Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. Earlier I referred to Paul’s correspondence with the Philippians as a love letter, not in the romantic sense but rather as an example of the Christian love displayed between a community and its leader. Others have called this “Paul’s...
Philippians 1:3-11
posted by DJL
I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of...
Prayer and Gratitude
posted by DJL
Regarding prayer, I’ve said before that while I don’t understand prayer, I still do it. And I think that’s true of various elements of the faith, full understanding isn’t a requirement for participation. Whether it’s prayer, or the Lord’s Supper, or forgiveness, we are called to participate even as we still seek to understand better. I think these two things are connected and rest near the heart of the life of faith, in fact. First, that there is an element of irreducible mystery to our faith that doesn’t require full understanding to be embraced and, second, that we are still beckoned always to understand more fully. Embracing...
5. Mark 14:4-5
posted by DJL
But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” We’ve already asked why this woman would make such an extravagant gift. An equally...
4. Mark 14:3
posted by DJL
While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. Why do you think the woman did this? The oil she used was expensive, incredibly...