The Tax Collector in the Temple
It will be obvious to everyone that it is just and right and moral and good and perfectly wondrous that you, the sinner, are the beloved blessed beautiful bride of Christ Jesus the Son of God.
Author Archives: Jim McNeely
How to Forgive Yourself
Working on it In a discussion the other night, a dear friend said something to this effect: “I know God forgives me, but I’m working on forgiving myself.” It seems like an innocent enough idea, until you start to reflect on it. The idea of “forgiving yourself” is strangely absent from Scripture. Similar to the […]
A Biblical View of the Bible
38 “You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. 39 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have […]
Let Your Clothes Be White
7 Go [then,] eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. 8 Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. 9 Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your […]
The Visceral Law
22 But the Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. 24 Therefore the Law […]
God loves the alien and the foreigner
1 Now it came about in the days when the judges governed, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man [was] Elimelech, and the name of […]
Being Known and Being Hidden
In his book “Insurrection”, Peter Rollins shares the following little parable: Every Sunday the pastor would stand at the front of his Church and with a booming voice finish his rousing sermon with a plea: “Each week I go to a nearby town and serve the poor, the oppressed, and the downtrodden; what do you […]
The Cross of Christ Declares the Destruction of my Idols
10 “They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. 11 “You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it. … 17 […]
Trust in the Lord with All of Your Heart
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. – Pro 3:5-6 NASB The Big Wedding I heard a story a few years back about a very unusual wedding. It was a big […]
Anthony Bourdain
Meals make the society, hold the fabric together in lots of ways that were charming and interesting and intoxicating to me. The perfect meal, or the best meals, occur in a context that frequently has very little to do with the food itself. Anthony Bourdain As usual, I have come very late to the party. […]