So, the question really remains -- who killed Jesus? If we read the Gospels poorly, as with what is labeled "face value" or "plain sense", we will always have to decide between the three usual culprits: God, the Romans, or the Jewish leaders.

One of the most neglected passages in the New Testament is Mark 2:1-12. This story is so rich and powerful, but so little preached about in churches.

Anthony Smith, a.k.a. Postmodern Negro, talks about the non-traditional Advent story in the Gospel of Mark.

For those who believe God's Spirit does work in the world through signs and miracles, tragedies can function as intellectual puzzles, but they should never stop us from responding with heart, head and hands.

The widow we encounter in Mark 12:38-44 provides a case study in poverty and oppression. Unable to confront poverty, we have turned her into something safer -- an example of generosity.

Voting should be an easy affair: people of faith should vote for the candidates whose policies would most embody a love of God and neighbor. It seems so easy, but it isn't if we are honest with ourselves and gracious toward those who disagree with our political persuasions.

I don't know what theological changes are needed to save American evangelicals, but I really don't think that we're destined to howl in the graveyard forever. The pigs are headed for the lake, and I believe for the first time in my life that the evangelicals are going to make it.

The Bible is neither an operating manual nor a policy book. In all its soaring ideals and unsettling messiness, it reflects to us -- sometimes clearly, sometimes dimly -- what we might find near to God's heart.

Jesus trys to protect them with a strong prohibition against divorce. Perhaps this sheds new light on the recent discovery of a fourth-century fragment of papyrus which contains the line, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife...'"

The question lingers unanswered through time, waiting for us: Is God really OK with something like this? Couldn't God's relinquishment of Jesus be tantamount to moral negligence? Couldn't there be a neater, more peaceful solution?

When it came time for me to preach on one of the hard texts in the Gospel, where Jesus compares a woman begging him for help to a dog, I asked, "Did Jesus just call that woman a bitch?" And then I remembered Latrice Royale.

Pious readers encountering this question may be shocked or offended. It borders on being disrespectful, even unseemly. Yet that's the question that kept coming to mind as I read the passage many preachers will be dealing with this coming Sunday.

The astonishing (and scary) aspect of religion turned into legal or ritual or cultural (patriotic) observance is that Jesus, as marginalized one, as crucified one outside the city walls, is once again left out of the picture! God is abandoned. There is only lip service.

I am appalled that those expressing the most disrespectful attitudes toward women tend to do so in the name of God. Well, I have some biblical news for the politicians out there: The people who get to speak for God are called prophets.

Jesus Christ's compassion does not wear thin, even as he must repeat his saving activity for us again and again as we all fall short of his hopes for us. But like the disciples, we are not Jesus.

Jesus, it seems, frees people not only from their individual afflictions but also from social and communal exploitation.

John the Baptist gave meaning to the word courage in his unswerving commitment to his mission of truth and promise. Herod Antipas gave meaning to the word fear in his commitment to self-preservation.

There is no political promise like prioritizing citizen health and well being. In this home we call the United States of America, we now live under a federal mandate to purchase health insurance. Love it or leave it.

In God's upside down kingdom we're invited, even instructed, to be honest about our weakness. In God's counter-cultural kingdom its always better to be desperate, than deceptive.

It is a tale within a tale. It begins with a desperate father, a leader of the synagogue, pleading with Jesus to come heal his critically ill daughter. It is no laughing matter.

Mark 4:35-41 has good news for those preoccupied with their own spiritual inadequacy. Life does not depend on whether we have enough faith or not. For many of us, that's a very good thing.

Jesus tells us -- and the storms around us -- "Quiet! Settle down!" The next time you find yourself in the middle of a sudden thunderstorm, hear his words, and trust the one who can command the storm to cease.

The unforgivable sin certainly hurts other people. We can influence others to reject God's work, and we can curse people who are just beginning to experience grace and freedom. But this sin's primary danger lurks in its capacity to corrupt the self.