Fun news story by Rachel Feltman: When temperatures drop and frost hits, only the heartiest of veggies are equipped to survive. And for many of them, the adaptation that keeps them from dying in the cold also makes them sweet and delicious. In the above video, UCLA biochemist Liz Roth-Johnson explains how this works for the crunchy carrot: When it gets cold out, carrots (and parsnips) convert some of their starch stores into sugar. They do this to keep the water... Read more
Ruth Gledhill: As the consecration of the first female bishop approaches, Christian Today has learned that at the consecration a few days later of traditionalist priest Father Philip North as Bishop of Burnley no bishop will lay hands on him who has previously laid hands on a woman bishop or priest. Normally at a consecration, all the bishops present would join in laying hands on the episcopal candidate to elevate them to the order of bishop. In the northern province,... Read more
Calico Joe: A Story of Reconciliation, by John Frye My wife, Julie, and I are John Grisham fans. We’ve read and are collectors of all his novels (except for the youth-oriented ones). Known mostly for his legal thrillers, Grisham does a change up once in a while and writes about sports. Playing for Pizza: A Novel is a fast and fun read about Rick Dockery, a disgraced pro quarterback who is wanted by and goes to play for the Mighty... Read more
Long Days and Tired Churchfolk: thoughts on dealing with spiritual weariness You could see Amber fighting back tears as she admitted, following some updates on her life in the past year: “I just feel caught between too many things. Life has been frantically intense, busy and just so crazy. And I have felt so far from God in the midst of it all!” [Image sent to me by Donald and they can be congratulated for the recent birth of a... Read more
Karen Spears Zacharias, our friend: (CNN)“American Sniper” stormed the box office this past weekend with $105 million in ticket sales. Not since the Rambo movies have so many farmers and ranch hands buddy-upped to the popcorn counter. As much as I adore Bradley Cooper, I won’t be seeing the movie. I can’t see it. And my reluctance to see it has nothing to do with Michael Moore’s flippant assertion that snipers are cowards (although he said he wasn’t talking about the movie). I... Read more
The next chapter of Philip Yancey’s new book Vanishing Grace: What Ever Happened to the Good News? makes a great followup to Tuesday’s post the “scientific” answer to the question “why are we here?”. Yancey addresses this question by illustrating several of the views running around in our society and contrasting them with a Christian answer to the question. An Accident of Evolution. Yancey begins with the view put forth by Gould that humans are simply an accident of evolution.... Read more
When it comes to the meaning of biblical terms — like gospel, kingdom, heaven — not a few of us can get irritated and clearly a recent example of yet one more attempt to correct the church and to get the church back on track is N.T. Wright’s chapter “Distorted and Competing Gospels” in his new book, Simply Good News. He’s definitely pointing his finger at shallow gospels and the world’s pressures when it comes to comprehending how good the news... Read more
Richard Stearns: If your impression of the Middle East comes only from the headlines, it might be easy to think it’s a place of social chaos. Uprisings here, violence there, civil strife everywhere. In just a few weeks, I’ll be going to Lebanon, a country of four million people and one million refugees. This is my second trip to the region since the start of the Syrian conflict. And what I’ve seen is far from social chaos — the Middle... Read more
This past week I went with my friend Luke Norsworthy to interview N.T. Wright. Luke has a great podcast and two weeks ago he invited me to come along with him as he interviewed Dr. Wright about his new book “Simply Good News” and Luke gave me the opportunity to ask him some questions for pastors specifically for my column on this blog. I’ve read Surprised By Hope 6 different times and after I made a slightly creepy stalker joke... Read more
Church Workers Need a New Target Life requires replication. If something does not replicate, its kind will not continue on—just ask that Shaker you know. A 1000 person church is impressive. A church of 100 folks that over the course of 40 years empowers and sends out 12 pastors is more impressive. How do I know? Imagine a piece of paper in your mind. Fold the piece of paper in half—one time. Now do it again – a second time.... Read more
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