 Jesus prayed for the disciples, a lot. There is something quite interesting here. He didn’t pray for the world (that he died for). He prayed instead for his disciples. Why? Why his disciples? Jesus prayed for his disciples. Jesus prayed for his friends.

Jeremiah 44:15–23, Hosea 14:1–7 The “tale” told in Jeremiah is a sad one. The people of Israel knowingly and willing worshiped gods that were not theirs. As we read their tale, they saw wealth, prosperity, and security as the gift of their gods, when it…