Can only certain kinds of families reflect or promote God's will, as Jesus articulated it in terms of mercy, love, justice, protection, holiness and well-being? Can only certain families express the belonging and solidarity that God desires to share with humanity?

Snake-handling is senseless, of course. But it's also daring. It's the lure of ecstasy. The rush of religious adrenaline.

The Fifth Step represents a kind of baptism for people on the journey of recovery. It brings to mind the story in the Gospel of Mark of the baptism of Jesus by John.

It is Mark's shattered and shattering Gospel that demands close Christian attention, before we move up and away from it to the joyous epiphany of Sunday morning. Good Friday Christianity puts the agony in the ecstasy, insisting that there is no other way.

It didn't take long for others to add new endings, endings where Jesus did appear to Mary Magdalene and finally to the 11 disciples. Those endings are usually printed in italics or in brackets in most Bibles.

Death was more than something for him to endure, just so he could rise again. Jesus' execution forever writes an identity upon him, as indicated in the Gospels' accounts of his resurrection.

Two short scriptures beckon for our attention as we find ourselves amid this season called Lent.

We must take stock of the efforts we take to please each other. The state of political affairs should challenge us to rethink what we say for applause and how we feed off of this attention.

Worship is essential not only because we recognize who God is but also because it sets the agenda for whom we are called to be.

What happened on that mountain when Jesus went to pray with Peter, James and John? Why did Jesus' clothing become dazzling white? How could Moses and Elijah be there when they lived so long ago?

God suffers some of the effects of human brokenness. In Jesus, God doesn't just come near. God doesn't just lend a hand. God experiences solidarity with those who suffer, taking their place.

In our world today, we badly need leaders who not only speak with authority but behave with conviction. It's not enough to talk the talk. You gotta walk the walk as well.

Some people abandon their nets because they hear good news worthy of our lives. Sensing God's kingdom drawing near, they reshape their lives in response to God's call. They drop everything and go another way.

Evangelical Christianity has in the past decades embraced the once forbidden relationship between faith and politics. Some Christians dislike the situation. Others welcome it.

When God speaks, often it is outside of the noble confines of the stained-glass edifice. This is what Mark is attempting to tell us: God's movement is often abrupt and unsettling.

Matthew read Zechariah without poetic parallelism but rather as a straightforward narrative. The result: Jesus enters Jerusalem straddling two animals.