And it came to pass in those days, that there came a decree from Augustus Caesar, that all the world should be taxed. 2 (This first taxing was made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 Therefore went all to be taxed, every man to his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of a city called Nazareth, into…

Jesus, Master  John Wesley was an Anglican minister who served for a time as a missionary in the newly established English colony of Georgia. His time here was not a success. Wesley had been brought up in the church (his father was a minister) but he did not know Jesus.  Wesley was “religious” but didn’t have a personal relationship with…

The last day of October was the 498th anniversary of a pivotal event in western history. On that day in 1517 an obscure Roman Catholic monk by the name of Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the door of the castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Luther’s bold act changed the face of Europe and later on much of the…

Rosh Hashana, literally the “head of the year” in Hebrew begins on the evening of September 13 this year at sundown. For Jews around the world this is the beginning of the High Holy Days, which include Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) on September 23 and Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) which runs from September 28 until October 6.…

Lawyers are everybody’s favorite target of jokes. In our increasing litigious culture they are frequently lambasted by comedians and cartoonists, and often don’t do well in surveys of professions the public holds in high regard (clergy don’t rank very high in public esteem either!). Both my grandfather and great-grandfather, as well as my uncle, on my mother’s side were lawyers.…