Many people have “bucket lists” – things they want to do before they can’t do anything. I know that one of my items is to visit all 50 states. I am missing three: North Dakota, Minnesota, and Hawaii. When the pandemic is over and I feel that it is safe…
Is Your Nativity Scene Biblical?
I have many nativity scenes sprinkled through my house. They range from the traditional – an olive wood set that I bought in Bethlehem – to the whimsical – Jesus and his parents riding on top of a hippy van (immigrants on their way to Egypt, I assume.) It is…
More than a Title
“I don’t like to call myself a teacher,” the Bible study teacher told me. “I prefer the title, ‘facilitator.’ I suppose that sounds less “know-it-all-ish.” Is that the fear – that someone might think that you think you know more than they do. Which – after reading the text and…
15 Podcasts About the Bible or Spiritual Formation
In the midst of a pandemic and at the front end of my retirement, I thought that I would have all the time in the world to do nothing but listen to podcasts. As it turns out, I listen to them a lot less than I once did. When my…
Does the Bible need a Disclaimer?
This week, I was looking into a neat program that does those videos you sometimes see of a hand drawing a picture while the narrator speaks. The program is called Doodly. I have not made my decision about purchasing this program. However, I was intrigued by their disclaimer: It’s really…
Why does the Bible command praise?
Enter his gates with thanksgivingand his courts with praise;give thanks to him and praise his name. – Psalm 100:4 It seems strange that the psalmist “commands” us to praise – as if God is some egotistical celebrity needing a daily dose of standing ovations. If I am not freely worshipping…
When Depression Gets the Best of Us
On Thursday, I will publish the video interview I had with Diana Gruver about her book, Companions in the Darkness: Seven Saints Who Struggled with Depression and Doubt. (The book will be released next Friday, but you can pre-order it on the link below from amazon.com.) Diana has struggled with…
How “old” is the Old Testament?
The simple answer: no one knows. The Bible was written by many people over a long period of time. It did not fall from the sky as a completed book. The path it took from text to canonization remains a mystery. But there are some pretty good theories. These are…
The pandemic: when the teacher has a Bible but no compass
What has the pandemic affected in your life? If your life is like most, the answer is “everything.” Walter Bruegemann writes about the Psalms as being songs of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. The pandemic has tossed us into a period of disorientation. It is a time of lamentation, of asking…
Moving from Mush
Dr. Amanda Mbuvi, a professor at High Point University, is my interviewee this week (to be posted on Thursday). She shares insights from the classroom as well as from her book, Belonging in Genesis: Biblical Israel and the Politics of Identity Formation (Baylor University Press). Here is one illustration about…
