From CNN.com… we are saddened to hear that Coach John Wooden, the greatest NCAA basketball coach ever, has died.  (CNN) — He was known as the Wizard of Westwood, the architect of a dynasty at UCLA that will never be equaled. But John Wooden leaves behind a legacy much larger than victories on a basketball court. Wooden died Friday of natural causes at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He was 99. His 100th birthday would have been October 14. Read more

We’re out of the country, and since that means I won’t have time for Meanderings, they are on hold for a couple of weeks. But I’ll have a post up to discuss … And maybe folks could just drop links in the Comments box of their favorites for the week and we could have some links that way! Go ahead, link to yourself …  I cheat: here’s a good link for you to browse: it’s on the relationship of faith... Read more

Football is better because of replay, and so is basketball better. But baseball, the national pastime? Yes, watching replay monitors to see if a ball was a home run or a fair ball … that seems fine. But once we open up replays to see if a runner was “safe” at 1B … it would turn baseball inside out. Can you imagine how often Billy Martin would have been protesting a call at 1B if he could have had replay? ... Read more

The Baylor Survey of Religion study (What Americans Really Believe ) examined the correlation between one’s view of God and one’s commitment to religious practices. It measured American religious commitment by prayer, church attendance, religious experience, Bible reading, identification as a religious person and witnessing to strangers. It asked questions, to begin with, to discover whether or not one’s view of God was more benevolent and engaging vs. a God who is more judging and severe. To do this, it... Read more

This is an incredible series being offered to us by Matt Edwards: a nine part summary and response to Douglas Campbell’s mega-book, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul . Thanks to Matt Edwards. The Deliverance of God 2–Contradictory Epistemologies in Justification Theory We are evaluating Douglas Campbell’s rereading of Romans 1-4 as presented in The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul. In the book, Campbell rejects “justification theory” (JT), the traditional... Read more

What are the options? 1. Bill Russell 2. Larry Bird 3. Bob Cousy 4. Hondo (if you don’t know who he is, well then….) 5. Dave Cowens 6. Paul Pierce 7. Sam Jones Hands down, Larry Bird. Read more

I enjoy Memorial Day. As an American, it feels right to remember and celebrate the sacrifices of our soldiers. As a Christian, however, I feel ambivalent about this kind of celebration. Pageantry, uniforms, parades, and the rhetoric of civil virtue — all of these things are seductive. It is so easy to fall into idolatry, to equate my polis with the City of God. I wonder whether any Christians cheered during Titus’ triumphal procession through Rome in 71 A.D., after his armies... Read more

Many pastors today are struggling with a topic and it’s a tough one to bring up in the church. Many don’t know where to go or what to do, but it’s basically this: Many today are uncomfortable, in fact downright wondering if it is idolatrous, with the presence of American patriotism and nationalism in churches on July 4. So, the questions that deserve a good conversation: What will you be doing on July 4 in your church? Do you find... Read more

Five years to the day later, Joran van der Sloot is the suspect of killing a young woman – this time in Peru. Read more