LUKE: SLAVE & PHYSICIAN Physicians were always slaves in first century Roman Empire. Each wealthy household had their own physician, and Caesar began telling his military to have a physician follow them around. This means that “Luke, the beloved physician” that wrote the gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles was written by…
MEFIBOSET: THE CRIPPLED PRINCE Some of the most inspirational people I have known have had handicaps of some kind. You know the kind I mean: You go to see them to encourage them, and come away feeling on top of the world because they had encouraged you. Poor Mefiboset (spelled Mephiboshet in most Bible…
JOSEPH: THE OTHER FATHER Jesus grew up in a violent world. Just how violent was it? The Romans and Zealots were constantly having skirmishes along the highways and in towns. Sometimes their own king or government attacked the people by the thousands, often at the annual Jewish feasts held in Jerusalem three times a year,…
MICHEL: THE FOURTH WISE MAN It is January. What happens after Christmas? What happened after the original Christmas? What brought the wise men from the East in the first place? What did they do after they left Bethlehem and returned home? We take too much for granted. We just assume there were three wise…
Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father who raised him, had to be a lot of things: Spiritual, quick minded, strong physically, fearless. Can you imagine taking on that assignment? I wonder if God chose Mary partly because of who she was betrothed to. Jesus was born into a violent world. When He was probably about a year…
I used to look around at this amazing earth and the astounding heavens, and wonder how I could ever be in the image of God ~ the Great Creator of all this. He didn’t create a barren earth and then order people to get to work and plant something. He got everything just right. And then…. …