We cannot alter the past but because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can bring the past to the altar. The One who was, and is, and is to come redeems us, reigns over us, and will return for us.

Politics isn't to be forsaken or service in the government (in its many forms) despised. But a more robust vision of such service, informed by a much earlier understanding of what that means, together with at least a grain of the humility that boasts in weakness rather than prowess, would go a long way toward the renewal of a constructive engagement that eclipses the current destructive, burn ‘em and hang ‘em narratives of the so-called evangelical politics of the alt-right and the despairing statism of the far-left.

The darkest night, the deepest pain,

Cannot the hope of Heaven stain

For He who rose, the grave defies,

My Savior lives, and so shall I!

One of my favorite moments in the stage Musical version of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables is when Jean Valjean sings in wonder at the grace of the good Bishop. “He called me brother”, and that revelation, the truth that he was in a new family of faith by grace and mercy, changed his life forever.

Reconciliation with God begins with God's unwavering desire to bridge the chasm between us caused by our sin. How could it be otherwise? Just look at the words Paul employs to describe our situation - weak, ungodly, sinners, enemies; what a disaster had overtaken us. Nevertheless, God made us the objects of his mercy out of sheer grace and love.

This passage encapsulates the essence of the gospel—redemption and justification are not achieved by human effort but gifts received by God's intervening, liberating grace secured by the sacrificial love of Jesus. He is the elder brother who comes to the distant country of our rebellion to rescue us, paying the price to liberate us and bring us home.

Yet it is exactly here that we notice a twist in the tale: Christ offers the atonement, but he’s not the offending party in the relationship - we are! Shouldn’t we then be the ones offering the atonement? Astonishingly, God intervenes and makes the atonement himself. We don’t offer this sacrifice; Christ offers his own blood as a substitute, as a sacrifice on our behalf.

That word ‘stirred’ in Matthew’s description of what happened in Jerusalem that day is eseisthe, the ancient Greek root of our word seismic. Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem unleashed earth-shaking power that could not be ignored. With apologies to James Bond, the city was ‘shaken not stirred’ and shaken to the core.

It turns out that prophesying is a tough business, especially when it’s for keeps. In fact, the Hebrew people took ‘prophesying’ very seriously, and if you spoke a false prophecy, you were toast—literally. It wasn’t just your bracket that ended up broken! 

Authentic contextualization of the Gospel in mission and preaching never seeks to remove its offense; on the contrary, by making the Gospel more clear and accessible, it clarifies both its offense and its beauty.

Throughout church history, women have played pivotal yet often underrecognized roles in shaping Christian thought, practice, and community life. From the early days of Christianity to the modern era, female theologians, royalty, martyrs, and evangelists have emerged as powerful voices of faith. They've influenced theological debates, social movements, governments, and missions.

There’s an inherent conflict of interest in our self-examinations: we too easily legitimize our grievances and minimize our wrongs. It takes a revelation from God to expose to our eyes those interior, subterranean fault lines that will ultimately rock our world if they are not addressed and healed.

Since “faith is the substance of things hoped for,” Joseph directed that his bones be disinterred and carried back to the Promised Land when the future Exodus from Egypt dawned. He knew that day was generations away, but he was confident it would come and took action in his present based on the future he knew God had planned.

It’s been observed that hitting the ‘Pause’ button on a machine makes the machine stop while hitting the ‘Pause’ button on humans makes us start. We start to reflect. We start to observe. We start to ponder, behold, and ‘take stock.’ In Biblical language, we ‘consider our ways’.

One can no more separate one’s faith from one's actions towards those broken by want and violence than one can separate the heart from the body and still live. It is impossible.

This is why so many of the current "You've got it wrong, and I don't" approaches to interpretation often ring hollow. For goodness' sake, entire ministries are built on being right and showing where everyone but that ministry is wrong. This won't do. There are so many ways to be wrong about being right.

Augustine’s magnificent observation on reading the God-revealing Book of Nature.