There’s no theological education pipeline anymore
It’s been replaced by a thriving irrigation hose.
Does our pedigree matter? (Philippians 3:4b-14)
Paul is not ashamed of most parts of his background.
Beside ourselves (2 Corinthians 5:16-21)
Paul says something really crazy here.
April 7, Fifth Sunday in Lent (John 12:1–8)
Judas is right: what Mary does makes no sense.
Wisdom from Augustine, Calvin, and Bonhoeffer on theological education
Who I'd invite to my writers' dinner party
Other boats
There is a puzzling and disturbing detail in Mark’s account of the storm at sea, one we often do not even notice. In verse 36, we are told that when Jesus heads across the sea with his disciples, “other boats were with him.”
Preposterous seed stories
On first reading, the two parables in today's Gospel text seem to make less and less sense. In the first, a sower seems to leave the seed to fend for itself. In the second, a tiny mustard seed becomes a bush large enough for its branches to provide shelter for birds. (In Matthew's telling, it's a full-size tree!) When we stop to think about it, both parables are preposterous.
Ordinary #12B (Mark 4:35-41)
Like the stories that come before it, the storm at sea is a parable of reversal.
Ordinary #11B (Mark 4:26-34)
I have come to realize how mysterious a thing a seed is.