In this current age of technology and science, it is difficult for us to realize that one of the most important incidents reported in the Bible for understanding the Christian faith is about an evil spirit referred to as “Satan” or “the devil.”  The particular incident I am referring to is Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by Satan for forty days, related to us in Matthew 4:1-2, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-2.  (FYI: “Satan” is the Hebrew proper name of the supreme leader of evil spirits opposed to God; “the devil” is the Greek rendition of the original Hebrew proper noun; both mean the same.) Read more…

Here we are at Easter weekend, celebrating the greatest miracle of all time: God’s raising Jesus from the dead.  This event led to the beginning of the Christian Church and the promise of everlasting life for those who unite in faith with Jesus.  But now, over 2,000 years later, people frequently ask: did the resurrection of Jesus really happen?  And what about all the other miracles attributed to Jesus during his ministry.  Did they actually take place?  Or were the miracle stories we find in the Gospels merely literary fiction—fictitious events inserted into the Gospels by their writers in order to promote their own religious faith?     

How do we know whether something really happened or is literary fiction?  Read more…

There had been all kinds of rumors about the man Jesus of Galilee.  He had left his home and spent most of his time with a band of twelve other men.  He appeared to have unusual powers.  Some claimed that he had healed their sick. Others said that he had cured their lame.  There were those who even claimed that he could cast out evil spirits.  

He was a man of considerable authority, yet he was very kind.  There were those who suggested he was the expected Messiah, the chosen of God, who would bring freedom and new life for the Jewish people.  But up until then, he had made absolutely no overture toward establishing a kingdom.  On the contrary, as pointed out last week, he had always dismissed large crowds.  But on the Sabbath of Palms, Read more…

Almost everyone enjoys a good story, especially when the storyteller has a real talent for relating stories.? That is one of the reasons the parables of Jesus have attracted the interest of people from all walks of life dating as far back as the beginning of Christianity.? Jesus was a master storyteller.??

It was the genius of Jesus to use real-life stories?parables?to unite our vertical connection to the Almighty with our horizontal connections to all of life.? If the parables are properly understood, they make God real and foremost in understanding all of our relationships in our daily lives: personal, social, political, professional, recreational?yes, through the parables we can be connected to God in all that we think, say, and do, to life itself.? Read more…

This coming Wednesday, March 5, is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.? Let?s take a look at the historical emergence and spiritual significance of the Lenten season.?

Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on the day before Easter.? The six Sundays of this time-span are not considered part of Lent.? Only weekdays are included in Lent.? Hence, Lent is the forty weekdays beginning with Ash Wednesday and concluding with the day before Easter.

But how is it that the church adopted ?forty? as the number of weekdays in Lent?? Read more…