Philemon 1-21 With just 335 words, you have to wonder why Philemon is in the New Testament.  Like Ruth and Esther, there is little explicit theology, doctrine, and ethical discussion.  Yet, like Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Song of Solomon, Philemon may be an important book for just such a time as this – our time of racial […]

Jonah 1:1-6, 17; 2:10; 3:1-10; 4:6-11 What would you do if God challenged everything you thought was true about your faith and the people around you?  What if you discovered that your Sunday School faith was fine when you were ten but not when you are thirty or seventy?   The book of Jonah is more than […]

Esther 4:10-17 Can a beauty queen become a national hero and have a book in the Bible named after her?  Can God call a reluctant royal to be God’s instrument of deliverance?  That’s the story of Esther.  Every year, our Jewish siblings celebrate Purim.  It is a time of celebration, feasting, and rejoicing.  People reach out to the poor […]