Humanity on the Clock The Doomsday Clock is a metric that is published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. This is an organization that is dedicated to reducing the man-made threats that put civilization at risk. The clock is the estimation of how close the world is to nuclear war. There is nothing magical …
A Tale of Two Lives The text this week is Luke 16:19-31. This is the uncomfortable story of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man had everything, and Lazarus had nothing. It’s not that the rich man could not have known about Lazarus, the poor man was barely existing right outside the rich man’s …
The Godliness of Work Two weeks ago, on Labor Day I published a piece about the anti-labor lobby. It focused on the various policies that the ostensibly “pro-labor” lobby advocated. This week I wish to go beyond the policies and dive into a bit of the culture that drives those ideas. It is a culture …
A Timeless Lesson The text this week is Luke 16:1-13. This is the story of the dishonest manager and one of my most treasured passages in Scripture. This is primarily a story of repentance, perhaps the story of repentance. In this story it is made clear that the manager was dishonest or at least incompetent. …
A repost from last year as the nation commemorates another ill-named “Patriot” Day It Was Just Yesterday It hardly seems possible that 21 years have elapsed since the 9/11 attacks. Many things have changed. New career paths, the loss of family and friends, a strengthened faith (hopefully!) are just some of the changes that I …
We All Need Repentance The text this week is Luke 15:1-10. This mostly contains two parables about the rejoicing in heaven over those who return in a penitent state. Notably, these parables occur after the Pharisees were grumbling about Jesus consorting with tax-collectors and sinners. This is notable because we all think repentance is about …
You Is What You Is Let’s be clear upfront; the strongest voices against labor are among those who ostensibly advocate on behalf of…labor. It is an odd dichotomy to be sure and one that at first blush seems counter intuitive. Yet, a cursory examination, along with some basic economic knowledge will show that today’s labor …
Three Parables; One Lesson The text this week is Luke 14:25-33. This has Jesus teaching about the cost of discipleship. That is the title of a wonderful book by the great theologian, and martyr to the Nazis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. A book that had a sizable impact on my faith journey. The main point of the …
Jesus the Ultimate Lumper The idea of unity and division is a consistent one throughout Scripture. The notion is a consistent one throughout human history in general. One looks at the world as a unified thing or one tends to look at the world as more divided up. It reminds one of the adage that …
Another Dinner Party This week’s text is Luke 14: 1. 7-14. This starts off with Jesus attending yet another dinner party with the Pharisees. Other such events occur in Luke 7: 36-50 and in Luke 11: 37-54. For one who often harshly criticizes these folks, Jesus breaks bread with them quite a bit. That fact …