Chicago Tribune: Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday took another crack at launching a produce bus project that aims to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to parts of Chicago that lack them after a similar city-backed initiative failed two years ago. Standing on the grounds of an old Bridgeport trucking depot that has been converted into an urban agriculture farm, Emanuel re-upped one of the aspects of his effort to decrease the city’s so-called food deserts. “That used to be a... Read more

In Wesley Hill’s sensitive exploration of a recent decision by Julie Rodgers comes a fresh alternative to what is so stuck in either-or ruts: honoring those who are unmarried! Wes has a wonderful new book out called Spiritual Friendships. (Here, here and here.) So, what can churches do that (1) honors those who have been sexually othered and (2) does not embarrass such persons? Suggestions? It’s this particular conundrum of traditional Christian sexual ethics that my friend Julie Rodgers finds particularly... Read more

John Walton sums up his book The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate by asking why it matters that we dig into the question of Adam. Aren’t we simply letting science dictate the terms? The historicity of Adam and Eve is significant for two reasons: inerrancy and The Fall. On the first point Walton has argued that Genesis is an ancient text and it is only natural that God would accommodate his message... Read more

Jackson Wu (PhD, SEBTS) teaches theology and missiology in a seminary for Chinese church leaders. Previously, he also worked as a church planter. In the next month, he has just released his second book One Gospel for All Nations: A Practical Approach to Biblical Contextualization In addition to his blog, jacksonwu.org, follow him on Twitter @jacksonwu4china. Hundreds of books and articles talk about contextualization. Nearly every one of them focuses on two questions: What is contextualization? and How do we contextualize? Of course, those... Read more

Of course, Iowa. Internet, Internet, on the web, which state is the American-est of them all? Iowa, of course. A new totally unscientific study by real estate website Estately declared lil’ ol’ Iowa to be the most American of all the 50 states. Iowa is “where astronauts are born, and where the actual baseball field in the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ is located,” the Estately post read. “It produces the most bacon of any state, and Iowa corn farmers fuel our country’s obesity... Read more

Tom Wright is at the forefront of the Paul debate today, and he stands there with such folks as John Barclay and Bev Gaventa and perhaps even more with Doug Campbell. Wright’s justly praised mammoth 2 volume Paul and the Faithfulness of God, attaching to the front a book coming out this fall and at the end a collection of essays — yes, four volumes, generated lots of discussion and not a little strong criticism. The apocalyptic Paul scholars don’t like... Read more

I have to admit that the conclusion to Mark Harris’s book The Nature of Creation (both the chapter on Scientific Eschatology and New Creation and the concluding chapter itself) leave me somewhat befuddled. There are a number of clear (and useful) points, but less clarity concerning the nature of creation and new creation and what these should mean to the Christian. Perhaps this confusion is unavoidable given the complexity of the topic. Harris has outlined two forms of creation – creatio... Read more