“Do Not Be Afraid!” The Urgent Message of Easter Messengers
What fears do you, like the two Marys in Sunday’s Gospel (Matthew 28:1-10), bring with you to the tomb this Easter week? Perhaps never in our lifetimes has it been as easy to identify a ...
Preach the Word – March/April 2020
Volume 23, Number 4 What's the Point? I have a confession to make. I once attended Joel Osteen’s church. Okay, twice. I went twice. My wife and I lived in Houston, TX for a year, ...
D̶o̶ ̶Y̶o̶u̶ ̶H̶a̶v̶e̶ Where Are Your Blind Spots?
Isn’t it quite stunning in Sunday’s gospel (John 9:1-7, 13-17, 34-39) that the only one besides Jesus who seems to see things clearly is a blind-from-birth beggar? The disciples see this blind beggar, but they ...
Four Branches – February 2020
Jump to: Exegetical Systematic Historical Practical Exegetical Theology: Three Passion Predictions from Zechariah: Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will be Scattered Jesus told his disciples, “This very night you will all fall away on ...
“God, I Thank You That…”
My sinful nature needs little nourishment to feed smug self-satisfaction, but an unbelieving world provides a smorgasbord. If it’s not another mass murderer semi-automatically butchering people, then it’s the drug deal gone bad with bullets ...
Preach the Word – January/February 2020
Volume 23, Number 3 Preaching to the Choir Biblically Illiterate In March 2018, The Wall Street Journal had to issue a correction. The previous day, a journalist had quoted Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as ...
Four Branches January – 2020
Jump to: Exegetical Systematic Historical Practical Exegetical Theology: Three Passion Predictions from Zechariah: The One They Have Pierced In this series of articles, we are looking at the Old Testament context of Passion Predictions from ...
Jesus Is Still Partnering with Unworthy Instruments to Fulfill All Righteousness
In Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 3:13-17), it’s not hard to grasp why John would have sought to change Jesus’ mind about who would baptize whom. John had just finished confessing that he was not worthy to ...
Four Branches December – 2019
Jump to: Exegetical Systematic Historical Practical Exegetical Theology: Three Passion Predictions from Zechariah - Thirty Pieces of Silver The prophet Zechariah is quoted a number of times in the Passion Narratives in the Gospels. In ...
Gaudete! Rejoice! Really!
Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 11:2-11) seems a strange choice for the Sunday historically known as Gaudete (Rejoice). As the curtain opens on Matthew 11, the scene before us is John languishing in Herod’s dungeon. Gaudete? Rejoice? ...