Revelation 21:1-22:7 We were on vacation and had been traveling for almost three weeks. Everyone—I, my wife, and my three young daughters—was tired. We were ready for the feel of our own beds, the sights and sounds of our hometown,…
John 1:1-18 Every May I teach a Hope College course called Ecological Theology and Ethics. It runs for three weeks, with the middle two weeks spent in the Adirondacks of upstate New York. After a day of whitewater rafting on…
Luke 15:11-32 The shame of it all. We were all shamed by the request Jacob made to his father. The entire household was embarrassed by this self-centered request from this ungrateful son. With this impertinent request, the boy proclaimed his…
Isaiah 54:1-10 and Zechariah 8:1-8 One cultural observer describes life today as “coping with the flux.” Our age is characterized as a time of ever accelerating change, motion, flux. Everything seems up in the air. All the familiar landmarks for life seem…
Genesis 3:1-4:16 The woman took her place in line with the others. Her hunched gait and wrinkled skin caught my eye as she made her way among the guests at the homeless shelter. With her son she sauntered up to…
Genesis 1:1-2:4 All of us have memories of home. When asked about home, we often talk about the house (or houses) we grew up in. The neighbors next door. The school down the street. The creek or woods or playgrounds…