First, Richard Bauckham — the amazing scholar and author of, among other things, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses — has an interesting lecture here. In brief, he discusses how the supposed geographical “errors” in Mark can be explained by the facts that (1) Mark is relying on the recollections of Peter, and (2) Peter himself was … [Read more…]
The pastor at our church recently preached on John the Baptist — specifically, his words and actions in John 3:22-36 — and observed in the course of the sermon that John 3 and Romans 8 are, for Christian theology, perhaps the top texts. So this led to a discussion in our small group the next … [Read more…]
Jesus was always conscious of His audience and of time and timing in His ministry. So consider the setting of His meeting with Nicodemus, recounted in John 3:1-21. It is at the very beginning of His ministry, and He is meeting with one of the top Jewish religious leaders. What would Jesus want to say … [Read more…]
I had two Scripture-related thoughts recently — one during Sunday worship, the other at our small group meeting the following day — that turn out to be rather complementary, I think. The first was that, even if you don’t agree with what the preacher is saying about a particular Bible passage, it is good to … [Read more…]
At this point in my life, I think just about all my activities fall into one of these five baskets: God, family, country, friends, and health. A few observations about my choice of those five. First, I do think that four of them probably ought to be on nearly everyone’s short list: God, of course; … [Read more…]
Let me share with you, dear reader, what I thought was an interesting passage in “Male Pattern Boldness,” an article by Mark Perkins in the latest (January/February 2026) issue of Touchstone magazine: After Jesus goes missing for three days, his parents find him in the temple, among the teachers of Scripture. When his mother addresses … [Read more…]
At the end of his sermon this week, our pastor noted Dilbert-creator Scott Adams’s recent conversion to Christianity, in which the cartoonist cited his own imminent death as the motivation. And our pastor noted the irony that death, Satan’s malign doing, and human trepidation of it and what comes after have resulted in driving so … [Read more…]
A couple of thoughts to keep everything else in perspective: When you think about it, there is really no other group in world history like the Jews. Consider, for starters, their longevity and successes despite repeated calamity and persecution. They are, by the way, less than 0.2 percent of the world’s population. And there also … [Read more…]
I’ve suggested here that people might begin the New Year by reading Mark’s gospel in January. That is not a heavy lift since it works out to a half chapter a day (until the last day of the month, when you have to read the entire last chapter of Mark — which, don’t worry, is … [Read more…]
I’m happy to begin the New Year with this blogpost: I noted earlier my excitement on hearing about a new biography of Blaise Pascal, and I successfully solicited it as a Christmas gift. This blogsite is, after all, named for works by Pascal and my other great Christian hero, C.S. Lewis. *** The book did … [Read more…]