My family is heading out west to visit my parents and brother’s family in Oregon later this month and on our way, we ‘re going to pass through Santa Clarita. I don’t know if any of our old IBEX friends are still around, but if so, Jenn Kintner has volunteered to host a little get-together… Read More »
Michael Wex is a Jewish author descended from some notable rabbis. His specialty is Yiddish, and his book Born to Kvetch was a bestseller in 2005. This quotation was brought to my attention by Michael Rydelnik, and I checked the book out recently and verified it. The statement is surprising given its source. Contrary to… Read More »
Fifteen years ago today a man that millions of Jews believed was the Messiah died. As in Christianity, his tomb has become a place of veneration. There is, however, one significant difference between the two tombs. Arutz-7 gives a little of the background, while entirely skirting the issue that the large percentage of Chabad still… Read More »
In some churches, they find a demon under every bush and in every sickness. In some circles of Christianity, they find hyperbole in every prophecy. I am not convinced, but I did find one that will put those stupid “literalists” [fn1] to shame: 1 Kings 20:10 (NIV) “Then Ben-Hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May… Read More »
I just finished writing a 9-page chapter that gives my take on 1-2 Chronicles. Though written for a new OT survey textbook, this chapter does not give a chronological summary of the book. Instead it is arranged by themes, under the heading of “what did the author of Chronicles really want you to understand.” As… Read More »
Amazon currently has a sale on 99 Essential Chants. Each mp3 is available for 99 cents, but now you can get the entire “album” of 99 mp3 files for less than a buck. I haven’t listened through the whole yet, but you don’t have to like very many to make it worthwhile. UPDATE: The price… Read More »
We landed in Texas about two years ago, and in the fall I signed up for a course in Matthew. I actually took one for credit (a Greek exegesis kind) and audited another on the “Kingdom in Matthew.” It was not long before Matthew became one of my favorite books. That spring I took a… Read More »
The big news in Israel yesterday was Netanyahu’s speech in which he declared, for the first time in his political career, willingness to support a Palestinian state. He conditioned that it must be “demilitarized.” But would such work? Would the Palestinians agree to not have full sovereignty? What about after they become a state? Would… Read More »
One of my favorite books is The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, by Jeremiah Burroughs. If you’ve been looking for a good motivation to read it, you now have one with the reading group at Challies.com. They begin on June 18. Some good thoughts on evangelical superstars here. Daniel Pipes has a concise blogpost evaluating… Read More »
Abijah ruled for three years (2 Chr 13:2). He had 14 wives and 38 children (2 Chr 13:21). Do the math. It’s possible, but he must have spent a lot of time visiting the hospital during his reign. Of course, he likely married before he became king. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1… Read More »