by Chris Wiles | Mar 8, 2012 | Faith
His whole life had been defined by distance. He was an “outsider,” they told him; a Samaritan. To this day he still couldn’t remember all the reasons why he and the Jews would never really get along. “Unclean,” they said, not because of anything he’d done, but... 
by Chris Wiles | Mar 7, 2012 | Faith
The Pharisees were some of Jesus’ most fierce opponents. They appear in every gospel, and rarely in a positive light. The word “Pharisee” didn’t refer to an occupation – it referred to an ideology or a set of beliefs, like the way we might use “republican” or... 
by Chris Wiles | Mar 6, 2012 | Faith
In the first century, paralysis rendered you wholly dependent on others for…well, everything. So you can imagine that even family and friends were weary of having to tend to his needs, and would have jumped at hearing that this gifted healer named Jesus was teaching... 
by Chris Wiles | Mar 3, 2012 | Faith
The background of Jesus’ life’s work comes from the book of Isaiah. In Luke 4:16-21, Jesus walks into the synagogue. It’s no accident that the scroll of Isaiah is handed to Him. Jesus unrolls it, and reads to His audience a few selections from the prophet’s... 
by Chris Wiles | Mar 1, 2012 | Faith
“Hello, hello…you’re in a place called Vertigo…” The song is “Vertigo” by U2, from their album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. You’ll notice the obvious mixture of sacred and secular imagery, including the story of the girl wearing some...
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