I love John’s audacity. I know, I know, I said the same thing about Luke just a few weeks ago, but hear me out. Luke is an audacious historian; John is an audacious author and theologian. Take, for instance, how he begins his Gospel: “In the beginning….” Sound familiar? Of course it does. These are the opening words of Genesis: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth….” (1:1). So think about that for a moment. John is writing his story of Jesus and decides to start by quoting the beginning of Genesis or, really, the whole Bible. It would be kind of like if I wanted to write a novel and decided to begin,...

I am fascinated by the art of making. Whether it be the art of making a guitar, or bread, or whatever, I think our creative capacity is one of those things God had in mind when in the Genesis story God declares, “Let us make humankind in our image” (Gen. 1:26). God creates. From the very first verses in the Bible God is creating, calling the world and universe into being. And in the very last verses, God is still creating, this time making all things new. So whenever we make something – whether it be a piece of art or dinner tonight, a project for work or a card for a friend – we are joining God in the creative task that connects us...

On this 43rd Earth Day I thought I’d reflect just briefly on a biblical approach to caring for the environment. Which can, of course, be a tricky thing, as the Bible can be a challenging book to interpret. It is just diverse enough, and the history of its interpretation just broad enough, that readers can come to very different conclusions about any number of issues. Indeed, over the history of the church, the Bible has been interpreted so as to support a huge variety of positions, even those that may seem diametrically opposed. For instance, there were biblical arguments used to justify opposition to slavery and to support slavery. And...