Three times in the gospel of John, Jesus speaks of “the prince of this world” (12:31, 14:30, 16:11). Although we’re drawn to “prince,” it’s the word “world” that’s most important to understand. It is regularly used by John to refer to the system that is in opposition to God. When John speaks of the world as involving the lust of the flesh, the lustContinue reading “Let’s Live Like It!”
Author Archives: A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green
High Touch or High Truth?
Unlike the synoptic writers who start with events surrounding Jesus’ birth (Matthew and Luke), or with the ministry of John the Baptizer (Mark), John’s gospel has a cosmic tone as he goes all of the way back to the beginning. We hear echoes of Genesis 1 as he writes about the beginning, the word, and light. Some have suggestedContinue reading “High Touch or High Truth?”
God Using His Words
What if there were no words? Parents wouldn’t be able to encourage their children to use your words. We would be unable to communicate with each other in the rich, substantive way that words make possible. Without words, our ability to process anything intellectually would be severely diminished. We wouldn’t be able to think our way through someContinue reading “God Using His Words”
Funeral for a Friend
The main difference between funerals in the first century and today has to do with our modern embalming practices. Nothing like this existed then so burial took place not after a few days, but a few hours. When it was determined that a person had died, their eyes would be closed, and their body wouldContinue reading “Funeral for a Friend”
Finding Jesus
John 7 takes place in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles about six months before Jesus’ crucifixion. As John is prone to doing, he takes an event (like Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman or the feeding of the multitude) and details some of the ripples that emanated from it. In the seventh chapter, the eventContinue reading “Finding Jesus”
Come and See
We were on a once-in-a-lifetime family trip to Greece. Our youngest daughter was there as part of her university’s international study program. Everyone had been counting their nickels for quite some time (even having a home-made gift exchange the previous Christmas). Janice and I flew to Raleigh where our oldest daughter and her husband live. From there we flewContinue reading “Come and See”
Be Bold and Behold!
I have a portable DVD player that’s seen some heavy usage so I was doing a little maintenance on it. I opened the disc area and blew some compressed air into it. As I did, I noticed a warning label: DO NOT TOUCH THE LENS. That made sense— any kind of smudge on the lens would keep the discContinue reading “Be Bold and Behold!”
An Exalted View
David Blaine is an illusionist and stunt performer who has been in the public eye for a couple of decades. His most recent feat was to float upward to almost 25,000 feet while attached to over 50 large balloons in the Great Basin Desert in northern Arizona. As he was ascending, he spoke of havingContinue reading “An Exalted View”
War of the Worlds
War of the Worlds was written by H. G. Wells in 1898. Though it hardly raises an eyebrow by today’s standards, it was pretty heady stuff then. England was at the height of its imperialism and creatures from another planet would be considered about the only qualified candidates to take down the Empire. Scientists were speculatingContinue reading “War of the Worlds”
The Selfish Giant
Oscar Wilde wrote a story for children (and children at heart), called The Selfish Giant. The story is about a giant who returns from a visit with an ogre to find his garden (yard) overrun with children from the neighborhood. Being the selfish giant that he is, he angrily banishes them from the garden and buildsContinue reading “The Selfish Giant”
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 