No doubt many people look askance at the many denominations that make up Christianity today. Wouldn’t our witness to the world be more effective if we were unified and spoke with...

Although two Gospel writers don’t even mention it, Luke clearly values the Ascension. He ends his Gospel with the event and opens his second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, with...

The writer of Ephesians paints a royal portrait of Jesus seated next to God in the heavenly places, “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” with “all things...

I met six-year-old Kyle just before Christmas several years ago. He excitedly offered to recite the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke’s Gospel. He got to his favorite part—where the angels...

At first, Jesus’ friends are “startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost” (24:37). They simply cannot believe it is Jesus. He offers his wounds as proof. They...

The children’s story from church remained vivid in the minds of her three-year-old triplet sons as a mother from my congregation wrestled them into their pajamas one Sunday night. “I’m Jonah!”...

In the spring of 1988, a young man active in the anti-apartheid movement named Sfiso was showing me around his black township. Eight rifle-wielding members of the South African army leapt...

The warmth of the bread and the sweetness of the wine still linger as Jesus’ friends receive his tender gazes while he kneels and wipes their feet. But already the seed...

Today’s verses highlight the promise of the continuing presence of God and Christ within the Christian community. Verse 18 reflects Jesus’ speaking to the feelings of loneliness in the disciples. First,...

Clearly the Gospel writer intends these words for the church and the broader Christian community. The first message to the church is that obedience indicates or reflects our love for Christ....