But for all of Paul’s lifetime nobody thought that Christianity and Judaism could be separated. That’s because they can’t be separated. Even now. Especially now.

We are far, far past the time when our opponents neither know, nor care about the particulars of Christian faith. Our opponents know the particulars of Christian faith, and know which particulars are the biggest problem for them

Part of turning all the way around involves exploring ideas all the way through without any interference from rage, or bigotry, or fear. It involves listening all the way through, resisting “gotcha” in favor of “I get it.”

St. Paul wasn’t any more done than we are in the sense that every doctrine had been completely described and adequately understood at the time of his death. He was done only in the sense that he had advanced the conversation as far as he could.

Words never stop being vibrations in the air, or lines on a page; but wrapped around an image that people can see with their eyes shut, they can last forever.

4 May 2026 Acts 14:5-18 Monday of the Fifth Week of Easter “Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, because he was the chief speaker, they called Hermes.” Acts 14:12 A teacher says to his class, “All you students with brown eyes, raise your hands.” Brown-eyed students raise their hands. “You all fail for the year. Get out.” The students say (all together now), “That’s not fair!” Teacher: I don’t care. Get out. Students: We’ll get you fired for this! Teacher: Wow, you we

History is not very sentimental – if you make enough mistakes of enough gravity, your culture simply will not survive. We have ample reason to believe, however, that whatever is on the coast we are approaching, driven by the storms of the moment, they will be fertile places for the proclamation of Christ and Him crucified.

Anti-heroes are a riff on noble enemies – they are more complicated, often darker than the straightforward noble enemies. They make people uncomfortable, but also satisfy the human desire for elusive goodness. They include characters like Dirty Harry, Sam Spade, Raskolnikov, Dr. Gregory House, and Huckleberry Finn.

We know what hour it is, too. It is the hour of confession, not concession; conversion, not diversion; not passive accompaniment, but active witness. It is the time to make Jesus bigger.