Luke 21:5-19 “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you.” This is what Jesus promises to His disciples will happen to them. If you’re like me, you probably think about this how this passage might apply to you in terms of hypotheticals. “Some day, when things have gotten bad enough, I too may be persecuted, and I want to be ready.” But to the disciples to whom Jesus was speaking, the threat of persecution was a not a... Read more
Luke 20:41-21:4 WYSIWYG. “What You See Is What You Get.” It was a revolutionary principle years ago when Apple came out with an operating system that worked under the principle of WYSIWYG. Eventually, Apple forced Microsoft to become better and adopt this principle of computer graphics instead of the nerdy and Herculean system known as DOS. But what works best in the world of computers isn’t always what’s true for humans. With humans, in this world where God’s glory is... Read more
Luke 20:27-40 It’s refreshing to see the words and logic of someone else besides the Pharisees fail. This time it’s the Sadducees. Actually, after Jesus decisively answers the Sadducees, it is really Strike Three. In Luke 20:1-8, the chief priests and scribes take a swing at Jesus and miss. In Luke 20:20-26, it’s a swing and a miss with the Pharisees. This morning the Sadducees complete the strike out, and Jesus retires the side. It’s easy to retroactively laugh at... Read more
Luke 20:9-26 The parable of the wicked vinedressers is a parable that Jesus spoke primarily to the Jews. They are the ones who were given God’s vineyard and told to keep it. They were the ones who had God’s servants the prophets sent to them so that they might be reminded to bear fruit, and they were the ones who beat and mistreated the prophets. In the end, they were the ones who, with the aid of the Romans, both... Read more
Luke 19:47-20:8 Who is Jesus Christ? Careful! The way you answer this question determines everything else in life: it’s important to get it right. The chief priest and scribes in Luke 20 get it wrong. Very wrong. “Who is he who gave you this authority?” they ask. And they should know. It should be clear by now to them that Jesus’ authority comes from the Father. Now it could be that they are really that dense and just don’t know,... Read more
Luke 19:29-40 The appropriate response to being in the presence of Jesus is joy and praise. Both of these things are needed, and both are present whenever Jesus is present and is received with faith. It seems odd to be reading about the Triumphal Entry of Jesus on Palm Sunday at the end of summer, in the middle of the long season of Trinity that doesn’t have the landmarks of other seasons like Christmas or Easter. But the Triumphal Entry... Read more
Pray and Read with the Early Church Christian devotional books are a dime a dozen. The market is flooded with new releases every year, most of which are average at best and ultimately ephemeral. This one is different. Instead of focusing on the contemporary and that which is passing away, the “Ancient Christian Devotional” helps Christians from all branches of Christ’s Church to connect to the saints and the Church of all ages. The “Ancient Christian Devotional” provides a year... Read more
The Single Best Book on the Sociology of Religion Acts of Faith represents the culmination of more than 30 years of research in the sociology of religion by Rodney Stark (and also Roger Finke). It is Stark’s magnum opus, putting together in one place the distillation of all of his important research, and is the single best book on the sociology of religion that I’ve come across. While no single theory, even a good one, can explain religion adequately, Acts... Read more
Good, But Not As Connected to The Bible As It Should Have Been. Richard Foster has for many years helped build up the lives of Christians with his work, especially, on the spiritual disciplines. I’ve been reading The Spiritual Formation Bible and enjoying it. “A Year With God” is another in a series of books by Foster related to the spiritual disciplines. While Foster’s “Celebration of Discipline” helped start the current revival of the spiritual disciplines by describing each of... Read more
Luke 19:11-28 Jesus is a persistent Master, isn’t He? Didn’t He just finish teaching us in Luke 16:1-13 that we should be faithful with our money and gifts and to give an account of our stewardship? And then in Luke 16:19-31 He told us about the rich man who had not been faithful with the riches he had been given and refused to share God’s gifts with Lazarus. And here He is again in Luke 19:11-28 reminding us that He... Read more
Give Us This Day
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In