Instead of destroying a weakened Israel, the Midianites chose constant humiliation by periodically crossing into Israel and reducing them to living in fear – hiding in mountains and caves. And it is in hiding that we first meet Gideon. We know the story. Reluctant to commit with only questions and doubts this is no born general waiting for the opportunity to lead. But God tells him, “Go in the strength you have. Am I not sending you?” What possible strengths does God see in this man in hiding? There is, however, a consistent theme in his life. He is fearful and full of doubts but he obeys. His strength is…

On April 6, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson and Congress declared war on Germany. With the same declaration they created the War Chest and the first charitable tax deduction that allowed individuals to make gifts to help with the war effort and shore up the few institutions whose support would be affected by the war. That decision did not affect many people at the time as fewer than 10 percent of Americans paid taxes, and the top rate was 7 percent. The cost to the government was relatively small as there were few nonprofit organizations and as a way to keep the war from putting an end to those institutions, the…

Almost everywhere you turn – left and right – you will hear or read people saying, “This is a Bonhoeffer moment.” For some, that means standing gallantly against the menace of a right wing authoritarian. For others it calls for champions throwing themselves selflessly against an oncoming socialist regime. It may be forcing the choice between nationalism and Christ as when he said, “The question is really: Christianity or Germanism? And the sooner the conflict is revealed in the clear light of day the better.” Or, perhaps, it is, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless.” That’s the thing about Bonhoeffer. You…

The week started over coffee with a young man having just completed the ultimate business deal of his career. If managed right the assets would be a fortune providing for him and his family for the rest of their lives. Expecting exhilaration, I asked him how he felt and to my surprise he said, “I’m afraid. I know I don’t deserve this and I might lose it as quickly as I made it. God could always take it away.” That reminded me of the calling of Peter by Jesus in the boat on the lake. Immediately following the biggest catch of their lives suddenly Peter says, “Depart from me Lord…

Several times in the New Testament we encounter the surprising notion that the best people are lacking something.  The rich young man was quick to answer that he had obeyed all the commandments and had lived a life of integrity since he was a boy. Jesus loved him immediately and said, “You still lack one thing.” It was the one thing too much and he went away sad.  In Ephesus, Paul’s companions meet Apollos.  A rare individual with all the right preparation for the work. He had the pedigree, the skills, the connections, the accent and the ability to both attract and refute. An extraordinary talent. Yet, as they listened…

Studies are showing that giving, especially smaller gifts, has increased substantially during the pandemic. In fact, donations to food banks and other assistance programs has increased by 667 percent nationally. While experts predicted it would go in just the opposite direction, the CARES Act has expanded the amount of giving individuals may take as a tax deduction and the giving by private foundations and donor advised funds has surged during the coronavirus crisis, eclipsing donations during the 2008 recession and after the September 11 terrorist attacks. As one person described it, “At the beginning of the pandemic, I did the same thing everyone did: I looked at the stock market…

The Greeks, as always, had a word for it: tragedy. That’s the first word that came to my mind when I stared at the photo of Jerry Falwell, Jr aboard his yacht snugged up against his wife’s assistant and both of them partially unzipped. The Greeks understood the drama of our lives and how it plays out according to our appropriate respect for or defiance of the gods. Immutable destiny drives the plot of our individual stories and excessive pride or even undeserved good fortune leads invisibly but relentlessly to self-destruction. Hubris, by thinking of oneself as somehow exempt from divine laws, is tried in the public court and the…

Most of us are familiar with William Wilberforce for his long but ultimately successful struggle to abolish the slave trade in England. “God Almighty has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.” We know far more about the first object than the latter but it is that reformation of manners that interests me as we watch our country head into a similar reformation in a search for all manner of purity. He became concerned about the large number of death sentences carried out in England at that time. Believing that people punished for petty crimes would be less likely to…

I think it was long-time Chaplain of the Senate Dick Halverson who said, “In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next it moved to Europe where it became a culture, and, finally, it moved to America where it became an enterprise.” My introduction to the enterprise was in the late 60s as a college student employed by Word Records in Waco, Texas. Word had begun in 1951 as the brainchild of Jarrell McCracken with the publishing of a single…

In his documentary film, “Korengal,“ author and director Sebastian Junger recounts the stories of a platoon of American soldiers deployed to a tiny and dangerous outpost in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. The “grinding boredom gives way to bowel-emptying fear, followed sometimes by episodes of nearly psychedelic blood lust and the frankly sexual pleasure of unleashing a .50-caliber machine gun on enemies who are doing the same to you.” While the film is horrifying to watch, Junger’s book, ”The Tribe” makes the case that coming home from war is often harder than risking your life: “There is something to be said for using risk to forge social bonds…Having something to fight for,…