The Temptation of Jonah. WANTED: A fearless prophet needed for a ministry to the Gentiles. Must be willing to enter the capital of an evil enemy and demand repentance for their wickedness. Preaching experience required. Must be able to endure possible ridicule or assault. Burlap leisure wear recommended. Loud voice a plus. Walking shoes a must. …
Getting Better at Being Good. “Though Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all about duties and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out of all that into something beyond. One has a glimpse of a country where they do not talk of those things; everyone there is filled …
The Parable of the Camel and the Needle. Please read Luke 18:18-30. THE CONTEXT. A rich man, probably the up and coming young rich ruler in the synagogue, approaches Jesus and asks the same thing the uppity lawyer asked Jesus in the prelude to the Good Samaritan story. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” …
The Temptation of Judas. “Then Jesus replied, ‘Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!’ He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray Him.’” (John 6:70-71). Could there be a more tragic figure in Scripture than Judas Iscariot? We don’t …
The Temptation of Peter. (Please read all four accounts of Peter at his weakest: Matt. 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-18, 25-27). St. Peter is a tough nut to crack. We shouldn’t try to read the mind of anyone, no less someone who lived 2,000 years ago and is as complicated as he is. So …
The Temptation of David. “You can’t keep the birds from flying overhead, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” (Martin Luther). Main Characters: David (1040-970 BC) was totally unique in Scripture. Raised a shepherd boy, the last of eight boys, the one everyone seemed to overlook, he became a renowned musician, …
The Temptation of Babel. “And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves…” (read Genesis 11:1-9). BABEL: an ancient Akkadian word that means “gate of the god;” it is the root word for the name Babylon; in Hebrew …
The Temptation of Cain. “Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel your brother?’ Cain said, ‘I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?’” (read Genesis …
The Temptation of Adam and Eve. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:6). In the Beginning. God …
The One Anothers – An Unspoken Wedding Homily. “Love one another. Love each other the way that I have loved you.” (John 15:12). There are a number of “one anothers” in the New Testament, wise advice on the art of building and sustaining a community, of establishing relationships that will have depth and meaning and resilience. Why …
Cana Wedding – An Unspoken Homily. “The next day there was a wedding celebration in the village of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and His disciples were also invited to the celebration. The wine supply ran out during the festivities, so Jesus’ mother told him, ‘They have no more wine.’ ‘Dear …
Steve’s Swedish Heritage. My Swedish grandfather on my father’s side was David George Larson, born to Johann and Selma Larson in Borgstena, Sweden, in 1889. He was one of ten children, and they lived on a farm. It’s no wonder they had to send David away as a seventeen-year-old to America to look for a …