Mike Blogs

The stories of Abraham and his son Isaac are equally the stories of Sarah and Isaac’s wife: Rebekah.   Has there ever been a time when...

28: 1.  After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.   Jesus was...

“Cast out, old man, cast out,” Sarah said. She was complaining to her husband about Hagar. Hagar is the original woman with a handmaid’s...

This is a long chapter. Who divided these things up anyway? Actually, it was the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, leader of...

Welcome to Cason United Methodist Church. Pastor David and Trish are taking a break today. My name is Mike Rynkiewich. We had an...

Sarah had a baby boy, and she is sharing her joy with everyone around her who is laughing with her at the irony. Wouldn’t it be nice if...

The male disciples have fled. Jesus has died alone on the cross. Well, not quite alone.  27: 55-56. Many women  were also there, looking...

Stories, even accounts of real events, must be composed for the teller to present to the listener. To become lasting lore, stories are...

Matthew describes the crucifixion without elaboration, unlike some preachers and movie directors. If the details were important, then...

More than once, God visited and repeated his covenant promise to Abram (Genesis 12, 15, 17 and 18). We love to recall Abram’s response...

Only the Romans had the power to execute convicted prisoners, which is why the Jerusalem leadership took Jesus to Pilate for judgment....

The Patience and Obedience of Sarai   Sarai and Abram have a problem. They are childless. God has promised something better, but God...

We are nearing the end of Jesus’ ordeal. Accusations are made, Jesus has no answer; or rather Jesus offers no answer. He knows what he is...

I suspect that the epitaph on my tombstone will say: “He never could keep a job.” Over a 50-year period of work I have had careers as a...

The unusual, perhaps even extra-judicial (as in a kangaroo court) proceedings unfold, but who is in charge? The Roman prefect, Pilate? He...

The Real Housewives of Nod: Adah and Zillah  In my Bible, the story in Genesis 4: 17-26 has a heading. It says the ‘Beginnings of...

Let’s remember what Jesus was saying and doing as there is an abrupt shift into a new phase of this Passion Week.   “Then he came to the...

Perhaps the OS, ‘the Original Sin’, includes the propensity of men to blame the woman. That happened to the first woman, Eve.   The...

It is not difficult to figure out what is heavy on Jesus’ mind. The Passover meal has many layers, but Matthew chose to record mainly...

What happened to Bonhoeffer?    Bonhoeffer ran an underground seminary at Finkenwalde from 1935 to 1937 when it was closed by the...