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Matthew 15:21–39 and the Church’s Mission to the Outsider Matthew 15:21–39 is not merely a story about one desperate mother and one miraculous meal. It is a passage about boundaries, faith, compassion, and the widening table of Jesus. Jesus withdraws to the region of Tyre and Sidon. This is not the heartland of Galilean Jewish…
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James 5, the Battle Hymn, and Patient Justice. His Truth Is Marching OnJames 5:1–10 It was a hymn. It was a protest song. It was a song of march for Union soldiers who traversed the trails of war into the South. Before it became “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” the tune had carried other…
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As a coach, mentor, pastor, and lifelong encourager of people with ideas, I have prepared these videos to help you think more clearly, act more intentionally, and move forward as an entrepreneur, leader, creator, or person in transition. Some are practical. Some are reflective. Some are brief nudges toward action. All of them are…
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“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”— 1 Corinthians 3:6 Some work is too important to be measured by our own harvest. That thought has been following me through several reflections lately. I have been thinking about trees we plant but may never sit under, seeds we sow but may never see sprout,…
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You do not have to be lifted up in the eyes of the world, or even in your own eyes, to move upward toward God. Psalm 131 is a song of ascent, sung by pilgrims climbing toward Jerusalem. Yet the singer says, “My heart is not lifted up.” The body ascends, but the ego bows.…
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Clay and Rock Jeremiah 18:1-11 and Isaiah 51:1-3 In Jeremiah 18, the prophet is sent down to the potter’s house. There, he watches a vessel being shaped on the wheel. The clay is spoiled in the potter’s hand, but it is not discarded. It is reworked. It is reshaped. It becomes another vessel, as seems…
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“… in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore.” — Genesis 22:17 What a promise God made to His trusted servant. This was not the first time God had spoken such words to Abram.…
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John 21:15-19 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”…
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Matthew 15:1–20 Clean hands can still belong to distant hearts. In Matthew 15, the Pharisees confront Jesus because his disciples do not follow the ritual handwashing tradition of the elders. Jesus turns the question back on them: Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? This passage is not…
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Romans 6:1–11 Grace is not permission to stay bound. That is where Paul begins in Romans 6. He has been celebrating the abundance of grace. Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more. So someone might ask, “Should we continue in sin so that grace may abound?” Paul answers with force: By no means! The…
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