The big picture: we will fly into Instanbul (Constantinople), tour some of the cities of Peter and Paul and John in Asia Minor, fly to Tel Aviv, get a bus to Nazareth, Jesus’ home town, and then the unique part of this trip is that we will go on a four-day hike from Nazareth to Capernaum. Then we will bus down to Jerusalem to spend a day in Jerusalem. Please think of joining Kris and me on this life-time of... Read more
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,... Read more
From Slate: Read more
Kent A. Van Til, The Moral Disciple: An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Eerdmans, 2012) Reviewed by Wes Vander Lugt There are many ways that scholars typically introduce Christian ethics. Some tell the story of Christian ethics from a historical perspective, like J. Philip Wogaman’s Christian Ethics: A Historical Introduction, 2nd edition (Westminster John Knox, 2011). Others try more creative ways of organizing the story, like Wells and Quash have done in Introducing Christian Ethics (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010) by identifying universal, subversive,... Read more
Fr Rob, on enough is enough, from Lynne Twist, and that we need to waken with thoughts of God’s faithful love. “That does not mean it has to be this way, which is the author’s ultimate point as it was yours. But it does mean, I think, that we will have to diligent in reconditioning ourselves to live with gratitude and contentment instead of this sense of lack.” Dick Staub on Obama’s faith: “(RNS) The flap about President Obama’s... Read more
From Salon: People have been drinking wine ever since some lucky farmer accidentally fermented his fruit many thousands of years ago. Yet to most people wine remains something of a mystery. We accept that some bottles will cost five or 10 times as much as the $15 wine we pick up for dinner. We may think we know the difference, but blind taste tests show we often don’t. Wine experts are far from immune to such trickery…. For a 2008 study, they asked people to... Read more
David Brooks, as usual, offers insights: Always dangerous to bring up politics, but do you think Romney shifted in his debate? Do you think Romney is now sketching a moderate course that will appeal to more Americans? Romney didn’t describe a comprehensive governing philosophy, but he gave us a hint of a strong center-right pragmatic approach. It starts with 1986-style tax reform and Wyden-Ryan Medicare reform and then offers a glimpse of experimental pragmatism on most everything else. Yes, it’s... Read more
Eugene Peterson notes that rarely do we read apocalyptic and pastor in the same sentence. The two words “grew up on different sides of the tracks.” EHP writes, “Apocalyptic has a wild sound to it: an end-of-the-world craziness, a catastrophic urgency…. The word is scary and unsettling. … Pastor is a comforting word…the word accumulates associations of security and blessing, solidity and peace.” EHP sees an urgent need for apocalyptic pastors. We are attempting to grasp Peterson’s vision of pastor... Read more
This series is by Jeff Cook… I love Top 10 lists. Movies, sports stars, events—I will watch “The Top 10 Doily-Knitters of All Time” if its on. This post begins a set of two Top 10 lists: for and against God-belief. I write these lists as a theist, as one who believes in God (though that may change by the end), and the arguments below are the ones from which I feel the most pull and seem to capture the... Read more
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