Jonathan and the Soldier

1 Samuel 14: I was a soldier in King Saul’s army during the Philistine conflict. We fought long and often against the Philistines, defending our land. One day, the king’s son Jonathan went to a Philistine outpost in Mikmash in secret, and managed to slay twenty men and throw the rest into a panic. When […]

Widow of Zarephath’s Son

My father died when I was very young. I don’t really remember him, but my mother talked about him often. She loved him very much. To honor him, she wanted me to grow big and strong so that I could carry on his name. She was a nervous woman, always calling after me – “Be […]

Woman with the Lost Coin

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell […]

Philip the Evangelist

I always prided myself on how inclusive I was. When the Twelve first appointed me to assist in food distribution, I served both Hellenistic and Hebraic Jews impartially. After my friend and colleague Stephen was killed on charges of blasphemy and all of Christ’s followers were forced to flee to escape persecution, I fled to […]

King Josiah

I was eight years old when I began to reign. My grandpa Manasseh began to reign when he was twelve. History remembers him as Judah’s most evil king. But long before he bought into the practices of our surrounding nations, worshiped the stars, practiced sorcery, defiled God’s temple, and sacrificed his sons in the fire, […]

Miriam

It was very strange watching my mother put my brother into the river. I was six years old then, and curious. My mom and dad never talked about it, but I knew that Hebrew babies were in trouble. We stopped celebrating when a baby was born. I wasn’t allowed to talk about my new brother […]

#ChurchToo

Trigger warning: This article addresses various forms of sexual abuse, including rape. The #MeToo movement has inspired lay and clergy members to begin to break the silence surrounding sexual harassment and abuse in and surrounding the church. It is very rare to hear a pastor or priest speak about sexual abuse – in the twelve […]

Judas son of James: Bread and Wine

On Passover we remember our people’s deliverance from Egypt, when our God saved us and we were freed to be our own nation rather than a nation of slaves. To me, Passover is more than a day to feast. I am devoted to my people Israel, and remembering the miracles that God did through Moses […]

Simon Peter: Humility and Confidence

The day I met Jesus was awful. To begin with, I was exhausted. The guys and I had been up all night trying to catch some fish and we just couldn’t catch a single one. By morning, I had given up and was ready to eat seaweed instead. I was cleaning out my nets when […]

Jonah

Being inside of a big fish is disorienting. You can’t witness the coming and going of the sun to keep track of the days. You become completely disconnected from time and space. That dark, warm, smelly cove becomes your entire world. It’s no wonder I finally agreed to go to Nineveh. Apparently, God can sometimes […]