It is amazing to me how Jesus is being used to justify the exact behaviors he preached so vociferously against. The one who declared that loving our neighbors as ourselves is God's very heartbeat is being used to justify hatred of the most vulnerable. The one who pushed the religious elite of his day to […]

We were in a swanky resort in Florida for a work-related trip for my husband. We were surrounded by financial advisors and spouses. It was so lovely. On our first day there, I ran into a woman in the pool area who asked about my life and what I did for a living. "I'm a […]

I have been thinking a lot about how Jesus pushed the boundaries. He broke right through the spiritual fences religious leaders had put up to keep people out, to keep people away from their God. As I read through the Gospel accounts of Jesus' life and ministry I cannot help but notice what a boundary […]

It's the week after Easter. Chocolate bunnies eaten, eggs hidden, found, and turned into egg salad, leftover ham served on sandwiches, Easter hymns sung and put away til next year. And here we are … Now what? Our pastor said in his Easter sermon: We are people of the resurrection! And my question is: What […]

Good Friday is dark. The compassionate, merciful, God-man dies a criminal's death at the hands of religious and political leaders. The Messiah, full of despair and feeling deserted by God the Father, cries out, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" Even the earth wept and quaked. Yet somehow, we call it good. Emil Brunner, […]

I recently read the story of Judas, the backstabber, one of Jesus' closest friends. The moral majority of his day paid Judas to conspire with them to arrest Jesus. After this collusion was initiated, Jesus served the Passover meal (what we now call the Last Supper) to his disciples---including Judas. As I read this story […]