This week is dedicated to Good News stories about women in ministry, some of whom are serving in local churches and others serving in parachurch ministries. This is Christmas week, and these stories are told in the context of the story of Mary. The first story is about Alice Shirey and comes from my book Junia is Not Alone, but with an important footnote at the end! Alice Shirey was a student of mine at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School way back in... Read more
Stephanie Appell: It’s only now, during my second holiday shopping season here at Parnassus, that I realize: The books that changed my life were probably put into my grandparents’ hands by somebody much like myself. Somebody at John Rollins Booksellers who saw someone like you in the children’s section and walked over and asked, “Is there anything I can help you find?” Somebody who listened to my grandmother describe her ten-year-old granddaughter, who had recently discovered CS Lewis and Narnia,... Read more
When Jesus announced that the kingdom had drawn near (Matthew 4:17), that word “kingdom” only made sense if his contemporaries were looking forward to a kingdom. What kind of kingdom was that? The way to answer this question is first to take a good long look at the Old Testament use of the term, and I have included references to “kingdom” in the NIV 2011 as nothing more than an easy-to-use set of references, and there are 192 references and... Read more
Laura Geggel: An ancient farmhouse dating back to 2,800 years ago — complete with 23 rooms, wine presses and a grain silo — is no longer lost to the ages. Over the past few weeks, archaeologists have uncovered the sprawling stone house in Rosh Ha-‘Ayin, in central Israel. Archaeologists found the farmhouse during an excavation that the Israeli government needed to have done before construction could begin to enlarge the modern city. The house, which measures 98 by 131 feet... Read more
Today we relight the first three candles of the Advent Wreath — the candles of HOPE, PEACE and JOY. Now we light the fourth candle of Advent. This is the candle of LOVE. Jesus demonstrated self-giving love in his ministry as the Good Shepherd. Advent is a time for kindness, thinking of others, and sharing with others. It is a time to love as God loved us by giving us his most precious gift. As God is love, let us... Read more
From Father Rob Merola: This story is the gospel at work. There is a family with four young children. The two youngest children, both under seven years old, have autism. The younger of these two is also nonverbal, and another child struggles with an eating problem caused by food allergies. A friend knows that they have fallen on hard times, and she starts to think of who might help. The name that comes to mind? “St. Matthew’s.” Nothing pleases me... Read more
Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, That your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; Who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. BCP Read more
USA Today: HERNDON, Va. — An unsuspecting waitress got the tip of her life on Thursday. Megan Asadi was working her regular shift at the Virginia Kitchen, when she received a $1,200 dollar tip on a $128 tab. The tip came from an anonymous group that calls the massive gratuity a ‘Tip Bomb.’ The group chooses not to identify themselves in order to focus the act on the recipient of their large tips. Their goal is simply to spread holiday cheer to... Read more
Timothy George on Bonhoeffer at Advent in prison: At this point, Bonhoeffer still hoped he might be released, perhaps even in time to spend Christmas with his family and his nineteen-year-old fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer. It was not to be. Though he would be shifted to other prisons and concentration camps on the way to his eventual execution at Flossenbürg in April 1945, he would never escape the Nazi grasp. This fact did not diminish but rather deepened Bonhoeffer’s Advent... Read more
Matt Shipman: A new study shows that college students in online courses give better evaluations to instructors they think are men – even when the instructor is actually a woman. “The ratings that students give instructors are really important, because they’re used to guide higher education decisions related to hiring, promotions and tenure,” says Lillian MacNell, lead author of a paper on the work and a Ph.D. student in sociology at NC State. “And if the results of these evaluations... Read more
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