This Sunday begins Advent. That word, advent word comes from the Latin verb “to come.” It’s church shorthand for Adventus Domini…the coming of the Lord. As a kid, I thought it was the name of a Christmas countdown calendar that had chocolate hidden in little secret doors. But, it...

“Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel…they saw God, and they ate and drank.” (Exodus 24:9–11) What is the best way to get to know someone and become friends? Before our lives became so busy, that...

“…But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20) Imagine, an elderly, respected man, a pillar of the community, tucking his long robes in his belt...

“They [the deceived] perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved…and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:10, 12) When Jesus walked the earth, John tells us he was full of “grace...

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me,...