Jesus was invited to the house of a leading Pharisee for a meal. When he arrived, he felt that he was being spied upon by the Pharisees. The sight that met his eyes was not an edifying one. The Pharisees were very religious people, and set themselves up as models.…
A man came to Jesus and said, “Sir, will only a few be saved?” He obviously thought that heaven was a select club to which only members are admitted. The man was a Jew. As such he would have believed that only Jews would be admitted to the Kingdom of…
“I have come to set the earth on fire … I came, not to bring peace, but rather division.” Strange words to hear coming from Jesus! We wouldn’t expect him to use fire and the sword (division). Nor did he. When James and John wanted him to call down fire…
Most people nowadays have been on a plane. Before the flight gets under way one of the attendants says something like this: “We’d like your attention for a few moments while we show you some of the safety features of this aircraft … “ The attendant then shows you how…
Tolstoy tells a story about a peasant called Pakhom who desperately wanted to own some land. By saving every penny he had, he bought forty acres. He was overjoyed. However, he soon felt cramped, so he sold the forty acres, and bought eighty acres in another region. But this didn’t…
