We Christians proclaim “the gospel.” The word means “good news.” What happens when what we tell the world sounds old and worn — not “news” at all. Worse still, what happens when what we say doesn’t actually sound “good” to people? Sometimes looking away from our tracts and truisms, looking back to what Christians used to […]
Why Is It So Hard to Focus on Easter?
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to really give your attention to Easter? I mean the actual resurrection. The main event. It isn’t the marshmallow bunnies and chocolate eggs that distract us. Take, as an example, #1 in the sharefaith.com list of “Top 10 Easter Worship Songs” from last year. (I don’t really know […]
Vocabulary Lesson: “Easter,” “Pascha”
Why, you may ask, do Christians call the Sunday Jesus rose from the dead “Easter”? Good question. Apparently Christians are capable of getting their knickers in a knot about this: the word itself derives from an old English word, “Eostre,” which is the name of a pre-Christian deity. What? Were those rascally medievals trying to […]
Vocabulary Lesson: “Maundy Thursday”
Today is the day in the Church year that wins the prize for the most peculiar name. Generation by generation, we ask, “What on earth is a ‘maundy’?” If you were too embarrassed to ask, I’ll tell you: It is from a Latin word meaning “commandment.” It is like our English word “mandate.” This is […]
The Good Samaritan: A Lenten Reflection on Heidelberg Catechism Q. 9
I can’t do it! You are not being fair.” Both as a parent and as a teacher I’ve inspired those accusations. Does our ability change our responsibility? If the rules tell me I have to do something, but my life says I just can’t do it, what happens? Of course I don’t ask people to […]
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