I’ve been touched by a gospel story this week. In some ways, it captures what I’ve been trying to learn to convey to you. Grace is sufficient and the only way to heaven. So it’s finally time to stop trying to earn it (or run from it). He [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and…
Would you like to dance in grace? Or is that too wild? Would you rather sit out? Or is that too tame? “To what will I compare this generation? It is like a child sitting in the marketplaces calling out to others, ‘We played the flute for you and you didn’t dance. We sang a funeral song and you didn’t mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ Yet the Human One came…
Do you ever wonder why on earth Jesus gave such a hard time for Pharisees? They were decent folks, weren’t they? Here’s how Jesus saw it: Frauds! Isaiah’s prophecy of you hit the bull’s-eye: These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn’t in it. They act like they’re worshiping me, but they don’t mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy.” He then called the crowd…
