We live in a realm where people are often mistreated by institutions. And that’s really the story of the man who was born blind (John 9:1-12). We prayed at the beginning of the service, “Gracious Father, whose blessed Son, Jesus Christ, came down from heaven to be the true bread that gives life to the…

I need a new flashlight. And when I was looking at flashlight ads, I found one that you can turn on, and the beam can either go broad or narrow, concentrated down to a pin dot. Sometimes the pin dot happens for me when I read Scripture. Today, it was this line from the Gospel…

If you were reading along through the Gospel of John, and you heard Jesus say, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23), a part of you would think, Oh. Now we find out what it is that He’s actually talking about. This is true because all through John’s…

The story of the crucifixion is always a story I don’t want to read. I avoid it as much as I can. And yet, especially at this time of year, it draws me in. Prepared by the Father I don’t want to read it, you see, because I don’t want to know the price Jesus…

What do you think about when you hear the word Lent? The world bombards us with questions: “What are you doing for Lent?” “What are you giving up for Lent this year?” “How long do you think you can go without Starbucks [or fast food, or sugar, or whatever they think might be a typical…