Bible
Hopelessly Devoted: Matthew Chapter Five Verse Forty Eight

Hopelessly Devoted: Matthew Chapter Five Verse Forty Eight

If you’re following along with us in your new Mockingbird Devotional, you’ll already know. On Robin Hood and the nature of getting it wrong, today’s reading comes from our co-editor Sean Norris.

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48, ESV)

One of the Biblical words translated “sin” is actually an archery term meaning “to have missed the mark or target.” It reminds me of the Disney cartoon version of Robin Hood, with Robin as the cunning fox and the Sheriff of Nottingham as a big ugly wolf. In the movie there is an archery contest in…

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False Starts in the Problem of Jesus and Paul

False Starts in the Problem of Jesus and Paul

Here is the second of three posts examining the possible relationship between Paul of Tarsus and the historical Jesus.

The previous post broadly outlined the problem of the historical Jesus and his relationship to Paul the apostle. I noted Paul’s apparent indifference toward Jesus’ message, the conceptual dissimilarity between Paul’s doctrine of justification and Jesus’ kingdom of God (to recall one example), and most importantly, the requirement of historical Jesus studies to separate Jesus’ words from later confessions about Jesus. Consequently, many have construed the relationship between Jesus and Paul in antithetical terms – one may choose either Paul or…

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Bible Wednesdays: Jesus Met the Woman at the Well

Bible Wednesdays: Jesus Met the Woman at the Well

We’ll be doing a new, five-or-six-week series on some stories from the Gospels as portraits of grace (or basically really, really good short stories that happen to be true). This week’s is on the woman at the well, found in John 4:1-42.

You know the story: Jesus walks up to a new place, requests a meeting with the village elders, tells them he’s an up-and-coming Jewish teacher who doesn’t have beef with the alienated Samaritans, and organizes a speaking engagement in the tradition of the tent revival. That’s what I would’ve done.

Francis Spufford, in his incredible chapter on Jesus’ life, he…

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“…When the Commandment Came…”

pearls.6.10.13

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. (Rom 7:7-12)

Hopelessly Devoted: Matthew Chapter Four Verses Five through Seven

Hopelessly Devoted: Matthew Chapter Four Verses Five through Seven

If you’ve got a new copy of The Mockingbird Devotional, good! Turn to today, June 10, and you’ll find this meditation from our very own Will McDavid. If you don’t have a copy of The Mockingbird Devotional, well, just read below, and then purchase one for yourself, here. You won’t regret it–at least if you’ve got a little Ruby Turbin in you…

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command his angels…

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Another Pearl from McNeely’s Romance of Grace

Another Pearl from McNeely’s Romance of Grace

So often, we see ourselves through the eyes of the world that is constantly evaluating and judging us. What if we looked at ourselves through the eyes of God? What would we see? In his book, The Romance of Grace, our friend Jim McNeely has an uplifting, but rather scandalous answer which he takes from Matthew 13: 44-46. “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls and, upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

“If God is the merchant, what- or who- is the pearl? Here is the…

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Hopelessly Devoted: Zephaniah Chapter Three Verses Fourteen Through Seventeen

Hopelessly Devoted: Zephaniah Chapter Three Verses Fourteen Through Seventeen

Our first installment, post-publication(!), so what better time to get on ‘the same page’ and post the June 3rd entry, which comes to us from Alex Large:

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The LORD your God…

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Now Available! The Mockingbird Devotional: Good News for Today (and Every Day)

Finally, it is here! Five years and over sixty contributors in the making, The Mockingbird Devotional is now available for purchase! It is available directly from Createspace (which is where we’d encourage you to buy them, as more royalty comes our way), as well as a little place called Amazon.

What is The Mockingbird Devotional all about, you ask? While the best way to get of a sense of it is to check out the past year’s worth of Hopelessly Devoted previews, here’s the back blurb:

tmd25“As long as it has been available, people have turned to the Bible to address the problems and anxieties of everyday life. We look to it for comfort in the midst of suffering, clarity in times of confusion, or simply to learn about God. Thankfully, what we find in its pages is not a collection of rules or demands but a message of unbending honesty and unspeakable compassion: the gospel of Jesus Christ. With humor and heart (and a surprising number of disco and B-movie references) the 365 short devotions in The Mockingbird Devotional carry the good news of God’s mercy and forgiveness to the inner-rooms of human reality.”

Order your copy today! Also, for a limited time, a complimentary copy will be sent to anyone who signs up for any amount of monthly giving! Visit our Support page for more information. Feed up time, come get it…

Edited by Ethan Richardson and Sean Norris, the full list of contributors is as follows:

Jonathan Adams, Robin Anderson, Josh Bascom, Curt Benham, Todd Brewer, David Browder, Dusty Brown, Mike Burton, Sam Bush, Ross Byrd, Addie Chapin, K. Marc Choi, Jeremy Coleman, Michael Cooper, Leonard Finn, Ron Flowers, Javier Garcia, R-J Heijmen, Kemp Hill, Justin Holcomb, Jeff Hual, Bryan T. Jarrell, David Johnson, Matt Johnson, Jady Koch, Liza Koch, Gil Kracke, Nick Lannon, Alex Large, Lauren R.E. Larkin, Russ Levenson, Ethan Magness, Matthew McCormick, William McDavid, Kris McInnes, Jim McNeely III, Nate Michaux, Peter Moore, Jonathan Mumme, Jim Munroe, Kate Norris, Steven Paulson, Andrew Pearson, Ben Phillips, Dylan Potter, Keith Pozzuto, Drake Richey, Sarah Richey, Matthew C. Schneider, Jacob Smith, John Stamper, Kyle Tomlin, Paul Walker, Bonnie Poon Zahl, David Zahl, John Zahl, Mary Zahl, Paul Zahl, Simeon Zahl, Aaron Zimmerman.

Culture, Language and the Tower of Babel

Culture, Language and the Tower of Babel

Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor.

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

-Excerpt from Thomas Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”

The tower of Babel story is a baffling one. You know the drill – people want to “make a name for themselves” by making a cool building, a celebration of early civilization, and then God decides to topple the house…

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Hopelessly Devoted: One Thing Needful, I Can Stay All Night, Baby Beluga, and How I Ended Up At The Bottom Of A Dumpster On Christmas Eve

The hits just keep on coming! In lieu of our usual bi-weekly Monday devotion, here’s four for the price of one, all of Drew Rollins’ wise, funny, and deeply pastoral words from the NYC Conference in one video. They are far less conference-specific than they may initially appear–each one is about 10 minutes long:

Beck Brings Paper to Life (and Life to Paper)

Beck Brings Paper to Life (and Life to Paper)

This one comes to us from Win Bassett:

Beck Hansen, better known as “Beck,” will forever be linked to the decade when MTV actually played music videos, kids lived for TGIF programming, and pogs were worth their weight in gold. Who in Generation Y doesn’t count Beck’s “Loser” as one of the first pieces of art to leave a permanent watermark on our young minds? Who isn’t brought back to afternoons of rollerblading and feeding our Tamagotchis every time we hear the low, throaty rumblings of what may have been our first introduction to the Spanish language? (“Soy un perdedor. I’m…

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The Rasta-Banana of Great Price

The Rasta-Banana of Great Price

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a man in search of an X-Box Kinect, who, on finding one at a carnival game, went and emptied his life savings, didn’t win the Kinect, and was given a giant…

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Short Story Wednesdays: “Winky” by George Saunders

Short Story Wednesdays: “Winky” by George Saunders

This week we slip into the mind of George Saunders, contemporary and friend to the late DFW, and colleague of Mary Karr at Syracuse University. “Winky,” a very short story, was published here in the New Yorker for you to read in full (if you are a subscriber), or you could just buy the collection of stories (highly recommended), Pastoralia.

“I’m lost!” You cried. “I’m wandering in a sort of wilderness!”

“Hey, You, come on over!” shouted a girl across the stage, labeled “Inner Peace.” “I bet you’ve been looking for me your whole life!”

“Boy, have I!” said You. “I’ll be right…

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Hopelessly Devoted: John Chapter Twenty One Verse Seventeen

Hopelessly Devoted: John Chapter Twenty One Verse Seventeen

Coming home from our New York Conference, where many of you picked up the conference edition of The Mockingbird Devotional: Good News for Today (and Every Day), this morning’s devotion comes from DZ.

[Christ] said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (ESV)

A quick recap of Peter’s “greatest hits” in the New Testament:

a) When Jesus tells…

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Hopelessly Devoted: Matthew Chapter Twenty Eight Verses One Through Ten

Hopelessly Devoted: Matthew Chapter Twenty Eight Verses One Through Ten

This morning’s devotion comes from Jacob Smith. A reminder that this devotion (and 364 others) will be released at the Spring Conference in the long-awaited Mockingbird Devotional: Good News for Today (and Every Day).

“…Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said…” (ESV)

This is the account of the first Easter morning. However, on this Easter morning there is no linen, no brass instruments, no baked hams or Easter eggs, and no large lilac hats. Instead, the initial tone of the first Easter morning is…

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