A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it out to tenants, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the harvest season he sent a servant to the tenants, that …
The Lion of Judah
In the book of Revelation, Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Someone recently noted that this Lion of Judah is not a tame lion. Which led me to ponder what we …
The Words of Jesus #26
There are some things about Jesus that are bound to be troubling to a Christian reading the New Testament—that is, if you are reading the New Testament carefully and thinking about what you read. It’s …
The Words of Jesus #25
It is becoming increasingly common these days for a minister, a pastor of a church, to be caught in some kind of sexual sin. I recently read that upwards of 30% of church pastors have …
The Words of Jesus #24
Which is more important, do you think, pursuing a religious argument with someone, or giving a life to man who doesn’t have one? Note that I said, pursuing a religious argument, not resolving a religious …
The Words of Jesus #23
It is hard to imagine the confusion that swirled around Jesus during his ministry. The entire Jewish world had already been ripe with expectations of a Messiah, but Jesus was not exactly what they expected. …
The Gospel of Luke #16
And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, who was the chief among the tax collectors, and he was rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was; and could not for the crowd, because …
True Fellowship
I got an email a few nights ago from a man in the military who is often away from home for extended periods. He enclosed a picture of himself, his wife, and his little child. …
The Words of Jesus #22
Do you wash your hands before you eat? Well, if you had a mother, you probably do. It is a habit acquired in childhood. But chances are you don’t worry about it very much unless …
The Words of Jesus #21
There were at least three major categories of people who heard Jesus speak. There was a smallish group of people who immediately responded to him. To them, he was like water on dry ground. They …
The Words of Jesus #20
Was Jesus a racist? You know, he live in a society that was, frankly, racist. Religious Jews would not eat with gentiles and Samaritans were beneath contempt. Oh, they were happy enough to make a …
The Words of Jesus #19
Jesus must have given a lot of people whiplash. For one thing, he didn’t seem to be very religious. That is not to say that he was not a law-abiding person, or that he was …
The Gospel of Luke #15
[…] There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary. And …
The Authentic Jesus #2
Poor Joseph. It is hard to imagine what a shock it was to him when he learned that his betrothed wife was with child. Understand that, in that society, at that time, this was a …
The Words of Jesus #18
Why was Jesus so hard to understand at times? Oh, there were times when he was clear as crystal, and we just don’t like what he said, but there are other times when he is …
The Words of Jesus #17
Imagine for a moment that you and your family go out to a movie one night and when you come home, your house has burned to the ground. I know, it would be a terrible …
The Words of Jesus #16
When reading the Bible, especially the words of Jesus, have you ever wondered why Jesus did not speak more plainly? He was a man of few words, and I often find myself wishing for more …
The Words of Jesus #15
There is such a thing as an unpardonable sin. I hesitate to bring it up, because some poor soul out there who is guilty of serious sin is likely to have a few bad nights …
The Gospel of Luke #14
And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Teacher, have mercy on us. And …
The Authentic Jesus #1
There are so many mysteries in the Bible. Yes, it was written in another language and in another culture, and there is much we simply don’t know. But I am not talking about that. I …