At the table so much happens in the Bible, especially with Jesus and his fellow Galileans. We ignore perhaps the significance of meals and food in our world and this leads us not to notice the importance of meals and food in the world of Jesus. If we have eyes, however, we will see how central meal time was for Jesus. Hence, a chapter on this topic in Justo Gonzalez, The Story Luke Tells: Luke’s Unique Witness to the Gospel. Today... Read more

I cannot imagine anything more rewarding for understanding the first three decades of the church than taking a tour of places where Paul and John established and wrote to churches. So I’m hoping you will consider joining us … I am preparing special talks (not long lectures) on each of Paul’s letters and as often as possible in the location to which Paul wrote the letters. Northern Seminary is sponsoring a tour to Turkey and Greece to visit the sits... Read more

Mary Bowerman: When Kaylee Goemans took her newborn son to the emergency room, the last thing she needed was to add a towed car to her list of worries. The Ontario, Canada, mom paid for four hours of metered parking at the hospital July 13 but quickly realized she would need to add more time, the Globe and Mail reported. Goemans did not want to leave her sick child to add money to the meter. So she decided to weigh her options. The mother of... 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

It is undeniable that God has housed us in bodies.  It is also undeniable that these bodies affect what we typically label our “souls” or “spirits.”  Many times during the course of the day we are reminded of this fact.  Migraines make it more challenging to pray.  Pushing ourselves during a workout can make depression recede.  We need help in this area as the much written about Gnostic tendencies of many modern-day Christians continues apace. Breakthroughs in technology and research... Read more

Not only has Harper Lee been published many years since her last book, but so too Dr. Seuss. Image from the page at WaPo and at Amazon. A newly discovered Dr. Seuss book goes on sale this week, 25 years after the beloved author’s last work, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go!” “What Pet Should I Get?” tells the story of a brother and sister grappling with this fun question during a trip to the pet store. The manuscript and illustrations were discovered... Read more

Ana Swanson: Have you ever observed that time seems to be going by faster as you get older? There’s a reason that one summer seems to stretch out forever when you’re a kid, but zips by before you know it when you’re 30. That reason is perspective, as a gorgeous interactive visualization, by Austrian designer Maximilian Kiener, demonstrates. When you’re one year old, a year is literally forever to you — it’s all the time that you’ve ever known. But as you... Read more

My mother died last Wednesday. I am thankful that Jesus Christ, the Resurrection and the Life, gets to have the final word: glory. What feels like ‘the sting of death’is only the expected and natural process of grieving. My mother was a life-long devoted follower of Jesus with a minor detour into a false version of Christianity due to some serious, relational hurt in her life. My mother and father divorced when I was ten years old. Truth prevails; the... Read more

Liana Heitin: The younger children are when they move out of impoverished neighborhoods, the better their long-term outcomes are, including college-attendance rates and later salary levels, according to two studies released this month. Those results may derive in part from the likelihood that children in low-poverty neighborhoods are more liable to be given second chances in any number of situations, said a researcher who worked on one of the studies. “There are less permanent consequences for youthful indiscretion in better... Read more