Unlocked Archives
March 22, 2021
"Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded"these are the words describing the fate of each of Henry VIII's wives until July 1543 when Katherine Parr married King Henry of England as his sixth wife. "Published author" are words describing Katherine. In her inner circle as queen, Katherine was a scholar and leader in England's complicated, tumultuous, and [...]
February 13, 2021
"You must not have any other god but me (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7). To the Israelites, this command was actually kind of crazy. In that time and place in history, it was common and expected to worship more than one god. Do you want your crops to grow? Go sacrifice to the rain god. Want [...]
February 2, 2021
We all know relationships can be tricky. Even we as Christians can struggle to get along. The early church was no different. Paul wrote the book of Philippians to the church at Philippi, who had some people who could not agree with each other. Instead of opening with an in-your-face confrontation about the issue, Paul [...]
June 14, 2020
How do you react when you meet someone with a disability? People with disabilities are often excluded from activities. People make assumptions about them and avoid them. Even in our Christian circles, people with disabilities often feel like they don't belong or can't contribute their talents to the church. Our society can be harsh. Sometimes [...]
June 3, 2020
(Today's story is an allegory for Proverbs 3:1-6 and 6:20-23) On the morning that I was to set out into the world and seek a trade, my mother gave me a special gift. This was given to me by my mother. Her mother gave it to her, she said, clasping the chain and pendant around [...]
April 26, 2020
Sometimes, it's hard to share the thoughts and feelings weighing most heavily on our hearts. Maybe we're struggling with depression, bullying, a parent's divorce, the death or illness of a loved one, or the sins we are most often tempted by. We might feel embarrassed or ashamed that we feel the way we do. We [...]