So glad to see this already in print with SCM: Reading Romans Backwards: A Gospel in Search of Peace in the Midst of Empire. Read more

The Saturday (of a pastoring, preaching week) chapter in Frank Honeycutt’s Sunday Comes Every Week is about Rehearsing. I was once teaching in Naples FL, but my teaching was on Saturday. We stayed for Sunday to hear the interim pastor/preacher and all I can say is that it was one of the finest crafted sermons I’ve ever heard. Afterwards we talked and he told me that on Saturdays he rehearses his sermon at least twice, and sometimes three times. From the... Read more

This is the final post in a short series on the book of Acts, was written by a Christian colleague (JAG) who teaches in the School of Social Work. Both his professional expertise and his personal experience as a second generation immigrant shape his understanding of the book and bring insights that will help all of us read the book better. He presented the material in a well received class at our church. Today he wraps up answering some questions... Read more

It’s a bit of an older theme but that theme remains vital to the discussion about Jesus, violence, killing and war. The older theme is What was the view of Messiah in the Jewish world of Jesus and what was his view? Do we embrace this contrasting vision of Jesus vs the powers of his day? Is our view of the Christian faith bathed in the blood of violence? Do we see no contradiction between Jesus’ view and our participation... Read more

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. BCP Read more

I begin a series of four week-long intensives next week, a week between each. The students are our best even if the days can get a bit long. What do the Registrars and Deans have to say about this? Dear Registrar, As we wind up the school year, I would like to appeal my course grade for “Marriage and the Family,” which I took in 1971–72. Asking for a grade change so many decades later may seem unorthodox, but I... Read more

Jim Beitler is associate professor of English at Wheaton College. At Wheaton, he is the director of First-Year Writing and coordinates the Writing Fellows Program. The following interview revolves around Beitler’s latest book, Seasoned Speech: Rhetoric in the Life of the Church. This interview was conducted by David George Moore. Some of Dave’s teaching videos can be found at www.mooreengaging.com. Moore: Please share the impetus for writing this book. Beitler: People have been studying and teaching rhetoric—the art of persuasion—for... Read more

Mike Glenn These days, it seems everyone is marching for or against something. Immigration, student debt, corporate greed, more taxes, less taxes, healthcare, and climate change are just a few of the issues that can get people so riled up they take to the streets. Every march, of course, seems to bring a counter march. For every group that is marching one way, there’s another group marching the other way. As I’ve watched, I’ve discovered something all of these marches... Read more

2 Peter 3 is a  well known passage concerning the Day of the Lord. A vision of the judgment to come and the effect this judgment will have on creation. Scoffers doubt that the end will come, and focus on their own evil desires. 2 Peter warns the reader… But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the... Read more