The Miracle Box

Did you ever read a story in the Bible that made you sad? This one did to me. Matthew 13:54-58   - Coming to his hometown, Jesus began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. Every time I read this I feel sad. At first, I wasn’t sure why. I do remember reflecting on those people in Jesus’ hometown and thinking, How could they not believe in Him when they saw all this? Miracles! Healings! Amazing teaching! As I thought about it though, I realized many of us sometimes do the same thin...

  The Man Who Just Showed Up   Immediately after graduation from college I got my first job. I was twenty-two and was slated to be the director of a chapter of InteVarsity Christian Fellowship on a college campus in a small city in North Carolina.   Now that I had a job, I wanted to build some equity, so with a little help from my parents I bought a small run-down house in a rougher part of my new town. As it turns out, it was a lot rougher than I had thought.   My neighbors were very sweet, but across the street was a brothel and I actually took occupancy of my house by removing a prostitute and all her drug paraphernalia. Drug dealers routinely used the sidewalk in front of my new house to do their transactions. I often heard gun shots. The neighborhood was full of abandoned houses. I was the only white person for blocks.   The house itself was a real renovation project. No electricity. No running water. It should have been a tear-down, but bein...