Go Julia, by Jenny McCoy: Louisiana native Julia Hawkins became a competitive cyclist at age 81. Last year at age 100, seeking a new challenge, she decided to pick up competitive running for the first time. She registered for the 50-meter dash at the Louisiana Senior Olympic Games, completing the race with a PR of 19.07 seconds. Now at 101 years old, Hawkins is adding another distance to her belt, training for both the 50- and 100-meter dash as well as... Read more

From CNN, on the leggings on United Airlines kerfuffle: Plus, “non-revs,” short for “non-revenue,” are subjected to a dress code, which only they can access on the United website with a password; it’s not publicly available. United’s code bans, among many other things, form-fitting and lycra/spandex clothing, or anything inappropriately revealing. Non-revs are perceived as a kind of unidentified representative of the airline, sometimes known only to the flight crew. Pass Riders — even a ten-year-old child — are treated... Read more

By John Frye My wife, Julie, and I have been attending an intentionally diverse church for over a year. We’ve noticed a compelling dynamic in a multiethnic community. Yes, we affirm as a church that we all want to be a preview of the new creation vision seen in Revelation 5:9 “…members of every tribe and language and people and nation.” Our church is named Tribes Church. In our often racially-tense culture, within a country with a history of racially-charged... Read more

Kris and I were asked to attend and I got to be a Presenter when Karen Miller was ordained to the priesthood almost two weeks ago. Karen will join her husband, Kevin, as co-pastors, co-priests of Church of the Savior in Wheaton. It was a wonderful service in which we were with our Bishop, Todd Hunter, who gave a powerful message on pastoral ministry, and everything went off without a hitch (including two confirmands, including Al Hsu’s son). Here is... Read more

I have the opportunity this week to be at the BioLogos conference Christ and Creation in Houston. I’ve escaped the chilly north, but more importantly have the opportunity for excellent company and thought-provoking conversation. It is great to connect with old friends, meet new people and finally meet a few I’ve interacted with through this blog for years. Last night Tom Wright and Francis Collins spoke at the plenary and provided a musical interpretation of Genesis as well. Tomorrow morning... Read more

Matthew Bates, in Salvation by Allegiance Alone: Rethinking Faith, Works, and the Gospel of Jesus the King, contends that salvation by faith alone is better translated and understood as by allegiance alone. As we sketched his answers to a couple of questions Monday, today we turn to some other answers to other questions. I believe many of these questions are forced on 1st Century texts and as NT Wright has said so often, they are asking 16th Century questions of 1st Century texts.... Read more

Source One of Keller’s critics was author Carol Howard Merritt, who has welcomed the withdrawal of the award. She had written on her blog: “As Princeton Theological Seminary celebrates Tim Keller’s theology, I will be mourning. As he presents his lecture and receives his $10,000 award, I will lament for my sisters who have been maligned and abused. So much of my ministry has been dedicated to aiding the victims of these poisonous beliefs. In these difficult days, when our president says that women’s... Read more

By Kelly Edmiston, @kellyedmiston Student minister at First Colony Church of Christ. Today I am six months pregnant with my third child. The pain and discomfort of pregnancy at this point is nearly unbearable. My back aches from the toll of carrying a small, forming human within. The aches are exacerbated by the countless number of times a day I walk up and down the stairs to put away laundry, to pick up toys, and to put toddlers into time-out.... Read more

I’ll say what I said Monday again: These beliefs and practices can be examined by psychologists and, while such scholars know the difference between correlation and causation, the recent study of Kristen Hydinger and Stephen J. Sandage (Boston U), Peter Jankowski (Bethel U),and Shelly Rambo (Boston U), called “Penal Substitionary Theory and Concern for Suffering: An Empirical Study,” Journal of Psychology and Theology 45 (2017): 33-45, examines if there is a correlation between those who believe in penal substitution (PSA [this theory... Read more

Peter Wehner: These days I find I’m more alert to the grief and sorrow around me than I once was. In part it’s a product of my age, of youth giving way. I’m guessing my situation is not that different from many of yours. Last month I checked in on a childhood friend whose 13-year-old son committed suicide last year after struggling with a brain injury. He told me, “I’ve stopped crying every day, which is a major transition.” He... Read more