Hi Friends,

John Wesley famously claimed (quoting Thomas Aquinas), to be “a man of one book.” He was, of course, a widely read, Oxford-educated, a man of many books. But he knew that at the core of things, at the center of his life, was the Bible. That’s what really mattered.

When I read that quote from Wesley I think of Virgil Howard, one of my heroes in the faith, one of the best teachers I had at Perkins, and one of the reasons I went down my own “road less traveled” of ministry. The story goes that Virgil left for the office one morning, then came running back in the house and said to his wife, “They got my Bible! Somebody stole my Bible!” She said, “Oh no, it’s right there on the front seat of the car, isn’t it?” He said, “Oh yeah, the car! They got that too!”

I don’t know how you think of scripture: central to life, moderately interesting, or unknown territory, but I love it and I especially love opening it together with church folks. So I’d like you to join me for a little series on The Great Parables of Jesus, running Tuesday evenings in September. More information coming in the following weeks!

The focus scripture for this Sunday morning is Matthew 14:22-33. That’s Matthew’s telling of the “walking on the water” story, and this one includes Peter’s bold attempt to try it himself.

“See you” Sunday.

David