Follow Jesus Christ

People see grass as green. But grass does not have color in the absolute sense. Different biological beings see grass differently. What we call color is the result of the interaction between light, an object’s surface, the observer’s eye and brain. So grass appears green to a human because chlorophyll…

Christians know the commandment “do not steal.” They read the Bible, go to church, listen to sermons, and sing about holiness and honesty. Yet history reveals an unpleasant fact: religiosity by itself does not protect a person from moral failure. More than that, sometimes a religious person becomes especially skilled…

The word “biological” in the modern world is often associated with materialism, the reduction of a person to chemistry, Darwinism, and a purely physical life. So some readers might mistakenly think that here spirituality is being reduced to the biology of the body. Not at all. Jesus described spiritual life…

One of the central thrusts of Jesus’ teaching is that the life of the Kingdom of God is an organic process of growth, not a static condition. For Jesus almost all the primary metaphors are dynamic: seed, leaven, the vine, birth, fruit, water, the way. For him, everything alive either…

Sometimes Acceptance Brings Change Faster Than Pressure Zacchaeus appears in the Gospel account as a man who outwardly already has a lot. He has money, status, and the ability to influence others. Beside that, however, stands another side of his life: alienation, people’s distrust, the reputation of someone they tolerate…

Many evangelicals place very strong emphasis on the word “divine inspiration.” Why? The apostle Paul writes, “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching….” Around that single word a whole theology of the Bible’s absolute inerrancy is often built. But the question arises: what exactly does “God-breathed” mean? To what…

A tree grows in two directions at once. It is one of nature’s most astonishing images. When we look at a tree, it seems as if its life is directed upward: toward the sun, the sky, the light. The branches reach higher and higher, the leaves catch the light, the…

The Apostle Paul was right when he spoke of death and rebirth. For a long time it seemed as if he borrowed that idea from the mystery cults or Stoicism. More likely, though, he spoke from personal experience, and the language of the mysteries merely helped him explain it to…

Martha and Mary at first appear as figures of an all-too-familiar human life. They have a home, a brother, an established routine, a relationship with Jesus, and the natural assurance that when it really matters everything will be all right. They know exactly whom to turn to in trouble. They…