Gilead, Nineveh, Damascus, Beersheba, Galilee. The place names of the Bible echo back to Sunday-school childhood and thousands of years before that—names forged out of the mysterious encounter of human and...

“Providence”—the word has always drawn me in. It has a big inclusive embrace, a protective sweep. I also sense the word is out of favor these days. Maybe belief in luck...

The locale of Jesus’ first miracle is a party, a wedding, with wine at the center of the action. Scripture dares to place God’s abundance in a festive setting here, not...

My first grandchild was born recently. His name is Benjamin, making him the fifth living Benjamin on my side of the family and also the fifth-generation Benjamin on my side of...

Like all my companion authors for Disciplines 2022, I am writing during a year fraught with uncertainty. It will be the defining year for this current generation. The names we hear...

Another named storm headlines the news. Some years we’ve run out of letters from the English alphabet and have had to move on to the Greek alphabet. And those are only...

Isaiah said they would bring gold and frankincense as gifts to praise the Lord. It would be a joyous occasion, when all the world would see the worth of God’s people...

Chaff, as you know, is the stuff that comes along with a grain of wheat, a sort of outer skin. Think of it like that piece of husk that sometimes shows...

Following Jesus always involves a little two-step dance. For United Methodists and many others, baptism is one step—especially baptism for those “unable to answer for themselves,” typically babies. And then ten...

Did you hear that? Did you hear the voice from heaven say, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased”? Even if you missed the message, you...