Yesterday’s emphasis on simplicity does not dismiss the value of wisdom. Wisdom resides in simplicity and in the complex. Our challenge is to understand our readiness for the different manifestations of...

The apostle Paul was so focused on succeeding in his mission to persuade listeners about the person and significance of Jesus Christ that he stripped his message and himself to essentials....

Praise for God’s loving presence pours forth with assurances of joy. We delight in following the commandments of God. Joy comes not only from the consequences of righteous living but also...

God promises that living the faith results in joy. Living the faith changes the world. The oppressed go free, the hungry are fed, the homeless are sheltered, and the naked are...

The crises of God’s people result from a crisis of faith. Despite fervent rituals of prayer, fasting, and submission, the faithful living that God desires does not occur. God is angry....

The first beatitude sets the foundation for understanding the kind of life to which God calls us and the primary condition for access to that life and relationship with God. Poverty...

All week we have been reading about how God sets boundaries for our relationship with God and guidelines for abiding in God’s presence—being in the kingdom of God. With all these...

God’s ways are the opposite of the world’s. So Paul is trying to teach the Corinthians that they shouldn’t try to discern God’s working by looking at the usual people and...

We often have our own ideas of how God should show up in our lives, but God chooses the boundaries of our relationship. The Corinthian church has both Greek and Jewish...

Scholars suggest that Psalm 15 is an “entrance liturgy,” a psalm offered in preparation for the faithful to enter the house of God. The question posed in the psalm is both...