“Fear of the Lord” is one of those phrases from the Bible that needs to be unpacked, to be thought about more broadly than is usually done. So often it has been tied to our behavior around the Ten Commandments and other rules of life in the Bible. It has been linked to our “bad” […]

Sin is a loaded word for us Christians. There’s sin and then there is the doctrine of Original Sin and centuries of people being beaten over the head for their “sins.” What is sin? And why does it figure so prominently in our Christian consciousness? The verb in Hebrew, hata, that is used throughout the […]

  Last week I wrote about the prodigal son and his reception from his father, about sin and imperfection and about shame and love. Now I want to talk about how to “return home” to our Father/Mother/God who wants to celebrate us as we return to our natural home in God. The prodigal son(and daughter) […]

Extend your hospitality to all people, all kinds. Welcome them as if they were your best friend, a beloved member of your family. Think of the Parable of the Prodigal Son[1] and the sayings of Jesus about how God sends his sun to shine on the evil and the good and his rain to fall […]