I completed my series of blog posts on Ancient Ephesus and the New Testament. At this link, you’ll be able to read the series in logical/chronological order. Also, you are welcome to use this material for any ministry-related or non-profit educational purpose. Read more
There’s No Place Like Home Psalm 84:1-12 What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises. Psalm 84:4 I recently sent my son, Nathan, off to college. He’s a freshman at New York University. (That’s 1844 miles away from home, to be precise.) As Nathan experiences the joys and challenges of college life, I find myself reminiscing about my own freshman year. (I was 2,791 miles away from home, in case you’re curious.) I had... Read more
So I roll into Home Depot on Saturday morning for a few supplies and what do I find? Free country music! There are many things I love about Texas! Read more
Every now and then I read a news story that makes me wonder if I’m the victim of a prank. I check the URL a couple of times, just to make sure I wasn’t forwarded to the Onion. I make sure it isn’t April Fool’s Day. And then, when everything seems on the level, I just have to laugh. Yesterday, USA Today featured one of these questionable, delightful news stories. The title immediately drew my attention: “Company will load loved... Read more
In today’s New York Times, the ever-iconoclastic David Brooks weighs in on empathy. In “The Limits of Empathy,” Brooks has the gall to suggest that maybe empathy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Brooks acknowledges that empathy can be a good thing in a limited way. But “the empathy craze” falsely assumes that feelings of empathy for others will lead us to moral action: People who are empathetic are more sensitive to the perspectives and sufferings of others. They... Read more
We all know that exercise strengthens our muscles and contributes to overall health. Now, there is solid evidence for the benefits of physical exercise on the brain. In a recent article in the New York Times, “How Exercise Can Strengthen the Brain,” Gretchen Reynolds summarizes a new study at the University of South Carolina. This study focused on mice, measuring the impact of exercise on their brains. Here are some excerpts from Reynolds’ article: Like muscles, many parts of the... Read more
Part 11 of series: Ancient Ephesus and the New Testament How the Wealthy Lived in Ancient Ephesus During my last visit to Ephesus, I had the opportunity to tour the so-called “Terrace Houses,” which are stacked in three terraces on Bulbul Mountain in the center of Ephesus. Centuries ago, they were buried by landslides that were likely caused by earthquakes. The Terrace Houses are currently being excavated, with the promise of many more similar excavations yet to come. Here are... Read more
The House of the Virgin Mary? For most of my life, I never gave much thought to what happened to Mary, the mother of Jesus, after his death. I figured that she went to Jerusalem, where James, one of her other sons (or stepsons, if you prefer), was a prominent early Christian leader. A good bit of ancient tradition supports this hunch, as it turns out. (See, for example, the online Catholic Encyclopedia article on “The Blessed Virgin Mary.”) It’s... Read more
As you know if you’ve been reading my blog recently, I’ve been focusing on a “tour” of ancient Ephesus in relationship to the New Testament. I had promised to move today’s “tour” to the so-called House of the Virgin Mary, but, instead, I want to focus on a story from yesterday’s news. It relates to a sister archeological site in Turkey. The AP reports that the Boston Museum of Fine Arts has returned a piece of a statue to Turkey... Read more
Mark D. Roberts
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You and Your Cell Phone: Is it Addiction . . . or Love?
According to Martin Lindstrom, you are in love . . . with your phone. That’s what he argues in a New York Times op-ed piece entitled, “You Love Your iPhone. Literally.” Apologies to those who have fallen for their Droids and EVOs. Lindstrom, an author and cultural commentator, asks if we should “really characterize the intense consumer devotion to the iPhone as an addiction?” To answer this question, he set out to investigate what happens to the brains of iPhone... Read more