Genesis 2:15, Exodus 20:15, Matthew 25:14-30, John 10:10, Psalm 139:13-14, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
There’s a charming story about a little boy who made a gingerbread man. He poured his heart into crafting it, carefully decorating it with candy eyes and a cheerful smile. It was his creation, and he ...
One of the many technological transformations of the twentieth century took place right on our dinner plates. Because of its cheapness and convenience, most Americans quickly accepted new ways of eati...
Raw materials such as No. 2 yellow corn or BSCB (boneless, skinless chicken breasts) are now handled like any other commodity : produced wherever costs are lowest, shipped to wherever demand is highes...
We may misunderstand the significance of food and dining in the Bible if we fail to understand the powerful cultural mores related to food. We can easily transfer our judgments about foods (that parti...
The story is told of a (true) encounter that took place between the Chief Rabbi of London, a Mr. Hermann Adler, and the Catholic Cardinal Herbert Vaughan at some formal luncheon. According to accounts...
Genesis 1:26-28, Exodus 24:3-8, Matthew 26:26-29, John 15:1-17, Psalm 22:
And they watched Him now, And they wondered. What could Jesus mean? This bread was His body? This wine was His blood? And they didn’t yet know, But one day they would. That before He...
A loaf of bread is the bearer of at least four major narratives or histories; (1) a narrative of natural processes that yield diverse plant growth, yeast spores, salt, sugar, and water; (2) an agricul...
In this short excerpt, Robert Farrar Capon makes a toast to the fact that all of creation, including our food, are in some sense superfluous. That is to say, God did not have to create anything, inclu...
John 6:24-35, John 6:23, 2 Samuel 11:26-27, 2 Samuel 12:1-13, Psalm 51:1-12, Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15, Psalm 78:23-29, Ephesians 4:1-16
Ancient Lens What's the historical context? The Lakeside Community On the Sea of Galilee, it is not unusual to see from one shore to the other. It is essentially a lake, and as is often the ...
“Breaking bread” means eating. “Our daily bread” means food. It is also called the staff of life, which I like: bread there, all life leaning against it. Our lives don’t lean against it anymore: we’ve...
John 6:24-35, John 6:23, 2 Samuel 11:26-27, 2 Samuel 12:1-13, Psalm 51:1-12, Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15, Psalm 78:23-29, Ephesians 4:1-16
Ancient Lens What's the historical context? The Lakeside Community On the Sea of Galilee, it is not unusual to see from one shore to the other. It is essentially a lake, and as is often the ...
One of the lasting contributions of Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation is to have shown how a considerable amount of contemporary eating is without mercy or art...To “grab a bite on the go” communica...
Food is a holy and humbling mystery. Every time a creature eats it participates in God’s life-giving yet costly ways, ways that simultaneously affirm creation as a delectable gift, and as a divinely o...
When the first Christians were trying to decide whether Gentile Christians should keep Jewish dietary laws, they weren’t just quibbling over doctrine. Just like we do, ancients were transferring their...
In this short excerpt, the author and priest Robert Farrar Capon describes just how intricate and beautiful one single part of God’s creation is, the chicken egg: Forget for the moment the fantastic...
Exodus 16:4-18, 1 Kings 17:8-16, Isaiah 55:1-2 , John 6:32-35, Matthew 14:13-21, Psalm 37:25-26
Celebrated as one of the greatest writers of all time, French writer Marcel Proust (1871–1922) filled out a personal questionnaire at the start of his career for a magazine like the one we know today ...
Matthew 14:13-21, Matthew 13:55, Matthew 14:2, Matthew 16:16, Matthew 17:1-13, Isaiah 55:1, John 6:1-15, Matthew 13:31, 2 Kings 4:42-44, Matthew 26:26, Matthew 8:null, Galatians 6:2
Preaching Commentary Context The feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew occurs within a section where questions of Jesus’ identity are heightened. Two incorrect answers of who Jesus truly is are given in...
Different Levels of Maturity? There is an interesting dynamic I have noticed that often occurs as people begin to mature into adults. In my life it was a stage that took place following high school, ...
I’d like us to begin with a little scene setting. So, I’m going to invite everyone who is comfortable to close their eyes. And I am transporting you to Rome, it’s approximately 60 AD. You are a commo...
To eat is to be implicated in a vast, complex, interweaving set of life and death dramas in which we are only one character among many...The moment we chew on anything we participate in regional, geog...
John 6:1-21, 2 Samuel 11:1-15, Psalm 14:, Ephesians 3:14-21, 2 Kings 4:42-44, Psalm 145:10-18
Ancient Lens What's the historical context? A New Kind of Feast A mountain, a gathering of thousands, and a great feast make for a classic ancient worship scene. Add in the frequency of loca...
Reflection In Isak Dinesen’s 1958 short story, “Babette’s Feast,” we see Babette Hersant, a 19th century French chef from Paris, seek political asylum in the Jutland region of Denmark in the home of ...
John 6:1-21, 2 Samuel 11:1-15, Psalm 14:, Ephesians 3:14-21, 2 Kings 4:42-44, Psalm 145:10-18
Ancient Lens What's the historical context? A New Kind of Feast A mountain, a gathering of thousands, and a great feast make for a classic ancient worship scene. Add in the frequency of loca...
Ancient Lens What's the historical context? A Hard Saying The difficulty of this saying was used by opponents of the early Christians to justify persecution, yet the early church still rallie...