Sometimes Christian

Scholars tell us that Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians while under guard in Rome. Because he was a Roman citizen, he was afforded certain rights that many Christians at the time were not given. In this instance, it was a rented home with guards instead of a cell somewhere.  And yet it is important to remember that while he was writing this, he was under guard and not a free man.  We know from other parts of the Bible that Paul is an apostle of Christ, having come to this station only after Jesus's death and after persecuting the fledgling church for some time. His conversion and the influence he had thereafter is perhaps one of the most amazing testimonies within the Bible.  Through Paul we are shown an example of God's transformative grace; a grace that redeems hate and turns it to profound, unabashed love. It was through this love that Paul came to know the people of Philippi, a town on the outskirts of Rome that is reported to have been populated ...

The dirt road home was far from straight. It curved around hillsides, sloping up and down, disappearing from sight with every bend. It had been so long since Simon had taken this path that everything looked foreign and he feared that he had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Perhaps time had worn the desert down, scouring away at familiar rocks and landmarks, or perhaps he was simply not used to traveling in this direction. Whatever the reason, he found himself trekking back several times, hunting for landmarks that would confirm his road. Rubbing his face, Simon hesitated on the borders of his father’s lands, unable to move. How could he return? What right did he have to ask for even the slightest mercy? He knew his father was a forgiving sort, he’d even scorned the man for being too lenient at times, but this was different. Simon’s betrayal was deeper, more intimate and profound, and he knew it. And, of course, there was Bethany. He remembered her as he’d last seen her, bloody and...