Gen 41:37-57 The story of pastors leading megachurches or tele-evangelists who acquire world-wide fame and enormous success and then fall into sin has become almost a cliché these days. Handling the adulation of the masses, living with others’ worshipful deferment…

Gen 41:1-36 A young pastor who was just starting his ministry was particularly busy one week and neglected sermon preparation. He consoled himself with the truth that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, who ‘will teach you in that very hour…

Gen 40:1-23 People who experience a short-term difficulty whether a recovery from an accident or a brief period of financial difficulty often rise to the challenge because there is an end in sight. Keeping up morale when an illness is…

Gen 39:1-23 During the Communist era in Hungary, my Dad’s family was considered ‘politically unreliable’. Dad was denied a university education (though he did get one later) and worked in an optical glass factory as a manual labourer. Early on,…

Gen 38:1-30 A mistake often made by preachers and readers of Scripture is to apply its message by moralising and to do so using the particular ethical emphases of their (modern) context. Thus, it is not uncommon for readers to…

Gen 38:1-30 The incident of Judah and Tamar has puzzled both commentators and readers for a long time. Why is this story plopped into the Joseph narrative, when readers are raring to hear more about him? I will address the…

Gen 37:18-36 A week after I agreed to take on the job lecturing in Auckland, I discovered a job opening in the UK that I missed out on. For years afterwards, as I was struggling with the adjustment to New…

Gen 37:1-17 Bridegrooms are sometimes told to look at their prospective bride’s mother to know how their beloved will turn out; advice that my husband – quick as a flash – replied to, ‘Oooh, I’ll have lots of delicious cake…