Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Have you ever heard of the Sasanian Empire? How about the Chola Dynasty? Know anything about the Empire of Trebizond? All of these ancient realms were more powerful than Israel ever was, yet they have been mostly forgotten in modern history.Tiny, relatively powerless...
Saturday, October 24, 2020
We once lived on seven acres of high desert outside Silver City, New Mexico. One gift of living there was observing the abundant wildlife. A bobcat spent one afternoon resting under our tree. Another time I encountered a snake by our birdseed bin. In both cases,...
Thursday, October 22, 2020
From the Archives: August 28, 1955/January 14, 1949 What the prophets taught holds good. God is loving and merciful but God’s purpose will not be balked. We ask: Why has the world fallen into such a fearful plight?God answers….(View this reading and more...
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
Is confession becoming a lost art? We seem to have lost the ability or willingness to be vulnerable—before God and others—or with ourselves. We don’t seem to recognize the value of opening our hearts and souls to God’s great grace.This doesn’t mean we don’t...
Tuesday, October 20, 2020
So, where did Jesus get seventy followers? We tend to think there were just twelve disciples, but there were women following him too—and they weren’t there to cook and clean. Several of the women who followed Jesus had money of their own and helped fund his...
Saturday, October 17, 2020
Perhaps the United States of America has always been an antagonistic society, founded as it was on being against England, against monarchy. Certainly, contemporary American culture seems to thrive on choosing sides and defending them mightily—be it a baseball team, a...
Thursday, October 15, 2020
From the Archives: April 15, 1955In the vision of the cross, death loses all meaning for us since death is coupled to our rising up again. The spoils of Jesus’ cross are ours. When we seek the will of God in all….(View this reading and more resources for prayer...
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Jesus sends the twelve disciples to minister in his name, giving them the same power and authority! I find it startling that Christians don’t talk more about how Jesus shared his healing power so freely with his followers—and how Jesus still shares this power, calling...
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
For the last week or so, we have read in the Book of Acts about Paul’s missionary journeys and the turmoil he caused by preaching about Jesus, which eventually led to his arrest.In today’s lesson, we learn that the Roman authorities were willing to release Paul from...
