When my brother entered our house last Thursday night, he was impressed. Our house was clean. Not just tidy, but actually clean. We scrubbed, dusted, de-cluttered, de-catted, even steam-mopped. Yeah. That happened. Our preparation for his long-distance girlfriend’s arrival was intentional and meticulous. We spent several hours a day for three days cleaning as much…
Today I discovered a mind-blowing realization about being an ambivert. No, it’s not related to some kind of slimy animal, but it’s about a personality type. I started writing this blog post, thinking about survival strategies for introverts in large group settings. Since I’ve labeled myself as an introvert for awhile, after taking the Myers-Briggs…
Edited by James H. Charlesworth; with Brian Rhea and Petr Pokorný. Jesus Research: New Methodologies and Perception. Eerdmans, 2014. 1053 pgs. $35.00 (Paperback). ISBN 978-0-8028-6728-5. The recently released compendium, Jesus Research (2014), is a collection of papers originally presented at the Second Princeton-Prague Symposium on Jesus Research (2007). The volume combines the insights of at…
Two weeks ago, in our discussion of humor, we determined that the dictionary resources identify surprise or outrageous “over-the-top” situations as the underlying aspect of what makes something humorous. However, there is another branch of comedy, called observational comedy, that earns our snickers by operating on the axiom- “it’s funny because it’s true!” Observational commentary,…
A little over a year ago I wrote a post about the Top Galatians Commentaries. For that list I chose the 5 best in terms of teaching the text the closest to how I think it should be understood. I still stand by those 5—although with the recent addition of Doug Moo’s commentary I think…
Macaskill, Grant. Union with Christ in the New Testament. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013. 308 pages + 45 pages bibliography and indices. Hardcover. Retail: £75.00 ISBN: 978-0199684298. Long a pillar of Eastern Orthodox theology, theosis has been generating increasing interest across denominational lines in recent years. In Union with Christ in the New Testament, Grant…
A few weeks ago my wife and I sat through a 2 hour Timeshare presentation in the hopes of getting a free trip to Hawaii. We went in determined not to sign up for for anything and to get as much free stuff as possible. I personally went in skeptical, feeling sensitive to the different…
Adam Weinstein’s article on gun violence, It’s Really Hard to Be a Good Guy with a Gun, is a worth a close read. The quick summary: Weinstein grew up with guns, has served in the military, and has a concealed carry licence. Private citizens, “good guys,” legally arming themselves was part of his solution to the…
The whole thing began with an announcement slide in church. “Children’s Ministry needs workers: 3’s room,” it read. “I love preschoolers!” I innocently thought and proceeded to volunteer myself to fill that vacancy at once. Now, three weeks into my commitment to shepherd the three year olds at church I have realized that I know…