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"Jesus, the bringer of bread," they called Him.In place after place, He fed the hungry:the meals for five-thousand and four-thousand,plus all the feasts in homes along the way.When a Gentile woman asked Him to healher demon-oppressed daughter, it was breadto which she made reference in her appeal:"Even dogs, with fallen breadcrumbs, are fed.""Jesus, the bringer …
Continue reading "Jesus, the Bringer of Bread: a poem reflection on Mark 6-8 and John 6"
Before the crucifixion, and while on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus predicts His death in conversation with His disciples three different times. In each of Jesus’ predictions of His death, there is an expanding description of the suffering, but there is a consistent description of resurrection, each time given in one final phrase: “…on the …
"How long, Lord, must I call for help,but you do not listen?Or cry out to you, “Violence!”but you do not save?Why do you make me look at injustice?Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?Destruction and violence are before me;there is strife, and conflict abounds.Therefore the law is paralyzed,and justice never prevails.The wicked hem in the righteous,so that …
Continue reading "How Long?: learning to pray in difficult times with Habakkuk"
For forty days the rain fell on the earth as Noah and his family watched aboard the ark. Slowly, the sin-cursed world was covered with water until nothing else was visible. For 150 days after this, the ark surged over the waters of the earth. Dull views, the weary rocking back and forth on waves, …
Continue reading "Waiting: Journeying through Lent with Noah"
One of the most interesting, yet brief, characters in the primeval histories of Genesis 1-11 must be Enoch. In just four short verses, we catch a glimpse of someone whose distinguishing mark in life was that he "walked faithfully with God" (Genesis 5:22, 24). Enoch has one of the shortest quantities of life recorded in …
Continue reading "Walking Faithfully with God: learning from the legacy of Enoch"
Matthew Erickson 