by Oscar Mata Several weeks ago, someone asked me to visit one of their friends who was hospitalized. The patient was a man over seventy years old, English speaking, with the distant demeanor of someone who hadn’t set foot in a church for decades. He received me only because I came at his friend’s request. […]

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I have a dream of a church without unbiblical legalism that undermines love for our neighbor, and a church without liberalism that tramples on God’s commandments just to please everyone. I have a dream of a church in which the color of your skin, your immigration status, your economic condition, your political party, or the […]

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“Unclean, unclean!” Lepers had to scream when they saw someone healthy coming near to them. The best way against leprosy in Jesus’ day was to isolate them from society and let them die alone, far from their families. Lepers did not receive health care or spiritual care, since the priests couldn’t go near them. Nor […]

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The English word gospel is of Anglo-Saxon origin, meaning “God spell.” It is a rendering of the Greek word euangelion, meaning “good message” or “good news.” Behind the Greek word is the Hebrew basar, meaning “to proclaim good news” (Isaiah 40:9; 52:7). This is not news in general but the announcement of God’s sovereign action, […]

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