In the store you are picking up a couple of items and close by a child is throwing a tantrum. Angry words, screaming, the stomping of feet, echoes in every aisle. Nothing the frustrated parent says calms the raging child. Of course, he tries to reason, but to no effect. A few minutes later, an […]
Luke 19:41-48: The Thresher, the Threshing Floor, and the Temple
August 25, 2017 by
A threshing floor is a violent place, of division and separation. A farmer takes the cultivated harvest and casts the grain stalks on to a compacted floor. Sinewy muscles stretch and strain, beating and separating the seed’s outer bran from the starchy inside. Now, if wealthier, an ox will trudge through this crushing task, not […]
Jeremiah 23:16-29: Live in the Truth
August 8, 2017 by
Still in the insecurity of your childhood, running through the house. Crash! A prized piece of your mother’s fine porcelain lay broken on the floor. A few moments later, words are flying from your mouth on how you didn’t break your mom’s china. The contrived deception now spins its web around you, in your mind […]
Romans 6:19-23: Sin’s Wage vs. God’s Gift
July 30, 2017 by
All around us, whether infiltrating the air or intertwining itself into the tapestry of our culture, is an assumption. To be free is to be the boss, under no one else’s thumb. Now, at first, who will disagree? Oh, how gratifying and cathartic, until we realize we turn ourselves into self-made gods. Only scan human […]
Matthew 5:20-26: Be Reconciled
July 24, 2017 by
In Nashville, Illinois, I served as a vicar before moving here to be your pastor. A few years before, someone collapsed during the Divine Service. With the ambulance called, the service stopped for about 20 minutes, and the paramedics soon arrived. A seriousness descended, a sense of “this is for real.” An impromptu prayer rose […]
1 Corinthians 1:18-25: The Foolishness of the Cross
July 17, 2017 by
In all your days, did someone come to you and make this case? “Tell me, if God is almighty, can He create a stone too heavy for Him to carry?” Hmm, such a smug, rebellious question! At last, the creature gives the Creator His comeuppance, outwitting Him in our cleverness. So we think. No, this […]
Genesis 50:15-21: God Working Through All for the Good
July 17, 2017 by
How hard to forgive someone who hurts you! A co-worker takes credit for your work, and now you are the lazy one. A bully intimidates you, for not all bullies die away after grade school. Your sister talks your aging mother into giving her a family heirloom, which she promised to you a decade before. […]
Luke 1:39-45: Mary Visits Elizabeth
July 2, 2017 by
The life-changing announcement from the angel Gabriel stuns Mary, as she staggers in shock. Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you. Don’t be afraid, Mary, for God honors you. Listen, you will conceive and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. For he will be mighty and will be called the […]
Luke 15:1-10: Lost and Found
June 25, 2017 by
A lost lamb and coin come to us in story form. So, we lean forward to attend to our Savior’s words. Little do we grasp how we are the ones getting lost. For we think He is teaching us what to do. Don’t we take in these parables as lessons in loveliness? For if we […]
Malachi 3:6-10
June 18, 2017 by
A tale from India records the chronicle of a frightened mouse. So terrified is he of cats, he is too afraid to venture out. So, a wizard agrees to convert the tiny creature into a cat. Now graceful and stealthy, with his fears removed, he is courageous—until he finds a wild dog chasing after him. […]
