Am guessing that a lot of us admire the person who can use humor, thoughtfulness, or a self-deprecating comment to defuse the tension of an angry moment. Maybe that’s why I’ve become so intrigued with the proverb that says, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (Prov. 15:1). I’m […]
Yesterday’s post was upsetting to many of us. In some cases it shifted our focus from our agreement about Christ to disagreements among ourselves–or with “Charles”– over our relationship to Old Testament law. In retrospect, we don’t know what’s going on in “Charles” heart. He could be a brother who believes in Christ while being […]
Overnight we got a tongue-in-cheek comment/question from a friend in the UK. It came in the form of a fairly long note, but raises an important question. So I’m going to copy the comment here, break it after a few lines, and then let you read and respond to the rest of the comment. The […]
When Jesus teaches us to pray, “Our Father, who is in heaven…,” he is encouraging us to bring our daily needs to his Father. The second half of this brief model prayer teaches us to say, “… give us, forgive us… and lead us…” (Haddon Robinson gives the most helpful summary explanation I have ever […]
When it comes to prayer, less can be more. A few words expressed from the heart, can be far more meaningful and timely than an hour spent covering a long list of praises, confessions, requests, and intercessions. Who hasn’t been bored to death by long prayers that are less than heart to heart communication? We’ve […]
The Olympic trials have gotten under my skin. Love watching the exhilaration of those who win a ticket to Beijing. Hate seeing the disappointment of those who lose a coveted spot on their national team by a few points, an untimely injury, or some other twist of fate. Keep thinking about how much these athletes […]
A caricature of God that many of us shed in our early-teens is that, if we do something really bad, we’ll get struck with lightning. We soon discover that it’s more likely for that to happen if we challenge a thunderstorm with a golf club, fishing rod, or umbrella. I remember the day my daughter […]
Memories can haunt us. I was listening to a story on NPR’s StoryCorp recently and heard a tender conversation between an aged father who told his adult son that, all of his life, he regretted a moment when he had abusively beaten him in a moment of frustration. The son was moved by his father’s […]
Is there a difference between being born into the family of God and becoming a disciple (student) of Jesus? Or are these just two different ways of describing what it means to come into the family and kingdom of God? The way we answer this question will determine how we interpret the New Testament, and […]
One of the characteristics of our human nature is that we spend a lot of time reacting to, and trying to distance ourselves from, the sins of our fathers. As we react, it is as though we were jumping up and grabbing a great pendulum as it swings away in the opposite direction. In the […]
An article in the New York Times says that “People-watching is to New York City what vista-gazing is to the Grand Canyon.” It suggests riding a subway from one end to the other to… “Watch the ethnicities change, and the reading material – from Bibles to library studies textbooks to ethnic newspapers. Are the smilers […]
If I could write an open letter to some of the friends I’ve had who didn’t buy my reasons for faith in Christ, I think I would imagine them as a person I’ll call Aaron and write something like this. “Dear Aaron, I hope you are doing well. I miss our conversations. Even more, I […]
Earlier this morning I bumped into a friend at the coffee shop. Asked me if I had a couple of minutes. Told me that his wife was diagnosed last week with brain cancer. Said they were praying for a miracle. As I replay the brief conversation in my mind and try to imagine what he […]
Was ready for the return flight from Tel Aviv to the US, even though any trip to the land of the Bible seems like an undeserved chance of a lifetime for me. Once home, was also more tired than usual. After a week of fighting a “travelers’ bug” and working under a hot, June, Israeli […]
As the Jewish people enter the evening of their weekly Shabbat (Sabbath), our team is heading for Ben Gurion airport–tired, and ready to go home. Our last meeting with a group of scholars involved a conversation on the northern lakeshore of Galilee. Together with the eight professors pictured with me here, it was pretty amazing […]
Our second day of production began early as we tried to beat the heat. After loading hundreds of pounds of equipment on the bus, we headed for the Southern Steps that led up to the Jewish Temple in the days of Jesus. This area is interesting because archaeologists say that some of these steps date […]
Wasn’t able to post something on arrival last night in Jerusalem, but did get a picture of a new section of “the holy city,” at night, out of my hotel window. The 10 hour flight from Newark to Tel Aviv was long but uneventful (except that the plane’s video system wasn’t working :-). Even caught […]
I’m traveling today to Jerusalem to work with our Day of Discovery team on a new series of “land of the Bible” programs. As I prepare to leave I’m reminded of some thoughts I had after returning from a similar assignment a couple of years ago. What I wrote is a bit long for a […]
What do I need to hear again today? My guess is that it’s something like– Get knowledge–but don’t depend on your knowledge. Seek to be wise-But don’t depend on wisdom. Work hard–but don’t depend on hard work. Work smart-But don’t ever depend on your own cleverness and efficiency. Make plans. But don’t depend on plans. […]
As the last two US Democratic primaries are held today in South Dakota and Montana, I’ve been thinking again about the different ways followers of Christ enter a voting booth. During the course of this lengthy election process, with far more to come, it’s been clear that some of us believe we have an obligation […]
Today (June 2, 2008) is Jerusalem Day in Israel. With parades in the streets and prayers in synagogues, Jewish citizens will celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem in the Six Day War of 1967. Jerusalem remains, however, a contested city. Palestinians believe that East Jerusalem, including the holy site now occupied by the Al Aksa Mosque […]
In his own story, Surprised by Joy, CS Lewis tells how he left the faith during his adolescent years and then returned at about the age of 30. As an Oxford scholar and writer, CS Lewis, would later write, “I believe in Christianity as I believe in the sun, not only because I see it, […]
It’s painful to be misquoted. I remember how I felt when someone used the Internet to accuse me of saying that Matthew was wrong in applying Hosea 11:1 to Jesus (Matthew 2:15). I had not said Matthew was wrong, but wrote an article to show that Jesus gives fullness of meaning to events and principles […]
