SOAP Reading: John 4 "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst." – John 4:13-14 (Trigger Warning: description of violence and rape from the Old Testament) Location, location, location. Our stories and identities are unavoidably tied to locations. Sychar (or Shechem) of Samaria [...]

SOAP Reading: Judges 6 & 7 "The Lord said to Gideon, 'With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.'" – Judges 7:7 We struggle with weakness. It’s never on the list of values at any successful organization or corporation. It’s not popular to share on [...]

SOAP Reading: Acts 16 "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them." – Acts 16:25 Jesus gave his followers the very clear warning: any confrontation with the systems of this world and spiritual darkness would result in vicious backlash by the only weapons [...]

SOAP Reading: 1 Kings 18 "The fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil." – 1 Kings 18:38 In 1967, missionary Jackie Pullinger moved to Hong Kong's Kowloon Walled City, a place known for its extreme poverty, crime, and lawlessness. With no formal training, but with [...]

SOAP Reading: Exodus 3-4 "God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' And Moses said, 'Here I am.'" – Exodus 3:4 In 1906, the Azusa Street Revival began in Los Angeles, sparked by an ordinary, one-eyed, African-American man, William J. Seymour, responding to God’s call and empowerment. This 9-year revival quickly attracted the [...]

SOAP Reading: Joshua 2 & 6 "When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, the wall collapsed." – Joshua 6:20 During the Civil Rights Movement, men like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and James Lawson led peaceful protests and marches to speak truth to systems that had perfected the [...]

SOAP Reading: John 11 "Jesus said, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.'" – John 11:25 Trigger Warning: explicit description of death and violence from WWII The 1940’s saw some of the worst death and loss in the history of Israel and the [...]

SOAP Reading: Mark 9-10 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. - Mark 10:52 Blind Bartimaeus is the last story in the center section of Mark’s Gospel, and the second such healing, mirrored by the blind man in Mark 8:21-26. The first [...]

SOAP Reading: Luke 8 "Then he got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm." – Luke 8:24 When Jesus calmed the storm by speaking to it, he not only demonstrated his authority over creation, but also made a not-so-subtle claim as to his identity. His actions [...]

SOAP Reading: Mark 2 "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.'" – Mark 2:5 In 2013, a small group of believers prayed fervently for a 25 year-old man, Luke Bernard, in a coma after a severe car accident. Despite grim medical reports, he regained consciousness and [...]