by David Anderson
was Jesus’ friend, from beginning to end. Like all the other women who were essential to Jesus’ ministry, Mary Magdalene was not counted as one of his disciples. Luke tells us that Jesus went about preaching, and “With him went the Twelve, as well as certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and […]
by David Anderson 11 Comments Filed Under: authority, Change, Conversion, Faith/Trust, Faithfulness, Grace, Gratitude, Healing, Lent, Love, Transformation
somehow thought to grab her tambourine when the call came that night. Like so many slaves before them, they were going to attempt an escape—a mass flight—and their captors would give chase. People were all packing food, essential medications, water, but as she ran out the door Miriam seized her tambourine. She knew she’d need […]
by David Anderson 7 Comments Filed Under: Faith in Action, Gratitude, Joy, Lent
was down to her last meal when the prophet showed up hungry. There was a drought and famine in the land, and Elijah was without food and water. That was when the word of the Lord came, “Go at once to Zarephath. . . . I have directed a widow there to supply you with […]
by David Anderson 2 Comments Filed Under: Blessing, Community, Faithfulness, Gratitude, Lent, Uncategorized
is known as the “weeping prophet” because he had to carry the people of Israel through the worst time in their history. The Babylonians had besieged Jerusalem, pulled down the temple, stone by stone, and exiled Israel’s leaders. It is the most catastrophic moment in the Hebrew Bible. In the midst of the disaster Jeremiah […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Belief, Change, Conversion, Faith/Trust, Forgiveness, Grace, Gratitude, grief, Lent, Mercy, Surrender, Transformation, Uncategorized
is the only outed person at the dinner table. Simon the Pharisee invites Jesus to dinner, but somehow a “woman of the city” catches wind of the soiree and sneaks in the back door carrying “an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing at Jesus’ feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Faith/Trust, Forgiveness, Freedom, Grace, Gratitude, Intimacy, Lent, Love, Mercy, Uncategorized
used to be Saul, and the name change—signaling a new beginning—may have been the only way he could have gone on, could have lived with himself. We first meet him at a murder. Young Stephen is being stoned for his faith in Jesus, and the accusers who took off their coats to limber up for […]
by David Anderson 2 Comments Filed Under: Change, Character, Conversion, Epiphany, Faith/Trust, Forgiveness, Freedom, Grace, Gratitude, Identity, Lent, Mercy, Repentance, Surrender, Transformation, Uncategorized
lives in a meritocracy. He’s in debt to the tune of ten thousand talents, an astronomical sum that would take the average worker of that era 150,000 years to repay. Following the custom of the day, the king decides to sell him into slavery, along with his whole family, to try to recoup at least […]
by David Anderson Leave a Comment Filed Under: Conversion, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Lent, Mercy, Repentance, Surrender, Transformation, Uncategorized
discovered that no one could steal his essential blessing. It’s been twenty years since Jacob tricked his near-blind old father Isaac into giving him the blessing to which the firstborn Esau was entitled. He stole it, the little momma’s boy, and ran away to escape the wrath of his swarthy hunter brother who could have […]
by David Anderson 4 Comments Filed Under: Abundance, Anger, Conflict, Family, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Lent, Mercy, Uncategorized