But God, I want it my way!           God’s way of doing things isn’t at all like our way of doing things. The Bible shows us again and again, but we don’t get it. The same theme comes up with Jesus and his followers. “Those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” — […]

Know who Jesus is! Jesus knew his followers were confused about his identity. Miraculous healings and feedings weren’t enough. So to make things plain, Jesus took his followers to the place that symbolized all that clouded their vision. In today’s Gospel story, Jesus takes them to “the district of Cesarea Philippi” to reveal his true […]

Do you have the faith of a pest? Would you like to? God’s OK with it! Several Bible stories feature a pest – someone who keeps after God, asking again and again for something that’s important to them. What makes these folks special to God is their pestering comes from a deep faith that God […]

So let ‘afraid’ turn to ‘a faith’! Jesus’ followers often were afraid – but Jesus kept on loving them and pushing them to “take heart” and let him nurture their faith. Even after Jesus’ most famous miracle – the feeding of the 5,000 – his followers still had trouble with their faith. (How human is […]

If you’re hungry, this is the right place! “Eat my bread, and you’ll never go hungry again!” – That’s Jesus’ promise. To help people get that, Jesus performed a spectacular miracle. There were all these people who had come out to see him – they had heard he could do amazing things! When Jesus saw […]

What is God’s kingdom like? Yeast, mustard and wasteful farmers – God’s kingdom features things that seem small, people that seem foolish. It’s puzzling. But that’s because God’s logic is different from human logic! These have been the subjects of Jesus’ stories the last few weeks. Jesus is trying to help folks understand this new […]

Why does God let weeds and wheat grow together? Jesus’ followers had a problem with the stories Jesus told about farmers casting seeds everywhere. The stories described God, casting the seeds of His lavish love willy-nilly. Clearly, weeds would sprout up alongside the wheat (God’s people). What to do? God-the-farmer is wise and merciful: If […]

What kind of soil are you? A farmer threw his seed onto all kinds of soil. Some was gravelly dirt, some full of weeds. But some soil was good, and the seeds bore a good harvest. This is the story Jesus tells us today – but what are we to make of it? It turns […]

When our burdens grow too heavy – then what? Paul carried heavy burdens, too: He wanted to do the right thing. In his head, he knew he wanted it. But despite knowing it and wanting it, something inside him made him do the wrong thing. He couldn’t help it! He could feel the war going […]