No one, and I mean no one, is doing more for evangelical women in the publishing industry than Zondervan’s Katya Covrett. Here’s why:  she’s the academic editor at Zondervan, and you can’t get more evangelical than Zondervan. She’s worked tirelessly to get more female authors, to get more female authors published, and to enhance publicity for female authors. She’s been doing this for years. Every year there has been slow but steady process… just wait another decade and you’ll notice... Read more

Christian Science Monitor, by Patrik Jonsson: (At the link you can read the whole article.) In my judgment, the issue is not so much gun control but a gun culture. Experts see five areas in which progress could be made in reducing mass shootings: 1)  Threat assessment In a nondescript FBI building near Washington, D.C., sits Behavioral Unit No. 2, a federal threat assessment laboratory that disseminates its strategies to pinpoint potential havoc-makers to local police departments. Its mission to spot... Read more

The showdown in Pauline scholarship today is between the new perspective, in particular as articulated in the narratival theology of NT Wright, and apocalyptic theology as articulated by J. Louis Martyn and those who follow him (e.g., M. de Boer, B. Gaventa, D. Campbell). Samuel Adams, in his new book The Reality of God and Historical Method, weighs in at the level of method — historical method vs. theological method. His method is far closer to the theologians Karl Barth and T.F.... Read more

Why is it that so few women are leaders? Even after decades of feminism and laws that have been passed and churches that have accepted women as leaders women remain woefully behind in numbers when it comes to leading. Why? John Stackhouse, in Partners in Christ, discusses each of the following reasons — leading me to ask you, the readers of this blog, Why you think women in your church are not leaders? Each of the following “reasons” is explained clearly... Read more

Source: Hundreds of pages of newly released Chicago police reports from the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald are most striking for one simple reason: They are dramatically at odds with the dash-cam video that has sparked protests across the city, cost the city’s top cop his job and embroiled Mayor Rahm Emanuel in scandal. The reports, released by the city late Friday, show that Officer Jason Van Dyke and at least five other officers claim that the 17-year-old McDonald moved... Read more

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. BCP Read more

CNN: What do you think? (CNN)At a time when most college campuses prohibit guns, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. thinks the opposite should be the case — urging his school’s students to be armed, especially in light of this week’s massacre in San Bernardino, California. “I always thought that if more good people had concealed-carry permits, then we could end those Muslims before they walk in and kill,” he said. Those comments from Falwell — a son of the late evangelist,... Read more

Stories of the victims at USA Today. Merry Christmas, what a gift! On Saturday in Rosemount, Minn., a couple dropped a check into a Salvation Army kettle outside a Cub Foods supermarket. Their gift was a bit more than the standard holiday donation, though. Well, okay. It was a lot more. The couple’s check was for $500,000. “Yes, we believe the check is definitely good,” Salvation Army spokeswoman Julie Borgen told the Star Tribune on Monday. “We have been in touch with the donors,... Read more

We find ourselves on New Testament holy ground. The massive banquet on the grassy hillside near the Sea of Galilee which fed 5000 men, not counting the women and children, is the only miracle of Jesus recorded in all four Gospels. Mark, the shortest Gospel, offers the longest account of this story (Mark 6:30-44). While every miracle of Jesus is significant, the fact that this miracle is reported four times signals to all readers that this miracle carries heavy eternal... Read more