1. Zephaniah has given us something more visceral to help us understand the love of God: the sound of salvation.
  2. Rightly distinguishing between law and gospel, as Paul helps us see in 2 Corinthians 3, is, quite literally, a matter of life and death.
  3. Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.
  4. I think the problem with the idea of eternity is that we do not have any direct experience of it, but we encounter enough of its possibility to be unsettling.
  5. The sign of the cross, according to the earliest centuries of Christians, is “the sign of the Lord,” and every baptized Christian was “marked” with it.
  6. The law had to have its way with the expert to bring him around (and back) to Abraham's response.
  7. The usual acclamation when one becomes King is: “Long live the King!” But this King of kings, this son of David, has come to die.
  8. Maybe, just maybe, our goal for 2023 should not be to live more but to die more.
  9. Despite our best efforts to avoid him, King Jesus remains very much unavoidable.
  10. If Jesus shows up and you are a sinner, ‘tis more blessed to receive than to give
  11. When and how did the church start this season of anticipation?
  12. Help comes for those who cannot help themselves. When we bottom-out and come to the end of ourselves, that is where hope springs.