ON Scripture

Immigration Reform and the Challenges of Generosity (Luke 4:22-30)

Odyssey Networks — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:17:05 +0000

Charity doesn’t leave us unchanged, which is just one reason why it’s hard to make ourselves do it.

To be more specific: when we extend generosity and justice to others, it alters our relationship to them. Especially when those “others” are foreign to us....

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The Abortion Debate: We’re All in This Together

Odyssey Networks — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 16:29:13 +0000

By Barbara K Lundblad

This is a memorable week: on Monday the inauguration of President Obama on the holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., and on Tuesday the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court. Some people will celebrate all three with thanksgiving....

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A Vision for America: John 2:1-11

Odyssey Networks — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:02:18 +0000

By Reverend Dr. Alvin O'Neal Jackson

“Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” John...

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Waiting on the Messiah and Presidential Expectations: A Study of Luke

Odyssey Networks — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:03:29 +0000

By David A. Sánchez, Ph.D.

It is an odd juxtaposition, December 21, 2012 and January 21, 2013. The former date representing the “so-called” Mayan apocalypse where the usual suspects prepared for the end of the world – many of whom were Christians awaiting the second coming of...

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Frankincense, Myrrh and a Toothbrush? Matthew 2:1-12

Odyssey Networks — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 18:59:16 +0000

By Lisa Nichols Hickman

In As I Lay Dying, the main character Anse appears self-absorbed when at his wife’s death he says, “God’s will be done. . . . Now I can get them teeth.” His character will certainly not be remembered for altruism. But Anse will be remembered for the...

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The Hell of Parenting: A Study of 1 Samuel

Odyssey Networks — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 18:29:25 +0000

By Jacob D. Myers

Few narratives in the Hebrew Bible are more foreign to us than this week’s lectionary.We do not give away our children. In a society determined by socio-economic forces utterly beyond the control...

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Can We Speak of God’s Activity, in Triumph or Tragedy? (Luke 1:39-55)

Odyssey Networks — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:49:20 +0000

ByMathew Skinner

Sometimes, the worse the tragedy, the more abhorrent the theology it elicits.

Still numb from the overwhelming evil perpetrated against helpless children and schoolteachers last Friday, now we have to read idiocy from

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On the Fiscal Cliff with John the Baptist: Luke 3:7-18

Odyssey Networks — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:35:48 +0000

By Carolyn J. Sharp

Recently I had the unsettling experience of receiving unsolicited financial advice from John the Baptist. Not directly, of course— his counsel was mediated through an ancient codex, the Gospel of Luke. Written in the latter part of the first century, this text has been...

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Who Was He? Malachi 3:1-4

Odyssey Networks — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:36:09 +0000

By Nyasha Junior

Who was Abraham Lincoln? You may get different answers depending on whom you ask. He is known as the Great Emancipator. He was a self-taught rural Kentuckyian. He was a husband and father. Also, he was a pragmatic politician. The new film, Lincoln, seeks to address this question...

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After the Chaos Ends: Jeremiah 33:14-16

Odyssey Networks — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:02:07 +0000

By Amy Erickson

Jeremiah’s promise of a future restoration for Israel and Judah centers on the image of a righteous branch. This image, while somewhat strange to our culture, carries along with it a rich and varied tradition, deeply rooted in the world and literature of the Old Testament....

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