Jesus’ first response to wrongdoing is grief:  looking upon Jerusalem, the city that would commit the most heinous acts of injustice against him, he wept. In our last blog, we said that Jesus wept over Jerusalem, because he deeply desired to protect her and to see her flourish:  he longed for what would bring her […]

In ways big or small, others insult or hurt us almost every day. Whether it’s a rude driver, an impatient client or customer, ungrateful kids, an insensitive family member or friend, we are wronged. And we respond–in a number of different ways.  Here are three: 1.  Indignation and confrontation:  when the rude driver cuts us off, […]

Lent begins with ashes and “dust.”  It begins with a disturbing God. He is disturbing and unsettling.  Why?  Because He addresses sin.  He names it. When Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit, precisely as the Serpent promised, “their eyes were opened,” and yet what they “saw” was not what they had been promised; rather, they […]

I loved grad school: the opportunity to read authors on a topic that (for me) was the most interesting topic in the world; the time both to strengthen basic skills and to learn new ones; a supervisor who was wonderfully ruthless in poking holes in everything I wrote, revealing hidden assumptions, faulty logic, etc.; the conversations over a […]

Before I had children, I can remember thinking, “Wow, there’s so much I want to impart to my kids!  There’s so much I want to share with them and teach them.” Today, with four kids, my strong suspicion is that they have taught me far more than I have taught them. For starters, our children were […]

The Bible says weird, even (deeply) disturbing things, about slaves and slavery. The Bible also seems to contradict itself on the matter.  For example, the Exodus story is a story of how Israel’s God “frees” his people from the bondage of Egypt so that can be…free?  Nope.  Rather, so that they can be his slaves. What […]