A New Kind of Family

Mark 3:20-35 Every time I have explored this Gospel passage in a Bible study with others, someone has made the honest observation that we don’t much like this part. Jesus seems angry, and impatient, and he is apparently very willing to abandon and disown his mother and siblings. He gives his detractors mysterious and complicatedContinue reading “A New Kind of Family”

Praying with the Spirit

Romans 8:12-17 I did not truly learn how to pray until I was a young adult. I grew up in a Christian home, I went to my family’s Episcopal Church every Sunday, I attended youth group and Christian summer camp, I loved church and the prayerbook and I listened to the sermons as best IContinue reading “Praying with the Spirit”

There Will Be Life

Ezekiel 37:1-14 Mortal, can these bones live? O Lord God, you know. The vision of Ezekiel reads like a ghost story, or the plot of a zombie movie. Ezekiel finds himself in a vast valley, and as far as the eye can see, the ground is covered with bones. These bare skeletons are everywhere, andContinue reading “There Will Be Life”

The Story Continues

Mark 16:1-8 And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Can you imagine if the Bible had ended here? For some early listeners, it apparently did. The oldest authorities we have end the story here, with the first half of verse 8. Later versions extend the story by three more verses, and evenContinue reading “The Story Continues”

Why Should We Not Imitate Him?

John 18:1-19:42 So far, this Church year has felt in many ways like a very long Good Friday. Multiple horrific mass casualties, an ongoing genocide of an entire people who share a homeland with our Lord, violence raging in the Sudan, a humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, personal losses and illnesses onContinue reading “Why Should We Not Imitate Him?”