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Just the other day I heard someone speculate that 2012 could be the year of Jesus’ return.  At the very least, we weren’t getting any further away from the day.  But, if you’re wondering whether to stop investing in your 401K plan and start building a fallout shelter, or make for the highest summit closest…

“You’ve been given the gift of knowing the secrets of the kingdom of heaven,” Jesus replied, “but they haven’t been given it.  Anyone who already has something will be given more, and they will have plenty. But anyone who has nothing- even what they have will be taken away!  That’s why I speak to them…

The other day I was asked to be the back-up wedding officiant for someone who had obtained their certificate of ordination off the Internet. Another person in the conversation had chimed in that she had once officiated at a wedding, thanks to this same booming online trade in ministerial credentials- at which point, an “Ooh,…

My next-door neighbor, in addition to being a photographer, is a fire dancer: she gets paid to perform well-choreographed tricks with hot flames while wearing sexy outfits.  Yesterday several other parents and I were at her house to celebrate her son’s third birthday when another mother stumbled upon a set of books.  They weren’t just…

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Matthew 2:11 “Tebowing,” or that characteristic bow in reverent prayer on the football field that derives its name from Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, is not as shockingly original as we might be inclined to…

Some friends in a recent Christmas letter joked about their search for just the right present for their newborn baby.  After scouring Amazon.com for gift ideas, they came up with a number of questionable gift ideas for young children, the likes of which appear below.  If you’re still searching for just the right gift, you…

I had wondered a few days back whether there can be anything more kitsch at Christmas time than those loud-colored, ceramic nativity scenes, one of which graces our coffee table and has become my two-year-old daughter’s play toy of choice these days.  Apparently, it does get more kitsch and our creche is tame by comparison.…

The Old Testament story of Abraham’s near sacrifice of his son, Isaac, (Genesis 22:1-19), has flummoxed many a thinker.  The great nineteenth century theologian, Soren Kierkegaard, wrote Fear and Trembling as a response to this disturbing story, which in turn has brought many a seminary student to her knees in her efforts to “decode” it.…

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew.  They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.'”  At once they left their nets and followed him.”  Matthew…

“If anyone speaks a word against the son of man, it will be forgiven.  But if anyone speaks a word against the Holy Spirit, it won’t be forgiven, either in the present age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:32).  Every once in a while when my son expresses his dissatisfaction with the Dover…
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