- I am (an organized) ENFP, Hear me Rawr; or, OT Bible Study Mapping Pardon me as I assert my personality type, for a moment. I am, in fact, an organized ENFP. “ENFP” is one of 16 personality types born from the Myers Briggs Assessment. (To summarize in brief, Myers Briggs itself is largely derived from Carl Jung’s psychological theories.) You must know that ENFPs are often known for […]
- A Preface to my Bible-Scribblings I may have two degrees from a seminary, but by no means does that make me an OT or New Testament scholar. I feel I have been given permission from my education to ask bigger questions of Scripture. (That is a freeing feeling, you know.) Here is a Preface to the notes I will scribble […]
- I Remember Reading of an Expressive God I remember the year Dave died, and my finding an old J.B. Phillips New Testament at a used book shop down in Fells Point. I remember thinking that this little worn paperback would become my favorite, reading the gospels as proper prose, and such. I remember walking near the Baltimore piers and how happy it […]
- If I Could Preach On Job Job is a difficult book. It is particularly difficult in that it is framed in a “neat” fairy-tale way, in the beginning and the end–while the center of it is filled with the mess of life: the unanswerable questions of pain. Today in class my group gave a short presentation on our reading of the Epilogue […]
- She is Like the Merchant Ships The bulk of my days, at the moment, is spent in a classroom studying the Hebrew Writings. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Writings include some of my favorite books: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song o’ Songs, et cetera. Today we spent considerable time talking about Proverbs, that ever so not-linear, non-narrative book. We love to take […]
- Pocket-Sized Feast Enabler I finally bought myself a pocket-sized TNIV today. It is soft. It looks like a Boeing 737. It is not going to weigh down my bike ride. In truth, I was drawn to the name of its outer “style,” the Italian Duo-Tone. I am Italian. We can be a duo. I realized today that it […]
- Mercy is Entirely the Subject I ducked into my favorite local coffee shop early this morning and ordered an Americano in a warm mug. Sitting down, I felt slightly naked because I didn’t have a book with me. I always carry something. (I think it’s like policemen who carry guns.) At least I had my little moleskine journal. Knowing that […]
- 10 Questions Scholarly John Hobbins has (creatively) responded to a new meme concerning the summarization of the Bible in about 10 lines. John offers us 10 pointed questions in Scripture that, he argues, sums up all of God’s story. I was moved by his choices. He writes: Here are ten paradigmatic questions in the Bible:(1) “Where are […]
- The Majors: God’s Theater I’ve been reading through the major and minor prophets since summertime. I have some observations on the bigguns, the majors. I’ve scribbled them in my journal. (Feel free to add or subtract.) What I Notice in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel: 1. God is willing to put the prophets on a stage and write them rated-R […]
- Flying Red Pens Tonight, red pens were a-flying in my room. We are studying 1 Timothy in my Fuller class. Oh, the legendary first letter to Timothy! The book that has caused many a woman to have imaginary boxing-matches with St. Paul over his apparent misogyny! Well, N.T. Wright is helping me see Paul in a whole new […]
- Stunned Saturday in Sofia Tonight, in Sofia, Bulgaria my dear friend Brooke is reflecting on Jesus with around 250 postmodern teenagers. Brooke is the speaker for Young Life Europe’s annual service project, a week-long camping experience to invite skeptics and non-skeptics into the adventure of serving the poor. Over the next week these international students from all of over […]
- [Extra]Ordinary Stairs I have a great deal to report, especially after a weekend of 24-7 prayer with the teens/pre-teens at my church. Tomorrow I will try to post some pictures from our wild little adolescent prayer room. But for now I’d like to turn to Zechariah, and to a vivid dream I had yesterday about stairs, worship, […]