THE BLOG
There was a gospel tract that was (and is) very popular, it was printed and distributed by the Billy Graham Association. In fact, that little gospel tract has turned into a website, it's titled
Hope is traditionally the first word we reflect on during advent. If you use colored candles for your advent celebration, hope is represented by one of 3 purple candles.
Here is a devotion you can...
It's 2 days til Thanksgiving, and while some people usher in the holiday season the minute they sweep out the trick or treaters, I consider Thanksgiving the beginning of the holidays and my...
As we bring this series to a close, we must remember that when Jesus first set out to share this parable, he was talking with tax collectors and religious rulers. He'd been accused of consorting...
We've already discussed the father's humility in Jesus' parable of the man who had 2 sons. But at this point in the story, we'd be amiss if we didn't revisit this subject.
Once the prodigal "came...
There are lots of different prodigal stories but all of them have 1 thing in common. At some point, along the way, the prodigal hits rock bottom.
For the younger son in Jesus' parable, a...
Thus far we've taken a deep dive into the cultural setting of our story, and we've studied the 3 characters Jesus introduced to us. Now, the plot thickens. Jesus leaves the father and older brother...
If there's one thing that this "deep dive" has given me, it's an entirely new understanding of the Father in Jesus' story. Where I once thought Jesus was simply telling of how an entitled son made...
Sometimes when Tom preaches, he makes a funny statement to get his point across. He says that we often put the emPHAsis on the wrong syLLAble. That's what we do with the story Jesus told his crowd...
There's something Jesus' audience knew about this story that we might miss. The father's son was asking for privilege without responsibility.
Here's how Bailey explains this,
"The...
Once we understand the culture of Jesus' day, we have a greater awareness of the impact His story of the prodigal son had on His audience.
The original audience for this parable
Don't forget who...
Kenneth Bailey wrote a great book on Luke 15. It's called The Cross & the Prodigal, Luke 15 Through the Eyes of Middle Eastern Peasants. In this book, Bailey "highlights the...
