Our first Weekly Meanderings of 2017 begins with a good, old-fashioned breath check. (NEWSER) – What if detecting cancer was as easy as breathing in and out? According to a study published last week in American Chemical Society Nano, it pretty much is. Scientist Hossam Haick has been working on his “electronic nose” for years, the Outline reports, and this new study shows the impressive things it can do. According to Smithsonian Magazine, scientists used the device to sample the breaths of more than 1,400... Read more

Ray Ortlund, a former colleague of mine at TEDS and one with whom I shared many commutes to school, recently put on no less a site than Instagram a comment about Bible reading and translations, and I wish to agree and disagree. Here is the image and his Instagram comment: First, the agreement. Yes, by all means, compare translations. I don’t know Ray’s audience but there’s some serious limitations with comparing Bible translations. Creating alternative translations leads most to choose... Read more

What does the book of Job mean for us today?  What is the message and application? John Walton and Tremper Longman III conclude their book How to Read Job by addressing these questions. The book of Job provides answers – important for us today as they were for the original audience. Christians often turn to Job, and Pastors recommend Job, in times of suffering. Here, we think, we may find both the answer to suffering and the recipe for endurance.... Read more

John Piper recently was asked about single women missionaries. Two-thirds of active missionaries are married couples. Another third are single women. The rest are single men. Well, if that went by too fast, two thirds plus one third don’t leave any room for single men. And it is only a joke in part because it is almost that way. To be more accurate, the actual situation among most evangelical faith missions is that between 80–85% of all single missionaries are... Read more

What about you? Do you use a checkbook? By Lauren Zumbach: Despite the ease of paying with a tap on a smartphone or swipe of a credit card, Americans don’t appear ready to ditch their checkbooks just yet. For the first time since Americans began abandoning checks for other forms of payments in the mid-1990s, the decline in check usage has slowed, according to a recent Federal Reserve study looking at the types of payments — other than cash —... Read more

One of the things that I love about my job is that my Church gives me time to study and prepare. It is a real blessing that I try to not take for granted. Not everyone gets paid to go off every year to pray and study, and I believe God gives me that time not just to write sermons, but to equip the priesthood of all believers for ministry. So when people ask me if there are any books... Read more

I wade into some murky political waters here because some things need to be said. Progressives, who are not afraid to use the argument about the “right side of history” found themselves on the wrong side in this election but this time they are absolutely sure they are on the right side in spite of history. Perhaps so, but such arguments come and go like those they vote for. This whole “right side of history” argument is worth a good... Read more

By Kristin Du Mez, and I clip just a bit of her very fine blog post: After reading Stark’s account of the rise of Christianity, I was struck by the contrast between the sacrificial behavior evidenced by early Christians, and the reputation of many American Christians today. Looking back over recent American history, it is discouraging to note how frequently fear, rather than sacrifice, seems to have motivated Christians to act. In issues ranging from tax policy to gun control to concerns about religious... Read more

Are there any moral obligations on us as humans? Is terrorism wrong? Is incest wrong? How old is the age of consent? (Is this concept meaningful?) Are children (or wives) property? Is gender equality always good? Is racism always wrong? Is infanticide wrong? Why shouldn’t the powerful man demand sexual satisfaction? The list could go on. The answer to each of these questions requires some kind of moral judgment or standard. Everyone has a context and standard for their judgment.... Read more

In 2017, the “Terrible Loyalty” I Owe You (and You Owe Me), by Leslie Leyland Fields “We are all in the same boat, in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.”   —G.K. Chesterton On Christmas Eve, the north wind tried to break in. The walls shook, the windows bowed under the knock of its hand. The rain struck with such force we thought we’d be sucked from our beds and swept away in a river down... Read more