To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here For multitudes of individuals and organizations, the holidays have become the season of compassion. But how do we help without hurting? That question has consumed Robert Lupton, author of the bestseller Toxic Charity, for more than 50 years. In his work as a community redeveloper in Atlanta, Lupton began to notice… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Throughout the month of August, we’re looking at Ecclesiastes, that strange and seemingly “modern” Old Testament book that depicts what happens when humanity searches for ultimate meaning apart from God. Fear can lead us to do crazy things. In 2003, fear almost led the President of the United States to order fighters to shoot… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Every day during this season of Lent we’re looking at one of the “3:16” verses of the Bible, spotlighting some of the significant theological statements that happen to fall on the 16th verse of the third chapter of a number of Old and New Testament books. “Long life is in her right… Read more »
Linus Pauling was always the smartest person in the room. These days we hear the word “genius” associated with people who excel at making omelets, organizing birthday parties, and playing fantasy football. Pauling, who was born in 1901, was an old school genius – a brilliant scientist with unrivalled powers of deduction and imagination. His 1931 paper, The Nature of… Read more »
Throughout July we’re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible’s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom. There are hundreds of everyday proverbs in the English language. Each of them suggests, “This is how life works.” What’s interesting is that most of us are well aware of the fact they aren’t always true. Check these out: A watched… Read more »
Throughout July we’re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible’s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom. What’s a follower of Jesus supposed to do with the Old Testament? That’s not a small question. The OT – which tells the story of creation up through the history of ancient Israel – accounts for approximately 75% of the Bible’s… Read more »
Throughout July we’re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible’s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom. Lots of notable things come in threes. There are three primary colors, three Newtonian laws of motion, and three persons in the Trinity. Baseball hitters get three strikes, basketball players shoot three-pointers, and hockey players in search of hat tricks dream… Read more »
Throughout July we’re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible’s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom. “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel…” With those opening words, the reader of the book of Proverbs is immediately transported to the Golden Age of ancient Israel. Things were never better for God’s people than about a… Read more »
Throughout July we’re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible’s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom. A lot of smart people do really dumb things. A fairly large slice of any day’s headlines – what we call “news” – turns out to be a recitation of the missteps, miscalculations, and mistakes of people who probably should have… Read more »
Geodes are the Forrest Gumps of geology. Remember what Forrest’s mother always told him? “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” Geodes are ordinary-looking rocks that conceal extraordinary treasures. In some locales they’re known as potato rocks because of their resemblance to Idaho spuds. But when cracked open they reveal a fairyland… Read more »
