When I read the second half of Psalm 95, which reports God’s reaction to the Israelites’ complaining of thirst in the wilderness, I find myself asking whether God really said these...

Most mornings when I was in graduate school, I joined the Episcopal campus minister and a few other students in a small chapel for morning prayer. I fell in love with...

Sometimes when we read a passage of scripture, we have to fill in the gaps, noticing what’s not said. In this passage, I think something is missing: a celebration. After the...

I teach preaching at a theological seminary, and each year my colleagues and I assign this passage as a sermon text to a number of students. I’m accustomed to hearing sermons...

It is worth re-reading and even memorizing Psalm 121. In its brevity and simplicity, it takes us straight to the heart of what it means to embark on a journey of...

God promises Abram that all families of the earth will be blessed because of him. This is important to remember, particularly in light of the covenant God made with Noah and...

Jesus responds to Nicodemus’s questions with a reference to a curious part of the Israelite story: Moses’ creation of a bronze serpent statue to protect the Israelites from dying from snake...

When considering the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, it is important to note that Nicodemus shows up again later in two places in John’s Gospel—when he challenges his fellow Pharisees to...

Abraham is central for Paul in his letter to the Romans because Paul sees Abraham as the common ancestor for Jews and Gentiles, showing both peoples how faith works. While we...

Abram who becomes Abraham is our forefather in faith. Why? Because he stepped out into an unknown future to an unknown land, trusting fully in God’s promise that he would be...