When my body dies and my soul goes home, I want my ashes to be placed upon the earth. They will not linger there long before finding their way into the...

In the story that immediately precedes this one in Mark’s Gospel, James and John, in their quest for power and glory, told Jesus what they wanted. “Teacher,” they demanded, “we want...

As the story of Bartimaeus unfolds, note the change in the tone of his detractors: “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” Two important aspects of his identity surface in...

Jesus and his disciples pass through Jericho, a city known for its religiosity. Despite all the religion, however, the needs of the people are great. On Jesus’ way out of town...

The author of Hebrews refers to Jesus throughout this letter as a great high priest. The Old Testament portrait of the high priest, Melchizedek, foreshadows the perfect priesthood of Jesus Christ....

O taste and see that the Lord is good.” The eighth verse of the psalm states the central theme of this hymn of individual thanksgiving. I have quoted this statement many...

The story of Job comes to an end. On one level it feels something like a storybook ending, but we know there is much more to it than that. Job’s heart...

The empathetic narrator of the book of Job plumbs the depths of perennial mysteries about life. Rather than answering the many perplexing questions—particularly the mystery of suffering—the story itself opens up...

During my teenage years, I heard a preacher talk about a young man who climbed the corporate ladder to become CEO by the time he was thirty. Feeling burned out, he...

The war in Bosnia (1992–1995) was horrific, killing at least 200,000 people and displacing two million. The danger was so severe that the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) was one...