Reading 22: “See all the people” “See all the people.” You may remember this line from the children’s rhyme that teaches how to make a church with your fingers. The rhyme ends with open doors showing the people while the building falls aside. In the last chapter of Romans the apostle Paul makes the same point. […]

  Reading 21: Paul’s plans In this passage from the epistle, many question if Paul was suspicious of his own impending demise as he writes, “join me in earnest prayer to God on my behalf” (Rom. 15:30). Whether true or not, Paul does not tremble, but instead resorts to bold speech in every sense. He […]

Reading 20: Christ’s welcome as model As I read this text, the single word that stood out to me the most was hope. As a 17-year-old senior in high school, I would like to consider myself a fairly hopeful person; I have optimistic views for my future and the goals I have for myself. Parts […]

Reading 19: Mutual upbraiding or upbuilding? Church fights are the worst, right? Because the stakes are high for my spiritual life and because sin makes it all about me, I have to win. In order for me to be right, in, or saved, you must be wrong, out, or damned. You get the picture. We […]

  Reading 18: On governing authorities, love, and conduct I traveled to the border this May with eight Lutheran Campus Ministry-Raleigh students. We went to learn more about our nation’s immigration system by listening to the stories of our neighbors, government employees and migrants alike. We sat by the Rio Grande and listened as Border […]

Reading 17: Serving God and loving others We live in a world fascinated by power and violence. Hatred and revenge are not only tolerated, but praised as strength and courage. We seek fame and reputation. We are expected to do what is necessary to get what we want. Those who do not follow this way […]

  Reading 16: Plot twists I’ve always loved plot twists…you know, those moments when you expect a story to go in one direction, and it goes somewhere completely unexpected. This passage in Romans starts out by talking about who’s “in” and who’s “out,” so to speak, using this analogy of breaking and grafting branches on […]

  Reading 15: Has God rejected or abandoned us? When I worked in Brooklyn I used to commute by subway. One day I was on the last car of the train and the lights went out. This by itself was not unusual, the lights always went on and off. But this time, the lights didn’t […]

Reading 14: Where is God in this? A friend of mine had lost his wife, not to cancer, but to a reaction to the chemotherapy that was supposed to save her life. They were in their early 50s. Years after her death, he still struggled to understand. He said about his prayer life, “I tell […]

Reading 13: Nothing can separate us All afternoon a little boy tried to put together his birthday gift from his father, a picture puzzle. Some of the pieces were bright, some dark; some seemed to go together, others seemed to fit nowhere. Finally, frustrated, the boy gathered the pieces, put them in the box, and […]