By John Frye: I think if someone asked first century Jesus what he thought of conflict, he would respond, “Conflict? Conflict is my middle name.”  Mark’s Gospel early on presents staccato notes of discord between Jesus and the religious leaders of Israel. Undoubtedly Mark has arranged these disparate episodes to move from the religious leaders’curious concerns about Jesus to their united plot to kill Jesus. These conflicts appear in Mark 2:1-3:6 with 3:6 (NIV) reading, “Then the Pharisees went out... Read more

There is a bit of a flap about Oprah thinking as a child that since God was her Father and Jesus God’s Son then she as a child of God must have Jesus as a brother. The flap about this is a biblical fail, a history fail and a pastoral fail. First a summary of her statements: Media mogul Oprah Winfrey recently sparked an online discussion about the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity after recalling a time that she... Read more

In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul includes the oft quoted statement “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” (9:22) One application of this and the surrounding context is the need to meet people where they are. In order to do meet people where they are it is necessary to make the effort to understand the contexts in which people live and the ways in which they think.... Read more

God Forgive Us, by Wye Huxford, VP for spiritual formation and Dean of the Chapel at Point University As a follower of Jesus, I am very comfortable with the idea that Jesus Himself expressed when He told Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) That statement was no effort to relinquish his role as King, for he would follow that with a word to Pilate that too few of His followers remember, “You say correctly that I AM... Read more

This is nothing new but from a news report about a decade back, but many have not seen this image or heard about the study. On the basis of archaeology, art, forensic anthropology, and some anatomy and biology, here’s what the experts think. Average height of a Jewish male in the 1st Century? 5 feet one inch. Average weight? 110 pounds. Source Analysis of excavated skulls of 1st-century Jews and images from ancient Syrian frescos reveals that the traditional image... Read more

Yogi Berra, the always quotable and mystifying, has died. RIP Yogi. Once trying to explain how he maintained his youthful appearance: “Well, I used to look like this when I was young and now I still do.” Once asked about why his Mets team was struggling, he said: “We’re not exactly hitting the ball off the cover.” Image And challenged about whether or not he could succeed as a Yankee manager even though he didn’t have experience, he suggested his... Read more

C.S. Lewis opened his tenure in Oxford with a lecture that was really a sermon, or maybe it is more appropriately described as Lewis casting a spell.  Right in the middle of his sermon “The Weight of Glory” after critiquing what 19th century culture had done to our ability for true joy and desire, Lewis said to the audience: Do you think I am trying to weave a spell? Perhaps I am; but remember your fairy tales. Spells are used... Read more

Think about what theology is or how it is taught: we read texts — Bible, Creeds, Augustine, Luther, Barth — and then we arrive at conclusions and we articulate that theology and then what do we do? We seek to get church people to conform to the ideas. I don’t think this is a simplification. Luke Timothy Johnson, in his new book, The Revelatory Body: Theology as Inductive Art, doesn’t either. He thinks theology moved from Spirit to letter but now... Read more

Tracie McMillan: If you are looking for proof that Americans’ vegetable habits lean towards french fries and ketchup, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has it: Nearly 50 percent of vegetables and legumes available in the U.S. in 2013 were either tomatoes or potatoes. Lettuce came in third as the most available vegetable, according to new data out this week. And while the USDA’s own dietary guidelines recommend that adults consume 2.5 to 3 cups of vegetables a day, the agency’s researchers found that only... Read more