Wouldn’t it make sense to tear down the decrepit and untended Church of the Resurrection that had stood for over 800 years? The Franciscans entertained that idea in the 1930’s. They contracted Antonio Barluzzi to design a new, magnificent temple. His resulting design, published in 1940 was sweeping, contemporary and enormous. Of course there was… Read More »
God Made You Beautiful
My daughter turned nine last month. She is one crazy, smart, rhythmic kid. She got all of the best of both parents, and I have no doubt that when she grows into womanhood she is going to be outrageously, stunningly beautiful. This is both a source of great joy and unholy terror. I know how… Read More »
Writing a Sermon
Every once in awhile, someone will ask me how I prepare for a Sunday message. Over the years, I have used a lot of different approaches; but the one I prefer is to work inductively from the text. I work slowly, and it usually takes me about 25 hours per week to prepare for a… Read More »
Thinking about Zacchaeus: Monday
“I must stay at your house today.” (v 5) My house is a comfortable place. I like it. Everything is where I need it to be. If others don’t know where things are, that’s not my problem. They don’t live there. It is my house, right? Why wouldn’t God want to meet us where we… Read More »
Social Media
I have been using social media sites to communicate with a broad audience more and more over the past couple of months. When my friend Darin stopped posting on his blog, I was not totally sold on the idea. I think there is a time and a place for the long format blog even in… Read More »
Final Authority
A lot of people, Christians and non-Christians alike, misunderstand the idea of the Scriptures as our final authority for faith and practice. As a result, there is a lot of confusion about the Bible’s role in the lives of believers. If you are reading this and are not a believer, then what I have to… Read More »
A Theology of Violence
In the United States, violence is something that used to happen to someone else. It was something reserved for urban areas and gangsters or third world countries and oppressive regimes. But in the midst of the suburban American dream, violence was something you observed on television or in the newspaper. All of that has changed… Read More »
Where’d That Blogger Go?
Lately, I have not been writing a lot for the blog. There have been a lot of contributing factors to my absence, but to be honest the biggest is that I don’t really know what to write about right now. My last couple of posts were about medieval history, which is a topic that fascinates… Read More »
Dandolo on the Prow
In 1203, a massive Venetian fleet sailed into the Golden Horn intent on landing a Crusader army and taking the city of Constantinople. The Crusaders had intended to sail to Egypt but they had failed to pay the Venetians and now were doing the Venetians bidding in attempting to put the young claimant Alexius Angelus… Read More »
How Are You Looking?
Some Sundays, I have a little trouble getting an idea out. This Sunday may have been one of those days. The big idea on Sunday was this: when you look AT things I the world, what are you looking FOR? In Luke 12, Jesus challenged the religious people of his day. They were able to… Read More »
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