*A homily, originally given at Midtown Christian Community, Feb. 7, 2009. Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of […]

Father, grant us grace to take up our crosses and follow Jesus in the way of suffering and death.  We know that the only way to resurrection and victory is through suffering and the cross, but it is difficult.  We love our pleasures.  We love the trivial pursuits that take up our time and fill […]

The cross is central to the Gospel of Mark.  Though his Gospel is much shorter than the others, Mark’s passion account is just as long as Matthew’s and Luke’s. Mark also introduces the plot to kill Jesus much earlier (3:6) than the others.  Mark fixes his readers’ gaze on the cross, the lens through which […]

In class the other day we discussed Paul’s personal presence.  He notes in 1 Corinthians 2 that when he was in Corinth he intentionally avoided impressive rhetorical displays by purposefully embodying the crucified Christ. Passages like that provoke the imagination—how exactly did that play out?  And, beyond that, what did Paul look like? We can’t […]

In these posts on Romans, I’ve been claiming that Paul wrote the letter not as a work of abstract theology, but as a pastoral letter to unify the divided church(es) in Rome. Paul argues in Rom. 1:18-3:20 that all the Roman Christians (Jew and non-Jew) were united in condemnation, and that all (Jew and non-Jew) […]

In Romans 5, Paul begins to interpret the conflicted situation in the Roman church(es) from an apocalyptic perspective.  There’s far more going on than just a social tug-of-war between two factions in the Roman Christian community.  That’s an interpretation from a merely human perspective. Paul sets their situation within a larger drama on a bigger […]

Zondervan has just released Introduction to Messianic Judaism: Its Ecclesial Context and Biblical Foundations.  I’ve been looking forward to this book’s publication since first hearing about it a few years ago.  The reassessment of Paul’s relationship to Judaism in the wake of E. P. Sanders’s work has opened up new possibilities for faithfully envisioning the […]

Cross-bearing Lord, Come to all those places where the power of death would hold and force its way and say a redemptive word: Where there is human wreckage, like those precious children of yours bombed out and foreclosed; Where refugees and immigrants wonder where next they will sleep and if anyone wants them anymore: Where […]

Have you seen Sports Illustrated’s ranking of NFL announcers? I think it’s dead-on with putting Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth at the top.  In fact, NBC’s Sunday Night lineup was loaded with intellectual heavyweights (relatively speaking).  They had Dan Patrick hosting discussions with Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, and that was only the warmup. Before […]

*A homily given on Ash Wednesday at Midtown Christian Community, Feb. 17, 2010 Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, […]