That word ‘stirred’ in Matthew’s description of what happened in Jerusalem that day is eseisthe, the ancient Greek root of our word seismic. Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem unleashed earth-shaking power that could not be ignored. With apologies to James Bond, the city was ‘shaken not stirred’ and shaken to the core.

It turns out that prophesying is a tough business, especially when it’s for keeps. In fact, the Hebrew people took ‘prophesying’ very seriously, and if you spoke a false prophecy, you were toast—literally. It wasn’t just your bracket that ended up broken! 

Authentic contextualization of the Gospel in mission and preaching never seeks to remove its offense; on the contrary, by making the Gospel more clear and accessible, it clarifies both its offense and its beauty.

Throughout church history, women have played pivotal yet often underrecognized roles in shaping Christian thought, practice, and community life. From the early days of Christianity to the modern era, female theologians, royalty, martyrs, and evangelists have emerged as powerful voices of faith. They've influenced theological debates, social movements, governments, and missions.

There’s an inherent conflict of interest in our self-examinations: we too easily legitimize our grievances and minimize our wrongs. It takes a revelation from God to expose to our eyes those interior, subterranean fault lines that will ultimately rock our world if they are not addressed and healed.

Since “faith is the substance of things hoped for,” Joseph directed that his bones be disinterred and carried back to the Promised Land when the future Exodus from Egypt dawned. He knew that day was generations away, but he was confident it would come and took action in his present based on the future he knew God had planned.

It’s been observed that hitting the ‘Pause’ button on a machine makes the machine stop while hitting the ‘Pause’ button on humans makes us start. We start to reflect. We start to observe. We start to ponder, behold, and ‘take stock.’ In Biblical language, we ‘consider our ways’.

One can no more separate one’s faith from one's actions towards those broken by want and violence than one can separate the heart from the body and still live. It is impossible.

This is why so many of the current "You've got it wrong, and I don't" approaches to interpretation often ring hollow. For goodness' sake, entire ministries are built on being right and showing where everyone but that ministry is wrong. This won't do. There are so many ways to be wrong about being right.

Augustine’s magnificent observation on reading the God-revealing Book of Nature.

Our doxological diversity is a grace to rejoice in, not a problem to be overcome.

Epiphany isn’t simply a season that marks what God has done in Christ historically but a promise of what he will do for us personally and congregationally. By the Spirit, through the ordinary means of grace, he will open our eyes to the extraordinary wonder of his self-disclosure in Jesus. 

I hope one or more of these titles might prove helpful to you in your reading next year. Stephen King observed that books are “portable magic,” and they certainly can cast a spell. May your 2024 be filled with such charms.

Pope Francis has embraced the manifestly false idea that because truth and love walk together in faithful witness to the world, truth and love may now be defined by the world's norms rather than by Scripture and its exposition in the Christian tradition of the past two millennia. The arrogance of it all is stunning in its scope, especially given its claims to humility.

In the Gospel, the cradle, cross, and crown are united in Christ as the story of God’s redeeming work unfolds.