True Fasting - Reflections on Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)
It is from this marvelous and challenging passage from Isaiah that a significant religious and moral movement derives its name: “Repairers of the Breach” (Is.58:12).
How to Walk with God - Reflections on Micah 6:1-8
What God appears to seek here is the concerted work toward justice, based on the certainty of God’s connection, pursued diligently and persistently.
Gloom Becomes Light - Reflections on Isaiah 9:1-4
The verse speaks of a time when the subjects of the text, namely Zebulun and Naphtali, were “in anguish” and were experiencing “gloom.” This period of Israelite history is known as the Syro-Ephraimitic War. Hence, gloom and contempt were the orders of the day. But now Isaiah promises light. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those living in the land of zalmaweth—light has shone on them” (Is.9:2).
A Light to the Nations - Reflections on Isaiah 49:1-7
“I will create you as a light to the nations in order that my work of saving may reach to the end of the earth” (Is.49:6). Here is nothing less than the ultimate statement of God’s desire for the whole creation.
Shalom Without End - Reflections on Isaiah 7:2-7
If shalom means “unity,” and it does, and if the coming of Jesus at Bethlehem offers shalom to the world, and it does, then we have got to find a way to celebrate shalom this year rather than the Christmases we have witnessed over most of our lifetimes.
The Virgin and the Syro-Ephraimitic War - Reflections on Isaiah 7:10-16
The belief in the actual virgin birth of Jesus of Nazareth became over many years one of the pillars of the evangelical faith, found among the “five fundamentals” of Christian belief in the early part of the 20th century.
A Brand New World? - Reflections on Isaiah 35:1-10
This third Sunday in Advent continues the vivid descriptions that the world we currently see is not what God had in mind in creation, and that a new world is on its way. In this new world, “deserts will rejoice and bloom” in the face of the glory of YHWH (Is.35:1-2), “the weak will be strengthened,” the fearful will be protected from fear” (Is.35:3-4).
More Baby Expectations - Reflections on Isaiah 11:1-10
Could the embrace of the Holy Child urge us to cease our reliance on violence, on guns and mayhem, to address our world’s problems? Looking longingly at Is.2 may be one way to imagine the hopes of Christmas in new modes.
Of Fruithooks and Plowpoints - Reflections on Isaiah 2:1-5
We need Advent as a reminder that Jesus’s coming makes great things possible. Light that first Advent candle, and imagine a world without swords and spears, without missilies and tanks, and look forward to the One who comes to bring light into the dark world, trailing plows and fruit hooks with him.
Holy Land Pilgrimage, November 7-16, 2022
It was a privilege to be invited by Rev. Todd Harris, District Superintendent of the Northwest Texas District of the North Texas Conference, UMC, and Rev. Johnny Irish, retired pastor from the North Texas Conference, to be the lecturer for a Holy Land Tour November 7-10, 2022! We planned it as a preaching pilgrimage, whose purpose was to help pastors process their firsthand experiences of scenes from the first Testament and from Jesus’ life to share them with their congregations back home.
The Reign of Christ - Reflections on Jeremiah 23:1-6
We have now arrived at the final Sunday before Advent, the day we now call “The Reign of Christ.” “I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be distressed; neither shall any be missing” (Jer.23:4).
The Promised New Creation - Reflections on Isaiah 65:17-25
The new heaven and earth will be a place of complete shalom, blessed unity where all, human and animal, find their place of peace and harmony.
