Serving Christ in México
If you have been to Mexico and keep your eyes open, it won´t be long before you see a saint. Of course, I mean the kind of saint made of plaster and housed in a glass box or set on a wooden table. You will see these saints in houses, shops, cars, and on the side of the road. I’ve written on this subject previously, so with this blogpost I want to ask the question:
Continue reading “Why a Saint? “
If you walk the streets of our neighbourhood or poke your head into one of the shops on the main street, you´ll notice something. You might notice a little box fixed to the wall outside someone´s home or a small shelf in the corner of the pizza shop. Inside the box or placed on the shelf will be a statue or picture of a saint, likely accompanied by a candle or two. In our neighbourhood, the saint will be Saint Judas Thaddeus, the apostle of Jesus. He will be dressed in white and green and have a flame of fire above his head.
Continue reading “Oh, Now I Get It”
We like power. Nothing inflates our ego and makes us feel good like a shot of power in the arm. Power makes us feel important, confident, and secure. We have no problem imagining what we would do if given unlimited power. Whether getting rid of rules, traveling the world, solving poverty, or curing cancer, it´s easy to come up with a long list.
Continue reading “Big Power”
Life in this sin-broken world is not always pretty. Dirt gets in our eyes, under our fingernails and behind our ears. Dust settles on every surface and collects in our lungs. Germs and bugs and viruses attack our immune system. Our muscles ache and stomachs vomit. Bread moulds and meat rots. Mice live in our walls and cockroaches in our cupboards.
Continue reading “Dust and Dirt and Dung”
Sometimes we meet characters in the Bible who occupy only a handful of verses. The multi-layered mosaic of their life is summed up in a few words – a few quick strokes of the pen. Such is the life of Anna, the elderly widow who caught a glimpse of baby Jesus in the temple with his parents and started telling the whole world that the Messiah had finally arrived.
Continue reading “Like A Sparrow in the House of God”
Jesus loves the little children. His love and concern for even the littlest ones of society is demonstrated in the fact that people were eager to bring their children to him. It’s obvious that they saw Jesus, powerful a figure as he was, as someone who would receive babies and toddlers into his arms. And Jesus encouraged them to come.
Continue reading “Do Not Hinder Them”
Mark begins his gospel by telling us exactly who Jesus is: Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. As Mark unfolds the story, the identity of Jesus remains a central focus. The pressing question throughout the book is: who will recognize Jesus for who he truly is?
John the Baptist appears first on the scene and announces that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah who brings salvation for the people of God. John was given a special insight into who Jesus is, yet he did not see the whole picture and at one point even starts to have doubts that Jesus really is the Messiah.
Continue reading “Who Do You Say I Am?”
When we think about the anger of Jesus we usually are thinking about Jesus flipping tables in the temple. This episode is, of course, not the only time we catch a glimpse of the anger (the good and right anger might we add) of Jesus. For example, we might turn our bibles to the beginning of Mark 3.
Continue reading “When Jesus Got Angry”
The teachers of the law couldn’t believe it. As they were passing by Levi’s house, they noticed a crowd had gathered inside and were sharing a meal together. It was a crowd of “those people” – tax collectors, thieves, prostitutes and the like. Habitual sinners who had abandoned loyalty to the nation of Israel and were ignorant of the religious laws. The teachers of the law shook their heads in disapproval and were about to continue on their way when they noticed some of Jesus’ disciples mixed in among those crowded around Levi’s table. When they did a double take, they caught sight of Jesus himself, sitting next to the tax collector. Their eyes grew as wide as dinner plates and they looked at one another in disbelief. What was Rabbi Jesus doing in the company of sinners? Didn’t he care about his reputation? Didn’t he realize these people were spiritually unclean?
Continue reading “At the Sinners Table”
Mark 15:1-15
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so that he would release Barabbas to them instead.
As the sun slowly crept over the horizon on the morning after Jesus’ trial, Barabbas was bound as a prisoner with a bleak future in front of him. Perhaps he was hoping against hope that he would benefit from the governors custom of releasing a prisoner at the Feast. Or maybe he had given up hope and was trembling at the thought of being hung on a wooden cross. Whatever was going through his mind, surely he was not expecting to find freedom at the expense of his Messiah. Continue reading “Barabbas and the Great Exchange”
The Rabbi's Burrito 