The Bible doesn’t tell us much about the village of Nazareth. Most of what we know comes from archeologists, who tell us that Nazareth was hardly a village at all. In Jesus's time, Nazareth was a collection of huts, two-room houses that often consisted of a cave in...
Tobi Raji and Michael E. Ruane reported in a Washington Post article that background information on black, Hispanic, Native American, and female veterans had been removed from the Arlington Cemetery website. Pentagon officials defended the deletion as part of an...
The gospels are filled with stories in which Jesus faces off with the Pharisees. They are his most consistent foils, which is odd, considering that Jesus and the Pharisees had a lot in common. In fact, they had so much in common that some scholars have suggested that...
“Why did Jesus have to die?” There are a few scripted answers to this question, a plethora of theological justifications, and perhaps just as many explanations and speculations. Perhaps “why” is too heavy. Likewise, “Who dunnit?” is too simplistic without nuance. And...
During this year’s Lent observance, we, along with several other area UM Churches, are participating in a series titled Who Dunnit? The people who wanted Jesus dead (see article). The series begins after Ash Wednesday on Sunday, March 9. In Sunday school, when we...
God created us to live in communities and gave us each unique potential to contribute to the common good. In a competitive culture, rejection is inevitable. Sooner or later, we won’t make the grade; we’ll slip up or reach the end of an era where we can’t do what we...
Fear motivates us to respond in one of four ways. Sometimes, we freeze and are unable to move. Other times, we run away. Occasionally, we move aggressively toward the source of our fear. Last, we may try to appease the source of our fear. Psychologists refer to these...
Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs were first implemented in businesses and government hiring practices following the civil rights movement. A recent New York Times article cited a webpage on the U.S. Department of Labor website that defined diversity as...
We begin our new series, Friends, as a precursor to our next series, which will examine the people and systems that chose to become enemies of Jesus. In doing so, we cannot help but notice the contrast as we consider current circumstances. Our companion devotional...
During this year’s Lent observance, we, along with several other area UM Churches, are participating in a series titled Who Dunnit? The people who wanted Jesus dead (see article). The series begins after Ash Wednesday on Sunday, March 9. So, in preparation, our...