Wrestling With…? - Reflections on Genesis 32:22-31
I say that the wrestling match at Jabbok cannot be fully comprehended without the succeeding meeting of the two brothers. It is there that God is fully revealed.
What Goes Around… - Reflections on Genesis 29:15-28
What are we to make of this story of trickery, deception, and clever dealings? No character here is to emulated; the Bible does not say ever “be like Jacob” or “take Laban as your model for living.” What the Bible instead implies is: just how is the great God going to make anything out of these rascals? And, it follows, just how is God going to make anything out of us? How indeed.
Must Reads Classics – Care-full Preaching: From Sermon to Caring Community by G. Lee Ramsey Jr.
In this episode of Must Reads Classics, Dr. Wes Allen interviews Dr. G. Lee Ramsey Jr., the author of the book "Care-full Preaching: From Sermon to Caring Community." The book centers around the idea that preaching, over time, can shape a church that values mutual hospitality, compassion, and care for both congregation members and outsiders.
Gee, Thanks a Lot! - Reflections on Genesis 28:10-19a
Context is always crucial when one reads any biblical text, but that is doubly true when examining Gen.28, the tale of Jacob’s mysterious ladder dream. The story is wonderfully spooky, deliciously important, and delightfully funny all at the same time.
Deception and Stupidity - Reflections on Genesis 25:19-34
I am continually amazed at the rich humor of many of our scripture passages. How anyone could read Gen.25:19-34, the tale of the birth and rivalry of Jacob and Esau, and not spare at least a chuckle at the story, is quite beyond me. If one does not laugh, one is left with a crushing sorrow.
The Holy Sacrifice of Christ - Sermon on Philippians 2:5-11 by Rev. Ted A. Campbell
Why should we have to choose which aspects of our Savior’s life and death and resurrection count and, by implication, somehow don’t count towards our salvation? Is not the purpose of this passage in the letter to the Philippians to say that Christ’s divine nature and his whole human experience count for our salvation? An African patriarch wrote, “Christ became human in order that humans might become divine.”
Must Reads, Episode 22, with Tyshawn Gardner, featuring his book “Social Crisis Preaching"
Welcome to another episode of Must Reads where Dr. Tyshawn Gardner discusses his book Social Crisis Preaching: Biblical Proclamation for Troubling Times.
Ancient Tales - Reflections on Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
I cannot in silence pass over the delightful story of Abraham’s bargaining with Ephron the Hittite for a burial place for his dead wife, Sarah, for it is all too reminiscent of some modern bargaining that I have tried and failed to do in the current Middle East. That lovely tale is followed by another in Gen.24. In a very long account, Abraham now sends a servant to secure a wife from among his relatives in Haran.
Must Reads Classics - Homiletic Moves and Structures by David Buttrick
In this interview, Dr. David Schnasa Jacobsen, Bishops Scholar in Homiletics and Preaching, and Director of the Homiletical Theology Project at Boston University School of Theology, talks about his professor, David Buttrick, and his influential book "Homiletic Moves and Structures" published in 1987.
A Truly Tragic Tale - Reflections on Genesis 21:8-21
Some biblical stories are very dark, and the one for today is one of them. After the relatively light-hearted story of the miraculous birth of the child of laughter, Isaac, we are confronted with a rivalry between sons that we did not anticipate.
The Last Laugh? - Reflections on Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7)
Today’s text is a delightful one in several ways. It describes superb Middle Eastern hospitality, something one may still experience in the modern Middle East, at least in rural areas. But, of course, the chief delight is in the playful and delicious repartee that YHWH, Sarah, and Abraham engage in over the fantastic possibility that the prune-faced couple might be somehow able to have a child.
The Bible’s Hinge - Reflections on Genesis 12:1-9
Gen.12:1-3 is the hinge of the book of Genesis, the literary place upon which the entire Genesis story hangs. And, I would add, because Genesis is in fact the origin story of the entire scripture, Gen.12 is also the hinge of the whole biblical tale.
