I often flip that line when recruiting students for the honors college (“We are looking for people with not just the smarts, but the hearts as well.”). But as Chris Tilling points out, Christians (and not just Evangelicals) often go too far into the “hearts” side of faith and usually […]
Proper 23 (28) (October 14, 2018) First reading and Psalm Job 23:1-9, 16-17 Psalm 22:1-15 Second reading Hebrews 4:12-16 Gospel Mark 10:17-31 “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” I love comedy. Not sit-coms like Friends or Brooklyn 99, I enjoy those very much, but what I […]
Lexington is the Horse Capital of the World (and the only airport in the world with a separate terminal just for horses) and this weekend is the beginning of the Keeneland Fall Meet. I took a few pictures.
What does Jesus really mean when he says “whoever is not against us is for us”? This concept comes up in the Gospel reading for this past Sunday, Mark 9:38-40 (Proper 21, Yr. B), and in the parallel in Luke 9:49-50. (Matt. 12:30 and Luke 11:23 have a similar, yet […]
I continue to wrestle not only with the issue of suffering and grace, but also the book I am attempting to write on the matter. What tone should I take? Should it be more academic, more of a personal reflection, or more essay based? The following is part of the […]
This past year I was asked by Chris Keith to write a chapter on Jesus in the Talmud for The Reception of Jesus in the First Three Centuries. Last month I was invited to speak at the 1892 Club at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. They recorded it and have posted […]
“YOU NEVER KNOW what may cause tears. The sight of the Atlantic Ocean can do it, or a piece of music, or a face you’ve never seen before. A pair of somebody’s old shoes can do it. Almost any movie made before the great sadness that came over the world […]
Proper 18 (23) (September 9, 2018) First reading and Psalm Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 Psalm 125 Second reading James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17 Gospel Mark 7:24-37 7:27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to […]
The first review of my book on Targum Ruth, The Proselyte and the Prophet, came out this week on Reading Religion. Steven Fassberg offered a very gracious summary and review of the book while providing context for the study of the Targumim of the Megilloth. Please read it all, but to […]
This is great. I will have to remember it the next time a baby is crying while I am preaching. HT: Jody Howard We have all heard the baby crying in church when the priest was speaking. Not all, however, have read Father Conroy’s book, “A Mill Town Pastor,” nor […]