Today I’m heading to Israel for a couple of weeks. For some of the time, I will be leading a study tour of the Land with a group of students from Judson University’s Masters of Leadership in Ministry Program. This program is a cohort-based MA that combines online learning with intensive experiential learning courses. Students will be taking two courses during their time in Israel. My course is a history, geography and archaeology of the Bible course. I’ve titled it... Read more

In Australia, the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities, has banned Special Religious Education (SRE) classes from using three particular books. Those books are: You: An Introduction by Michael Jensen A Sneaking Suspicion by John Dickson Teen Sex by the Book by Patricia Weerakoon The story was broken by the Aussie Bible Society news outlet Eternity, you can read an interview with John Dickson by TGC-Australia, and watch an SBS news report on the banning. The ban has been... Read more

I thought I used to know, but now I’m not so sure. See these recent studies: Michael Wade Martin and  Bryan A. Nash, “Philippians 2:6-11 as Subversive Hymnos: A Study in Light of Ancient Rhetorical Theory,” JTS 66.1 (2015): 90-138. This study addresses the unsettled question concerning the genre of Philippians 2:6–11, long considered a poetic ‘Christ-hymn’, but more recently classified under a number of alternative genre headings: exalted prose, encomion, epainos, early Christian confession, didactic poem, and prose hymn. The study examines the text... Read more

David Allen Summoned: Stepping Up to Live and Lead with Jesus Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2014. Available at Amazon.com Summoned is intended as a call for Christians to live vocationally; to consider the holistic way in which following Jesus should transform our lives. The book aims to inspire and to encourage reflection on how this call works itself out in individual contexts. As the title implies, there is a particular emphasis on convincing the reader that leadership is a core... Read more

In an article in the Telegraph, UK Greens leader Natalie Bennett has declared the party open to affirming polyamorous marriages. Let me say that I think polyamoury is very, very wrong … because it combines a Greek prefix with a Latin suffice. It should be either poly-philia or multi-amory. You can’t combine Greek and Latin, it’s like eating a spaghetti souvlaki or living in a country where the Prime Minister’s name is Belusconi-Poppadopalous. I say we cut our losses and simply... Read more

Gambling Addiction as Suburban Slavery The word “slavery” is one of the most emotionally evocative words we know. It reminds us about the women and children who are trafficked into sexual slavery to service the perverted lusts of the men who use them and to satisfy insatiable greed of their captors who abuse them. The stories of plantation slaves in post-colonial America remain deeply etched into the minds of the American people. Movies like Django Unchained and Twelve Years a... Read more

David A. Fiesny and James Riley Strange Galilee in the Late Second Temple and Mishnaic Periods, Volume 1: Life, Culture, and Society Fortress Press, 2014 I am excited to promote this new and important book on Galilee. For anyone interested in the social world of Jesus and early Christianity, this is a go to source for an accessible, yet well-researched volume of essays on various aspects of Galilee. The chapters in the volume represent the best and most recent work done... Read more

Kara Martin of the Ridley Marketplace Institute has a great piece over at TGC-Australia on A Letter To Myself as a Young Worker which she talks about what she wish she thought about work when she was younger. I constantly find new examples of how God uses ordinary Christians to both sustain his creation through their everyday jobs, as well as creating unexpected platforms to do good and bring glory to God. The first steps are always to work on... Read more

Over at the Aussie Bible Society is an article about a number of Christian leaders who were asked, “Would you bake a cake for a gay wedding?” The responses are divided and include those who would and those who wouldn’t! Here is what I wrote: Yes, I would bake one. If you are going to live in a secular and diverse society you have to be able to get along with other people even if you don’t agree with their lifestyle. If... Read more

The Problem I have to admit that a $135 000 fine for refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding is a bit steep. That’s what happened to one couple in Oregon when they refused to bake a cake for a lesbian wedding (see here). So what can be done about it? I think we can agree that people’s religious freedom should be protected and no-one should be coerced into doing something their religion prohibits. It would be wrong to walk... Read more