Amos 8:1-12 “Trample Down Economics?” The prophets were the economic forecasters of ancient Israel, and Amos was among the most explicit.  Here he lays out the ways in which a financial structure in which the rich benefit and the poor are exploited will destroy not only people but a whole nation.  How we think and […]

July 10 Luke 12:13-21 “How Demanding Is Your Stuff?” “You can’t take it with you,” and if you’re not careful, it’ll follow you around and demand more than you can afford to give.  Do we possess our possessions or do our possessions possess us (three times fast, now…)?  A straight-talkin’ down-home farmer translation of the […]

Luke 10:25-37 Wanting to “justify” ourselves, we might ‘just’ ask, “And who is my neighbor”?  After all, we’ve got to draw the line somewhere, don’t we?  A neighborhood can’t be a neighborhood without boundaries.  The lawyer’s question seems reasonable enough.  Leave it to Jesus to turn the tables with a parable.  A Samaritan?  Not choosing […]

Luke 8:26-39 “Comprehensive Healthcare: A Cost-Benefit Analysis” What price for healing?  Why would Jesus free one man from demons if it meant financial hardship for other community members?  How does this healing affect the man?  The community?  How might our communities be affected when we participate in the liberating and healing God is doing for […]

1 Kings 21:1-10-21a; 25 “Selling Ourselves” This is a story of greed, murder, and eminent domain….  Ahab and Jezebel have one of the worst reputations in the Bible.  Ahab, it is said, “sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”  He sold out.  He sold his very self.  Have you […]

Psalm 146 “The Things God Does for Love” Love makes us do crazy things.  I remember being in middle school, languishing from a ‘crush’ on a girl in my class.  There was a song on the radio in those days called “The Things We Do for Love.”  It felt to me, whenever I heard that […]

Galatians 1:1-12 “The Gospel Truth” Paul is seriously outraged as he writes to the Galatians.  It seems that there is “gospel,” and there is “gospel.”  Someone’s been teaching a limited and limiting gospel in Galatia – one that calls for distinctions and makes demands that Paul doesn’t believe are warranted.  What are the hallmarks of […]

John 16:12-15 “Listening for the Spirit” Jesus promise his disciples that even after he was gone they would receive guidance and truth.  He promised that the Spirit of truth would be there for them, and that this spirit would glorify him by declaring what belongs to Jesus.  Is this Spirit still active among us?  How […]

Revelation 22:12-21 “Thirsty”? Revelation ends with an assurance, a choice, an invitation, and a blessing.  It encourages us, I believe, not to imagine what might be, but rather to understand what already is:  God is the beginning and the end.  Jesus is Lord.  God offers life, healing, and joy to all who desire it.  Do […]