Jul 25, 2016
It may seem odd to think of God as anything other than grand, glorious, and all-powerful. The prophet Hosea, however, gets at the heart of God as he marries an unfaithful spouse and names his children odd names that remind the people of how unfaithful they have been to the God who loves them. What is God to do when...
Jul 18, 2016
The prophet Amos sees a basket of ripe fruit, but it is not as pleasing as it sounds. This ripe fruit is the final harvest and the fruit is rotting fast. God’s Word is spoken to tell the hard truth to the people – and to us. We worship God mindlessly and we participate in a world that robs from the poor. Our lives...
Jul 11, 2016
Today we hear from the prophet Amos. He receives a vision of a plumb line that God uses as a standard to measure the people of Israel. The people are out of plumb. They have deviated tremendously from listening to and loving God. My experience with plumb lines relates to trying to hang wallpaper. Finding the...
Jul 3, 2016
Naaman was a powerful, wealthy, privileged, man. But none of that could help his leprosy. Two kings and a wagon full of treasure couldn’t help. Nothing he possessed; no one he knew; no rank or title meant anything to a God who heals who God heals. God came in a slave girl, two servants and a poor excuse for a river,...