The devil can cite Scripture

March 31, 2026 Mark Brians

Shakespeare notes the way in which “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose” (Merchant of Venice, I.3). This is what the Devil does when he tempts Jesus in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11; Mk. 1:12-13; Lk. 4:1-13). This is part of his much larger deceiving and perverting craft of simultaneously ruining good things and making evil things appear good. As Shakespeare again notes “O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!”

It is the devil who, for instance, makes a violation of God’s instructions for kings of Israel (a military census) appear like prudence and wise leadership…

Repost: Worshiping under branches

March 23, 2026 Mark Brians

What’s with all the services where Christians worship under branches? We hang greens in the sanctuary in Advent, we decorate Christmas Tress, we burn branches for ashes on Ash Wednesday, and we wave palms on Palm Sunday. Is there any Biblical reasoning behind these practices?

You betcha! It’s all about being a part of God’s Big Story…

A unified witness of salvation

April 14, 2025 Mark Brians

In the beginning humans are created in a state on deep and utter union: Adam and Eve share communion with God, communion with one another, a kind of communion with the rest of the created world, and —often forgotten in theological accounts of prelapsarian life— unified within themselves. This is, in God’s words, “very good” (Gen 1:31). It is a blessed state (Gen 1:28). Union is, also, not just how we are made, it is what we are made for.

A day-by-day walk through the events of Holy Week

March 18, 2024 Mark Brians

Palm Sunday [audio recording here]
The royal Son of David rides into his city, the city of his fathers, and we flank Him round with reeds and branches waving madly in our hands. Tree branches punctuate key moments in our tale: Our story begins in a garden with trees […]

This is the true magic

April 3, 2023 Mark Brians

So also this week when you hear it said “let us remember,” as you most certainly will hear it said often during these holy days, it means more than merely “replaying” the story of Jesus in your mind or on the stage at church. It means being drawn into the covenant enacted by the story. The Gospel of Jesus, Holy Week, is a living thing. It incorporates our stories into itself. It saves us. It heals us. In it the Spirit renews us. By it the Kingdom is re-kneaded into the dough of the world (cf. Matt. 13:33).

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