In Old Testament times, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year to offer atonement for Israel’s sins. The high priest readied himself for the extensive liturgy and...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about “cheap grace,” grace with­out serious cost, grace without a cross, cosmetic sharing and blessing not deeply felt. Charity also can be either cheap or costly. We can...

For anyone looking to the Bible to support laziness, the two phrases “unless the Lord builds” it and “unless the Lord guards” it could serve as a foundation. Our resignation that...

Jesus is painfully aware that we who compete, consume, and worry anxiously about ourselves may wear more than one face. In our self-identity, do we live our lives as chameleons and...

These verses provide a wonderful description of Christian faith. Something momentous has happened through Christ. Coming out of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus is a marvelous conviction for...

"Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” The psalmist does not depict Yahweh as a contractor ready to receive our blueprint for a new house....

If you tell the story of King David, Israel’s most celebrated ruler, and if you describe his ancestry, you have to include a foreign woman, a Moabite named Ruth. Through her...

At first glance, Naomi’s suggestions to Ruth seem a bit dar­ing, even dangerous. But nothing in the text detracts from a genuine concern for her loyal and com­pas­sionate Moabite daughter-in-law who,...

Even though this passage was easy to memorize as a child, it confounded me. How could I love God when I couldn’t see, hear, or touch God? Years later as a...

Martin Buber, an early twentieth-century Jewish theologian, dedicated his life to understanding relationships. He saw two distinct types—experiences (I-It) and encounters (I-Thou). In I-It relationships we treat people as objects. In...