You can’t miss pride (I’m referring to the unhealthy kind). It’s obnoxious, outrageous and “the only disease that makes everyone sick except the one who has it.” It’s an easy thing to spot. Or is it? There’s another type of pride that is equally destructive. It is less obvious and subtle. It’s the quiet self-absorptionContinue reading “Love, Liberation, And Life”
Category Archives: Matthew
Looking Through The Lens (2)
The prophets were interpreters of the law. The audience they preached to (Judah and Israel), were plagued with the same ceremonial instincts that their Pharisaical descendants would possess centuries later. They placed such confidence in the external that they believed that their participation in the ritual of sacrifice (emblems of the grace of God), somehow obligatedContinue reading “Looking Through The Lens (2)”
Looking Through The Lens (1)
The Hubble telescope was launched in 1990. It is currently locked in an orbit 353 miles above the earth where it circles the planet every 97 minutes. This position enables it to be free from the light distortions that ground based telescopes experience. The Hubble’s technology has allowed researchers to do some amazing things. They have peered 14Continue reading “Looking Through The Lens (1)”
Letting God Be God
Coming up with a comprehensive picture of the Sadducees isn’t easy. We have no writings from them. Aside from Scripture, our information about who they were and what they believed comes from outside sources (primarily Josephus and the Mishnah). And there’s a sparseness in these that makes almost everything they say more conjecture than conclusion.Continue reading “Letting God Be God”
Justice, Mercy And Faithfulness
Jesus chastised the Pharisees for overlooking “the more important matters of the law” (Matthew 23:23). He identified these as justice, mercy and faithfulness. Whether these three things alone constitute the most important matters or are representative of them is a discussion worth having, but this much is clear: justice, mercy and faithfulness are top tierContinue reading “Justice, Mercy And Faithfulness”
Jesus And The Fulfillment Of Scripture
In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Fourteen times Matthew will speak of Scripture being fulfilled by Jesus. Fulfillment is much more than the raw idea that the Scripture predicted something, and JesusContinue reading “Jesus And The Fulfillment Of Scripture”
God’s Wish For The World
“A baby is God’s way of saying the world should go on.” Who doesn’t smile (at least on the inside) at those words? The birth of a child carries its own inherent joy and celebration. It doesn’t need to be linked to anything else. So when with these words you connect it to God andContinue reading “God’s Wish For The World”
God Is With Us!
Matthew’s gospel was written to Jewish disciples in the years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem (AD 70). Tension between the synagogue and the church was continuing to escalate and life was difficult for the follower of Jesus. By beginning his gospel with a genealogy connecting Jesus to Abraham and David (1:1), Matthew is inContinue reading “God Is With Us!”
Forever In Gratitude
I remember playing pickup basketball one day at the YMCA when we lived in South Carolina when a couple of guys came in to play. Teams were being picked and we were deciding who was going to guard who and no one wanted to guard one of the guys so I said I would. IContinue reading “Forever In Gratitude”
Faith In Our Father
It’s easy to read the story of the rich young man of Matthew 19:16-26 as a statistical outlier. To be rich and young was not common in the first century (or today). In those times, it would have suggested royalty (which Luke’s account verifies). Beyond that, Jesus told him to sell his possessions and giveContinue reading “Faith In Our Father”
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 