I am an adjunct professor, and in class recently I did something that the students were not prepared for. I raised my hand. Let me explain. I am teaching the Gospels, and one of the projects the students do is a group presentation on a section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Each week aContinue reading “Human approaches to justice are often convoluted, but what about God’s approach? – 2 Samuel 8, 10, 21, Preview”
Tag Archives: judge
Was David’s use of the death penalty just? – 1st Samuel 31—2nd Samuel 2:7, Part 2
Over the past year a friend of mine has been incarcerated. He has many more years to go in his sentence. During my weekly visits, we’ve talked a lot about the question, “What is justice?” How do participants in the criminal justice system know if the punishment fits the crime? In today’s post, as weContinue reading “Was David’s use of the death penalty just? – 1st Samuel 31—2nd Samuel 2:7, Part 2”
Is accountability disobedient to Jesus? – Holding others accountable, Part 1
I have an app on my laptop and phone called Ever Accountable. It’s there to monitor everything I do online. It is watching me. I can’t see it, of course, but I know it is there because I installed it. It’s not perfect. It doesn’t have God-like abilities to know everything. But it’s good enough. Continue reading “Is accountability disobedient to Jesus? – Holding others accountable, Part 1”
God’s surprising role as judge – Advent Psalm of Celebration, Part 5
At the conclusion of Psalm 98, a psalm of joyous celebration, suddenly, all the joy and praise and glory seems to stop. Notice how the psalm concludes in verse 9b, “For he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.” Judge? What a different tone. WhatContinue reading “God’s surprising role as judge – Advent Psalm of Celebration, Part 5”
Don’t Judge Me! (Is it always wrong to evaluate other people?) – Colossians 2:16-23, Part 2
“Judge not lest you be judged.” Jesus said that. As a result, is it possible that judging has gotten a bad rap? What did Jesus mean? That we should never, ever form judgments about people? Is that even possible? Keep reading as we’ll seek to learn about this from what the Apostle Paul wrote inContinue reading “Don’t Judge Me! (Is it always wrong to evaluate other people?) – Colossians 2:16-23, Part 2”
How to transform an over-opinionated, judgmental spirit? THE 10th MAN! – Luke 6:37-42
Last week I introduced Jesus’ next crazy Upside-Down Kingdom teaching. Simply put, he gave us two negatives that should be transformed into to two positives. “Do not judge and do not condemn” should change to “forgive and give.” Instead of being negative-minded about people, we need to be generous toward them, forgiving them. So inContinue reading “How to transform an over-opinionated, judgmental spirit? THE 10th MAN! – Luke 6:37-42”
Engaging Scripture 