Love the oppressed, but also the oppressor?

You may remember that in the previous post on Jesus’ inaugural sermon, we noted how he stressed his vocation as embodying proclamation, justice and compassion. Well, here is the Lukan Jesus embodying all three of these at the same time in a genius way. In Luke 18:35-19:11, there is a “Lukan sandwich” concerning the Blind

Jesus’ Brilliant (and nearly fatal) First Sermon: A New Year Meditation

Well, most of us do not face the possibility of getting thrown off a cliff after our next sermon. This is a good thing to be sure, but makes one question ones preaching. As one Anglican pastor has said, “After Jesus’ sermon, they tried to kill him…But after mine, they invite me for tea”. Well, whether

Re-thinking the Nativity scenes with Kenneth Bailey

Top-notch Biblical scholar + living in the Middle East for over 50 years + speaking Hebrew, Greek, Arabic and Syriac + a love for contextual truth and relevance = Sheer genius (aka Kenneth Bailey). So when Kenneth says something about the context of Jesus’ life and words – as he does a lot here –

Why Malawi?

“When did you know you were called to missions?” I have often had people ask. Rather than share about a voice from above experience, I share about people that have influenced my understanding of Jesus over the years. Of a college education that left me convinced that because I follow Jesus, I want to be