This Sunday’s readings—from Deuteronomy and Mark—repeat the Shema Yisrael. That proclamation—“Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our Lord, the Lord alone!”—is what every devout Jew declares every day. The ...

Did you know there are over 1000 “commandments” in the New Testament? That is almost twice as many as the religious Jews identified from their Torah (first five books of the Old Testament – 613 of ...

Love your neighbor as yourself.” This teaching serves as a fundamental truth that informs our entire belief system — a principle that guides everything we say, do, think, and what motivates us. Jesus ...

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest ...

What is the purpose of my humanity? Many a philosopher and theologian have asked this question. Jesus Christ answered it in his own words in Mark 12:30-31: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart ...

The church we go to is a part of a larger group that has the word evangelical in it's name. I've never really understood exactly what that means. I know that we never stand and wave our hands in the ...

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor ...

Author’s Note: Interested readers can find all previous volumes of this series here. When I started writing this study, I planned to avoid mentioning the election. Besides, my last pre-election ...

During Holy Week last month, I attended a service where from the pulpit the pastor declared himself, not in so many words, a heretic. He rather gently denounced the dogmas of Augustine and embraced ...

It’s a new year, and with that comes the long-time tradition of making a list of resolutions and the relatively new advent of choosing a word of the year. Everyone’s resolutions and words are ...

As a pastor in the Christian tradition, I find my mind turning once again toward the language of my faith. More specifically, I’ve been thinking about how the Christian life has been anchored in what ...